The Pakistani Spectator

A sense of anxiety and hopelessness seems to spread amongst those who are rich and poor in Pakistan. The so called people’s party has not been able to address the issues of the nation. As the people suffer owing to gas shortages, power outages, hikes in fuel prices and food commodities there seems to be no respite. Apart from that there is high unemployment.

The leaders of the nation are themselves perplexed and no one seems to have any solution to the numerous problems that the nation suffers from. With 10 hour power outages in Faisalabad, the textile hub of Pakistan, production has come to a grinding halt. That is also the case in many other cities where power outages are even more severe.

Pakistan is also a water stressed nation and there are serious concerns about impending water shortages in the nation in the near future that may cause agricultural production and yield to fall by 50 percent. At present world oil prices are at an all time low. In the next 2-3 years however as the world comes out of a recession, fuel prices may rise once again owing to increases in demand. How will Pakistans economy bear that if economic conditions remain as they are.

According to Joseph Stiglitz, the Chief Economic Adviser during the Clinton Administration, the IMF is a recipe for economic doom and political instability for nations that have approached it for loans in the past. The IMF has always been concerned about bringing down high inflation rates but not about unemployment. Therefore one seriously hopes that Pakistan doesn’t suffer on that account.

The loans that have been forwarded to Pakistan are not grants. That means that the government will have to repay the debt. Hence a major portion of Pakistans GDP in the future will have to be used to repay the debt. Therefore expenditures on education, health, sanitation and various development programmes may suffer because of that. There is a need to bring the elite into the folds of taxation. For too long businesses, businessmen, industrialists, feudal lords and members of the establishment have evaded taxes. If they don’t pay taxes, then why should the common man make all the sacrifices.

Much of the problems that Pakistan faces are self created. Over the decades no thought was put into construction of power houses, dams, roads, bridges, etc. As a result, Pakistan faces many challenges today which include terrorism, power shortages, water shortages, gas shortages and much more.

70 percent of all elected representatives sitting in provincial and national assemblies are associated with agriculture. However they have failed to address the concerns of the growers. Growers face increasing problems because of increased markups on loans, the rise in input prices and because the government fixes lower procurement prices for rice, sugar, wheat etc. Because industrialists and cartels are more concerned in increased profits, they often resort to hoarding food items to create an artificial shortage thereby causing a hike in price of essential food commodities. That many of these exporters and industrialists are sitting MNA’s, MPA’s  and politicians is disgusting.

Over the course of time, the nation has been raped by ruthless men and women in power. Why should the tax payers finance the 1 crores rupees monthly salary of our politicians? Austerity measures should apply to them as well. The many problems that Pakistan faces today have been created by them. Therefore in these times of economic suffering, measures should be taken to curtail their powers and the lavish lives they have become used to. If Indian politicians can travel in their ordinary Ambassador vehicles why can’t our rulers follow suit.

It is estimated that our politicians, bureaucrats and politicians have over a hundred billion dollars in foreign bank accounts. Why should we persist with them? The present sets of politicians in Pakistan are unsuited for the purpose of guiding us in the 21st century. We need people who are honest and sincere for the prosperity of the nation. Leeches and parasites can’t do that. Therefore Pakistan needs a major change in its political setup.