Key observations made at the US President Joe Biden inauguration also carry a message for other nations, including Pakistan, trapped in deeply troubled economies, divisive politics and low-profile violence at the fringe.

To overcome the challenges to restore the soul and secure the future of America, President Biden said, requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy — unity.

By pledging to heal wounds, Biden intends to lower political temperature created under Trump’s presidency that has become a major problem.

He has also secured the Republican’s cooperation for his stimulus package to manage economic recovery though the amount is not as much he had sought. Trump left office with the unity of Republicans impaired.

With a transactional approach, the PTI government has sought consensus with opposition to get a few bills passed by the parliament which may or may not prove be a part of any of integrated long-term strategic approach for lasting solutions

However, the course to national unity lies in upholding common interests and giving a voice to the voiceless in a citizen-based participatory democracy.

In Pakistan with a transactional approach, the PTI government has sought consensus with opposition to get a few bills passed by the parliament which may or may not prove be a part of any of integrated long-term strategic approach for lasting solutions.

Now once again it has initiated talks with the opposition to reduce political tensions and to let the parliamentary business function smoothly.

The resumption of talks agreed between two sides for January 25 however did not take place as the PML-N ruled out cooperation with the government on any issue following its parliamentary meeting held earlier the same day.

The Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan has hinted that the government planned to invite the opposition for talks in the coming days. With unabated political heat, the dialogue apparently cannot have an easy sailing, if held.

For the last two and a half years, the ruling party has lost a bit its political capital required to strengthen its parliamentary writ. Critics allege that the government is being run through ordinances. The PTI government is also struggling with the baffling problem of economic growth without a parliamentary consensus on required issues.

The Economic Update for January issued by the finance ministry says recovery will continue but with possible lower activities owing to the resurgence of Covid-19. Amid ‘exceptional certainties’ the latest International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook of January 26 projects a growth rate of 5.5 per cent for the global economy and 1.5pc for Pakistan. It may be noted that here that the PTI government has managed to contain pandemic much better than many other countries.

The nascent recovery is marked by erratic monthly macro-economic trends. In December, the trade imbalance widened to $5 billion and current account surpluses of past few months turned into a deficit. The finance ministry sees imports this month in the range of $4.5bn to $5bn and exports to be stabilised at current levels of around $2.2bn.

Foreign direct investment has dropped by 30pc to $952 million while the repatriation of profits and dividends were 26pc higher than total foreign inflows including portfolio investment in the first half of the current fiscal year.

Busy in addressing day-to-day matters the government has found little time for addressing long-term problems with rare exceptions.

Conceptually, in the strategic areas of some lasting value are its proactive policies to boost construction and housebuilding industry. Falling in the same category, while insulated from ground realities, and without going into its merits or demerits, is the civil service reform to improve its skills and efficiency.

With deviations from constitutional norms and rule of law, institutional reforms in Pakistan have not been an unqualified success, if not failures.

Let’s take the fate of our crusade against corruption. The fault lines in the actual functioning of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) since the days of former President Musharraf has now come under unprecedented public scrutiny. Political pressure is mounting to make NAB accountable for its alleged defaults.

In a critical appreciation of the Broadsheet episode, retired air vice-marshal Shahzad Chaudhry noted that over $30m were paid to Mousavi and Jerry James ‘without doing a penny’s worth of work.’

Referring to Mousavi’s media coverage he asks: “where else do you get free money and be a star at the same time than an impoverished, buffeted, disorganised and fragmented Pakistan.’ The eminent analyst concludes: “We in turn ravel on authority but in complete absolution of responsibility.”

It may be recalled that in the US president’s inauguration Jennifer Lopez was invited to sing a pop rendition of ‘This Land is Your Land’, considered as an unofficial US national anthem. In her remarks in Spanish at the end, the famous singer, also a businesswoman, pledged allegiance ‘to a nation that promises liberty and justice for all.’

In an economy with a poor tax culture, tax evaders are frequently offered amnesty and that too without any significant result on revenue collection. While tax evaders are rewarded, honest taxpayers are punished.

A well-known tax expert in Lahore fears that the current tax amnesty mode can be grossly abused by some unscrupulous developers and builders by overstating their properties to whiten bigger amounts.

Given this background, it is not clear how meritocracy envisaged in the civil service reforms will help improve the government’s service delivery for public welfare.

In a broader sense, former President of Overseas Investment Chamber of Commerce and Industry Fahat Ali describes the civil service reforms as ‘revolutionary.’ But he hastens to add that the biggest challenge to reforms is political leadership heading the government that tends to judge the civil servants entirely based on their loyalty and their subservience to their (leadership’s) dictates.

For sake of clarity, one may here explain that both civilian and non-civilian rulers fall in the category of political leadership because as soon as someone in uniform takes over reigns of civilian government he dons a political gown. As they say, the state after all is a political theatre.

As times have changed necessary critical adjustments need to be made. To illustrate the point, one may here quote from an article titled ‘Democrats, repeat after me: help people fast’ published by a leading US newspaper. The author says, “Democrats need to reimagine their role. They cannot merely defend the political system. They must rebuild it.”

That is the course Pakistan also need to take with unity, faith and discipline as advised by Quaid-e-Azam.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 1st, 2021