In an unhampered democracy, national leadership evolves over time. Voters around the world have shown that they have and will vote for dynastic parties, as well as others, based on whatever the parties have to offer the citizenry. It is also a leader’s individual personality that plays a key role in who the nation votes for.
Looking at where the world is today, how far it has come and what it is heading towards in the future, we in Pakistan need a Prime Minister who has the vision, capacity, mindset and skills to lead the country well into the coming decades. The characteristics of a future PM require them to be technologically sound. They need to progressive, inclusive and moderate. Pakistan needs a PM who values education and understands Generation Z, and what it needs in the future.
Technology is literally in our face every day. Whether we like it or not, want it or not, technology has and more so in the future, encapsulated our lives. We need a leader to comprehend not just the current or evolving trends of technological development like artificial intelligence, augmented reality or robotics, but someone who has the foresight to envision the pace, gravity and spread of the technologies of the future. We need a PM who can redesign, restructure and lay the foundations of a Pakistan based on these and more. A man or a woman PM who can bring the right minds and talents for the above and make sure that the country is ready to take on this global embrace of technology. We need a PM who can talk about things like ChatGPT, stem cell research, machine learning, and data science casually and normally. Someone who can influence and lay the ground for the youth of this country to understand, learn and use technology the way it ought to have been. Only a young and dynamic PM can motivate such a mindset, approach and attitude towards technology in Pakistan.
They say no country has ever been destroyed due to corruption alone, however, nations have been decimated due to religious extremism. I think we have come to a point where we need to talk about the real elephant in the room and tackle it as well. Pakistan is suffering today, due to years and years of engineered religious indoctrination and the opium for the masses has badly been used and abused to make us what we are today. We need a political party and a PM who separates religion from politics, and who keeps the clergy in its rightful place. We need a leader who helps build a counter narrative to extremist ideology and the intolerant mindset that has now dangerously pervaded the foundations of our society and politics. A PM with a vision to make sure they will systematically separate mosque from the state, as this isn’t an overnight proposition either.
We need a PM who stands up and calls out misogyny, bigotry and sexism loudly and regularly as part of their party and government’s policy. We need a PM who believes in and exhibits inclusivity of gender, religion, sect, ethnicity and sexual orientation. A person brave and bold enough to call out non inclusivity intelligently. The PM’s cabinet, team, experts and party should reflect all of the above. Basically, we need a PM who believes in these notions and walks the talk, instead of just the usual lip service.
Lastly, we need a PM who is a product of 21st century education, and can comprehend the demands of Gen Z. A person who understands the ever-changing dynamics of the world order and mechanisms, and works according to the pulse of their times. We need a PM who knows how the world works and how the present and the future generations think, work and function. This relationship can perhaps be a strong one only if the PM has young minds on their team and advisory council. A young PM who relates better with the future. A PM who is better versed and empathetic to the demands of the modern world, and a PM from the youth of this country who can drive us into the future decades as part of the new world, and not as a pariah state.
Sadly, when we look around our present crop of mainstream political parties and their heads, we don’t see much of a choice, as almost all of them are chaired by men in their 70s. The only ray of hope that fits into the demands mentioned above seem to come from the Pakistan People’s Party and its young co-chairperson Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. His brilliance, exuberance and vision can be seen through his work and actions. His stint as the youngest Foreign Minister of the country has shown promise and maturity. He has surely silenced his critics through his actions and not words. One hopes that he or any other such young leaders emerge and take this country ahead. Pakistan has seen enough regression, decadence and harm not to throw all this away into oblivion in search for a better, prosperous and a progressive future.
Looking at where the world is today, how far it has come and what it is heading towards in the future, we in Pakistan need a Prime Minister who has the vision, capacity, mindset and skills to lead the country well into the coming decades. The characteristics of a future PM require them to be technologically sound. They need to progressive, inclusive and moderate. Pakistan needs a PM who values education and understands Generation Z, and what it needs in the future.
Technology is literally in our face every day. Whether we like it or not, want it or not, technology has and more so in the future, encapsulated our lives. We need a leader to comprehend not just the current or evolving trends of technological development like artificial intelligence, augmented reality or robotics, but someone who has the foresight to envision the pace, gravity and spread of the technologies of the future. We need a PM who can redesign, restructure and lay the foundations of a Pakistan based on these and more. A man or a woman PM who can bring the right minds and talents for the above and make sure that the country is ready to take on this global embrace of technology. We need a PM who can talk about things like ChatGPT, stem cell research, machine learning, and data science casually and normally. Someone who can influence and lay the ground for the youth of this country to understand, learn and use technology the way it ought to have been. Only a young and dynamic PM can motivate such a mindset, approach and attitude towards technology in Pakistan.
They say no country has ever been destroyed due to corruption alone, however, nations have been decimated due to religious extremism. I think we have come to a point where we need to talk about the real elephant in the room and tackle it as well. Pakistan is suffering today, due to years and years of engineered religious indoctrination and the opium for the masses has badly been used and abused to make us what we are today. We need a political party and a PM who separates religion from politics, and who keeps the clergy in its rightful place. We need a leader who helps build a counter narrative to extremist ideology and the intolerant mindset that has now dangerously pervaded the foundations of our society and politics. A PM with a vision to make sure they will systematically separate mosque from the state, as this isn’t an overnight proposition either.
We need a PM who stands up and calls out misogyny, bigotry and sexism loudly and regularly as part of their party and government’s policy. We need a PM who believes in and exhibits inclusivity of gender, religion, sect, ethnicity and sexual orientation. A person brave and bold enough to call out non inclusivity intelligently. The PM’s cabinet, team, experts and party should reflect all of the above. Basically, we need a PM who believes in these notions and walks the talk, instead of just the usual lip service.
Lastly, we need a PM who is a product of 21st century education, and can comprehend the demands of Gen Z. A person who understands the ever-changing dynamics of the world order and mechanisms, and works according to the pulse of their times. We need a PM who knows how the world works and how the present and the future generations think, work and function. This relationship can perhaps be a strong one only if the PM has young minds on their team and advisory council. A young PM who relates better with the future. A PM who is better versed and empathetic to the demands of the modern world, and a PM from the youth of this country who can drive us into the future decades as part of the new world, and not as a pariah state.
Sadly, when we look around our present crop of mainstream political parties and their heads, we don’t see much of a choice, as almost all of them are chaired by men in their 70s. The only ray of hope that fits into the demands mentioned above seem to come from the Pakistan People’s Party and its young co-chairperson Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. His brilliance, exuberance and vision can be seen through his work and actions. His stint as the youngest Foreign Minister of the country has shown promise and maturity. He has surely silenced his critics through his actions and not words. One hopes that he or any other such young leaders emerge and take this country ahead. Pakistan has seen enough regression, decadence and harm not to throw all this away into oblivion in search for a better, prosperous and a progressive future.