Once Shaukat Aziz assumes power as the new prime minister, multifarious challenges will rear their heads. Is he well-equipped and prepared to face those challenges?
It is almost certain that Shaukat Aziz would soon be preparing to take the oath as Pakistan’s prime minister, succeeding Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who will be the first ever elected head of government to complete his tenure.
Shaukat Aziz, like many of his colleagues in parliament, doesn’t have a long association with the new Pakistan Muslim League. The League was ‘reborn’ only three years ago to meet the requirements of the then developing socio-political situation.
Discovered by Gen Musharraf after overthrowing the Nawaz Sharif government, Shaukat Aziz was appointed finance minister, a position he held till a democratic government was elected. Since he was not a member of the National Assembly, he worked as ‘adviser’ and eventually became a senator. His presence in the cabinet as an adviser, though, was a signal to all concerned that Gen Musharraf wanted his economic policies to continue.
As he became a member of the upper house, Shaukat Aziz was re-designated as finance minister. His powers remained unchanged throughout.
Shaukat Aziz calls himself the “modern face” of his conservative family. It is said that he comes from a religious family. His wife belongs to a Syed family and mother is a Kashmiri. Shaukat Aziz believes that his faith in Allah grew stronger after he miraculously escaped an assassination attempt on his life in Fateh Jang, a few weeks prior to the Aug 18 by-election.
As far as his job goes, he recently said: “I have decided in my mind about the priorities I’ll be working on. I will focus on a few areas instead of working simultaneously on a number of subjects and getting no results.”
It is believed that Shaukat Aziz has views similar to those of President Musharraf. Therefore, it will be fair to say that the two will make a good team. Chances are that they will think and work alike.
There are indications that the war on terror and extremism will be intensified with Shaukat Aziz at the helm of affairs. He doesn’t like those who preach sectarianism. He intends to initially identify the ‘top 10’ or ‘top 100’ responsible for spreading the menace and will then employ all his energies to wipe them out. Those providing financial support to such people should be mentally prepared for come-uppance. Political pundits are of the view that in order to achieve the desired results, Shaukat Aziz will give more importance to team work. And there’s also a possibility that he will make some changes to the cabinet. He will have to work very hard to prove himself different from Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
In this regard, it would be interesting to mention that President Musharraf had recently told an industrialist at a meeting that Mir Zafarullah Jamali took quite some time to move from one place to another. He was referring to the weight that the Baloch leader had put on.
Fully aware of Gen Musharraf’s thoughts and views, Shaukat Aziz is expected to induct efficient people into his team, who are dynamic in their approach to achieving goals. It is believed that sluggish individuals will find it difficult to keep pace with him.
The composition of the National Assembly is such that the new prime minister will have to depend on the Pakistan People’s Party, led by Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. He will not be able to afford to annoy his coalition partners because of the PML’s thin majority in the lower house of parliament.
In this situation, there are chances that the new government would come up with ordinary laws and will be unable to make any constitutional amendments — a feat possible only with a two-thirds majority.
In fact, he will have to take immediate steps to mend fences with Pir Pagara, who has de-recognized Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain as president of the ruling party.
The outgoing prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, who will head the ruling party once Shaukat Aziz assumes power, said recently that all policy decisions would be taken by the party and the government would be duty-bound to implement them. This will be a good arrangement under the circumstances, since if the party claims credit for any good decisions, it will also have to share the responsibility in case some measures taken by it backfire.
There are many challenges that Shaukat Aziz has to face. Abject poverty, unemployment and corruption are some of them. He has been handling the country’s economy for the past five years — and there has been some noticeable improvement in economic affairs — but much more needs to be done. While it is true that foreign exchange reserves have gone up to $12 billion, his critics say that credit for the achievement doesn’t go to him. They opine that it’s because of the attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on Sept 11, 2001 that the overseas Pakistanis, afraid of getting their money seized, sent their deposits to Pakistan. Had there been no Sept 11, foreign exchange reserves would not have swelled to this level.
Shaukat Aziz must also bear in mind that the fruit of his economic policies have yet to reach the common man. The increase in the suicide rate in Pakistan — mainly because of economic distress — somewhat substantiates this view. This means that he would have to take some short-term measures to provide relief to the millions living below the poverty line. For such people any step, no matter how important to the country, has little relevance unless it helps them earn a decent living.
Unemployment is another issue that the new leader will have to grapple with. The gravity of the issue can be gauged from the fact that hundreds of thousands educated people in the country are not able to find employment opportunities. Once they fail in finding a suitable job, they start looking for other ways to survive, which may not necessarily be legal. Many young men recently arrested by different law enforcement agencies for committing a number of crimes were highly educated. They involved themselves in illegal activities because of their inability to find a legal means to earn a living.
Shaukat Aziz will have to handle the issue seriously. In this regard, innovative measures must be taken to promote industrialization in the country. Investors, local as well as foreign, shy away from investing in any sector in Pakistan because of which no new industrial units are coming up. To boot, the government can’t provide jobs to everybody.
Having said that, it’s not just the socio-economic situation that needs to be improved. Shaukat Aziz will also have to bring about substantial changes on all fronts, simply because President Musharraf picked him from the Senate, ignoring some 190 MNAs of the ruling coalition, each one of whom was eligible to be elected as prime minister. And since he has superseded so many colleagues, it should not come as a surprise for him if some of them involve themselves in hatching conspiracies against him. They may try and prove him a failure — and he has to thwart the moves of such people.
Shaukat Aziz will also be inheriting a tense political atmosphere. Leaders of the two major parties — the PPP and the PML(N) — have been out of the country for the past several years and their followers are consistently demanding that they should be allowed to return home. President Musharraf, for obvious reasons, cannot afford to grant them such a permission. As a result, followers of the PPP and the PML(N) together have been trying their best to pull down the government. But so far they have not been able to succeed because of the power that Gen Musharraf enjoys as the army chief.
The new prime minister will be doing a great national service if he could persuade the president to review his thoughts on the exiled leaders. These leaders should be allowed to come back. Benazir Bhutto and Mian Shahbaz Sharif will, perhaps, be willing to accept any restrictions imposed on them. PML(N) leaders and workers can also be expected to bring a change in Mian Nawaz Sharif’s views about Gen Musharraf. The possibility of Benazir Bhutto changing her heart and extending support to the present government cannot be ruled out too. This way, a new chapter of government-opposition relationship may be opened by Shaukat Aziz.
Once Shaukat Aziz assumes power as the new prime minister, multifarious challenges will rear their heads. Is he well-equipped and prepared to face those challenges? 
