November 24 turned out to be day , which finally brought some stability in Pakistan’s most triggered political power play. We as a nation have been seeing massive ups and down because of political instability for a very long time but Pakistan’s political landscape for the past few months had to be toughest period. The country had quite literally been plunged into a crisis, one that was proving increasingly difficult to emerge from.
And in this continued tug of war of power among the political parties, individuals and the establishment, it was the common man was suffering the most because of economic crises and now seeing a breakthrough in the prevalent political climate in terms of everyone coming to terms with the appointment of new army chief, has brought a sigh of relief. With the hope that maybe things can now start moving towards a positive direction.
It is so unfortunate , that Pakistan, a country with an abundance of untapped potential has been on its way to become a failed economic state because the lust for power has been the only agenda of our political elite and other powers. The situation of a common man has only gone down day by day in last few months and our ruling elite in their own fights , stopped realizing that their actions have long-lasting consequences on us as a nation.
According to a report by the World Bank, over the past two decades Pakistan’s economic growth has remained “volatile and slow.” Despite massive reserves of natural resources, Pakistan has not been able to reach its full economic potential which can only be credited to an unstable political climate, bad polices as a state , involvement in war on terror and all this again comes back to the power agendas of our establishment and political parties. The recent flooding has only aggravated the problem of our economic instability as it destroyed over 9.4 acres of cultivated land.
This fact, coupled with the harsh impact on infrastructure will severely impact the Gross Domestic Product as Pakistan is an agricultural based economy. The flooding has displaced over 23 million people, and yet, the main focus of our leaders seem to remain set on petty political gains.
Pakistan relies heavily on imports for its food items as well as energy needs, and these have increased as a result of the ongoing domestic crisis. Domestic industries are at risk of shutting down. The fact that we are living at a time where a global recession is taking place has not helped matters. Commodity prices have increased to an all-time high, leaving millions malnourished and without any hope of leading a dignified life as is the right of every citizen. This will also have a major impact on our Human Development Index, a major indicator of economic development. The current account has worsened and foreign reserves have dwindled as well.
In fact, according toThe Economist, our reserves have decreased to more than half, just a little over $9 billion, which is roughly only six weeks of imports. The state of the Pakistani stock market is deplorable as well. Moreover, the incessant devaluation of the rupee against the dollar is only making matters worse. The inflation rate is at its peak as well, at 26.6% so common food items are beginning to feel like a luxury only available to a few rather than the masses.
Suffice to say, if things concerns are not addressed soon, Pakistan had been heading down the same path as Siri Lanka. Yet our leadership, whether it’s the PDM, PTI or the establishment, chooses to focus on personal interests rather than making sure that the country does not default and it all kept going on even when it came to the appointment of our Army Chief.
Pakistan has become a mere punch line to a joke lately, as far as the rest of the world is concerned. The series of events that led us to become an object of mockery needed to be dealt with skillfully rather than exploiting one an other. Starting with cypher and regime change debacle as well as the no trust motions and the current situation, our leadership needed to take actual, concrete steps towards a political solution.
Over the past few months, Pakistan has made international headlines on more than one occasion and it is rarely in a positive manner. Not just that, Pakistan, being a nuclear state has always been under scrutiny and has been under a microscope by international players and linked with terrorism as it is. We have always been labelled as “volatile” and with the establishment being dragged in petty conflicts, opened doors for questions and criticism by foreign powers.
With the new faces as the supreme powers in establishment now, we hope things will get better, better policies will be in place and most importantly the tug of war between the political parties can stay between them.
And in this continued tug of war of power among the political parties, individuals and the establishment, it was the common man was suffering the most because of economic crises and now seeing a breakthrough in the prevalent political climate in terms of everyone coming to terms with the appointment of new army chief, has brought a sigh of relief. With the hope that maybe things can now start moving towards a positive direction.
It is so unfortunate , that Pakistan, a country with an abundance of untapped potential has been on its way to become a failed economic state because the lust for power has been the only agenda of our political elite and other powers. The situation of a common man has only gone down day by day in last few months and our ruling elite in their own fights , stopped realizing that their actions have long-lasting consequences on us as a nation.
According to a report by the World Bank, over the past two decades Pakistan’s economic growth has remained “volatile and slow.” Despite massive reserves of natural resources, Pakistan has not been able to reach its full economic potential which can only be credited to an unstable political climate, bad polices as a state , involvement in war on terror and all this again comes back to the power agendas of our establishment and political parties. The recent flooding has only aggravated the problem of our economic instability as it destroyed over 9.4 acres of cultivated land.
This fact, coupled with the harsh impact on infrastructure will severely impact the Gross Domestic Product as Pakistan is an agricultural based economy. The flooding has displaced over 23 million people, and yet, the main focus of our leaders seem to remain set on petty political gains.
Pakistan relies heavily on imports for its food items as well as energy needs, and these have increased as a result of the ongoing domestic crisis. Domestic industries are at risk of shutting down. The fact that we are living at a time where a global recession is taking place has not helped matters. Commodity prices have increased to an all-time high, leaving millions malnourished and without any hope of leading a dignified life as is the right of every citizen. This will also have a major impact on our Human Development Index, a major indicator of economic development. The current account has worsened and foreign reserves have dwindled as well.
In fact, according toThe Economist, our reserves have decreased to more than half, just a little over $9 billion, which is roughly only six weeks of imports. The state of the Pakistani stock market is deplorable as well. Moreover, the incessant devaluation of the rupee against the dollar is only making matters worse. The inflation rate is at its peak as well, at 26.6% so common food items are beginning to feel like a luxury only available to a few rather than the masses.
Suffice to say, if things concerns are not addressed soon, Pakistan had been heading down the same path as Siri Lanka. Yet our leadership, whether it’s the PDM, PTI or the establishment, chooses to focus on personal interests rather than making sure that the country does not default and it all kept going on even when it came to the appointment of our Army Chief.
Pakistan has become a mere punch line to a joke lately, as far as the rest of the world is concerned. The series of events that led us to become an object of mockery needed to be dealt with skillfully rather than exploiting one an other. Starting with cypher and regime change debacle as well as the no trust motions and the current situation, our leadership needed to take actual, concrete steps towards a political solution.
Over the past few months, Pakistan has made international headlines on more than one occasion and it is rarely in a positive manner. Not just that, Pakistan, being a nuclear state has always been under scrutiny and has been under a microscope by international players and linked with terrorism as it is. We have always been labelled as “volatile” and with the establishment being dragged in petty conflicts, opened doors for questions and criticism by foreign powers.
With the new faces as the supreme powers in establishment now, we hope things will get better, better policies will be in place and most importantly the tug of war between the political parties can stay between them.