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Quality of Pakistan’s political representation must improve

Dastaan

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When Mohammad Zubair claimed “full credit” for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday for overseeing an army led crackdown in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, his statement seemed as hollow as it comes.

Zubair, a well-known crony of Sharifs who was recently appointed the provincial governor of Sindh, of which Karachi is the local capital, probably had good reason to place his leader in the limelight. The head of Pakistan’s largely dysfunctional privatisation programme until recently, Zubair’s appointment as governor of Sindh was widely seen as a recognition of his loyalty to the prime minister.

Zubair’s own credentials in the past year have included the very public and frequent defence of Sharif and his three children, on questions to do with the chance discovery of massive wealth that culminated with the prime minister’s children buying some of the world’s most expensive real estate in central London. As many Pakistanis await the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing in what has come to be popularly known as the ‘Panama leaks’ — after the infamous Panama Papers from where the information came, the matter of who led the Karachi clean-up hardly needs to be revisited.

Across the city, which is home to almost 10 per cent of Pakistan’s population, ordinary citizens lead lives with relative satisfaction. Motorists stay out for longer than before while many Karachi residents appear increasingly confident carrying new mobile phones which were once the top-most item for being snatched at gunpoint.

This relative improvement has come about mainly following the army’s crackdown which began under Pakistan’s former army chief General Raheel Sharif. Though criminality has not ended in Karachi, the frequency of crimes has visibly come down. Consequently, the city’s economy has begun to recover from the era when extortion of protection money from businessmen and kidnappings for ransom were far more prevalent.

Yet, just like the future of operations against criminality elsewhere in Pakistan, the job is far from done in Karachi. Sustaining the success in places like Karachi requires a host of comprehensive reforms on the political, societal and economic fronts. Not only has Prime Minister Sharif done little by way of leading the crackdown. More vitally, areas within his realm of responsibility simply present major glaring gaps. The host of reforms which are essential to sustain the army’s success require unprecedented activism by members of Pakistan’s political ruling structure.

To date and in spite of much by way of lip service, Pakistan’s rulers have yet to craft a comprehensive new national security policy that has been adequately discussed and debated by elected representatives. Herein lies the role of the parliament at the federal level where Sharif remains in-charge and in Sindh where the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by former president Asif Ali Zardari rules the province.

Once there has been a comprehensive discussion of key issues, there will be a need to translate agreed reforms in to reality. Well thought out policies only serve half the trick. The other half is about turning them in to a powerful reality that drives the work of key public institutions.
Plank for a fresh start
It is obvious that the army’s success in winning back space from criminals may provide the plank for a new beginning. However, that success alone cannot solve the full challenge. Indeed, there is a danger of the gains simply collapsing if the army is ever withdrawn in the absence of follow up work by civil institutions. Across Karachi, comprehensive reforms must target the local administration and the police, enabling them to ultimately take full charge one day.
Meanwhile, the issue of Pakistan’s economic direction remains central to any discussion of security trends all around. In Karachi for instance, poverty has practically invaded the city’s low-income neighbourhoods, where average households do not have access to basic comforts such as a running supply of safe drinking water, uninterrupted electricity and a regular supply of gas.
Other needs for human sustenance such as an affordable and acceptable quality of health care and educational institutions remains virtually absent. It is therefore not surprising that most children from ordinary households of such deprived neighbourhoods eventually just embark on low to middle income careers.
The evidence from such neighbourhoods is enough to challenge the ruling structure’s economic direction. In sharp contrast to Prime Minister Sharif’s favourite projects such as networks of air-conditioned buses plying on elevated platforms in different cities or new highway networks for high speed traffic, Pakistan must give priority to more pressing challenges such as energy shortages or the absence of safe water supply lines.
In other conflict-stricken regions beyond Karachi such as those inhabited by local tribes along the Afghan border, high quality health care and education remains virtually absent. With these important areas in neglect, winning the war exclusive through military gains provides no assurance of a conclusive and long term victory.
Going forward, part of the progressive change for the future remains squarely tied to the future of Pakistan’s politics. The dominance of politics by individuals with clout and money only means that the country’s middle class will remain unrepresented in politics for the foreseeable future. Unless such a change comes about in the quality of Pakistan’s political representation, the country’s decision-making processes will remain squarely in the hands of leaders who are just determined to preserve the status quo.
Meanwhile, Zubair’s meaningless claim in favour of Sharif remains clearly detached from Pakistan’s powerful realities. The country’s mainstream will likely just see this as nothing more than pointless propaganda, coming from a set of rulers who are yet to convincingly prove that they care for Pakistanis where it matters the most.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.

http://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinker...litical-representation-must-improve-1.2008016
 
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Nice points on Karachi here. Our relatives say that there has been no improvement in the crime situation. The article negates their views. Statistics cannot lie. We need to change our mindset instead. Everything is not a conspiracy against muhajirs or MQM. I am sure the same mentality exists among PPP supporters. Think nationally, not as a tiny community or ethnic group. Thinking needs to change. And we need to appreciate how the army has fixed a volatile situation in Karachi where daily violence was a norm. Kayani has done very little or nothing to stop militants. People were dying in Karachi, Quetta (shia killings) and Peshawar used to suffer deliberate and constant bombings. The situation has improved admirably since then. The operation in Karachi cannot end when both warring parties MQM and PPP militant cadres aren't stopped. Lets think about the nation first. Don't vote ethnic.
 
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The entire political establishment must improve...
 
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Political landscape will not change till we cleanse it from corruption, how to do it? Independent NAB with its Chairman appointed by a SC Judges whose impeachment should be on the basis of impeachment of SC judges i.e a special judicial council and restructuring of Police in Provinces and taking it out completely from political clout. For temporary time the appointment of IGs should be undertaken by National security council type constituent body.Otherway is a semi martial law + technocrats Government, ruthless cleansing of crminals with no repeat of NRO and then change to Presidential system. 3rd is a bloody coup.

The first option is according to me the better of the three.
 
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BTW, he is right. It is political govt who gave the mandate to paramilitary forces to clean the house which was made garbage by the Dictator and no feared COAS.
If time is given and we let the political system get mature, we will see the whole new breed of leaders and improvement. Still, we are witnessing improvement and they are working fine. Here are few example (some might have different opinion about them):
  1. Ahsan Iqbal (Unsung hero of CPEC planing)
  2. Saad Rafique (PTI guys can have different opinion but he is matured politicians and worked hard for the survival of Railway)
  3. Dr. Miftah Ismael (Not politicians but Technocrat)
  4. Ch. Nisar
Frankly speaking, Army COAS's after 70 years are getting mature now and they are minding their own business.
 
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sorry i didn't get what he did wrong? what's wrong in his political representation
 
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Muhammad Zubair is representative of federal govt and of course he is gonna defend Nawaz Sharif.What is wrong with that ??
 
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This is the level of our political maturity. This is our so called speaker. Jahil Speaker
 
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