Post election, the air is thick with suspense. Speculations are rife on who and what sort of government would assume power. Varying forces are busy articulating moves and counter moves, some in full public view and more perhaps behind the scene.

Does it make the business class of the country nervous? Many businessmen admit that the scenario looks slightly different from the one that emerged after the previous elections, but industrialists and businessmen are counting, above all, on the peaceful transition of power to elected representatives.

They claim to hold an indifferent attitude towards the actual composition of the next government, so long as it is stable and holds a sympathetic view about problems confronting trade and industry.

“Yes, I believe business people are a little concerned but we cannot afford to be pessimistic”, said a seasoned businessman who asked not to be named. He said business community is worried over the uncertainty on how the far-right religious grouping (the Mutehda Majlis-e-Amal—MMA factor) would look at the business and industrial sectors. “Would or could they or others who sit in the new parliament do anything to undo the liberal image of Pakistan that the military government has managed to carve out, is a worrying question on many minds, he said, and added that the country needs to maintain harmonious economic relations with the rest of the world and in particular, with Pakistan’s biggest trading partner—the US.

But he hastened to add that his statement should not be construed to mean that business class prefers dictator’s rule over democracy. He claimed that the business and industrialists are all in support of a representative government as compared to an autocratic set-up and he reasoned why: “A democratic government sells better in the West as it is perceived to be more credible since its decisions are protected by the constitution”.

When doubts were expressed about the depth of private sector’s commitment to a democratic order, the chief of a business union defended the claimed position of the business classes in favour of democracy, saying: “We might not be in the forefront of democratic classes but our interests are most certainly intertwined with the people and the soil of the country”. He went on to explain: “Even if the key concern and interest of private sector is maximisation of profit, everyone knows fully well that such a goal can only be achieved when there is law and order and the path is set for general economic stability”.

Mr A Q Khalil, an ex-president KCCI said that it is argued that improvement in law and order situation is pre-requisite for the rapid growth in industrialisation, but in our country the law and order would follow and not precede industrial expansion. Elaborating on this point he said that unemployment and economic discontentment are the root cause of this problem. “You provide people with economic opportunities and see how it works to lessen the magnitude of law and order problem in the country”, he said. Another businessman, actively monitoring the politico-economic situation, agreed with that notion. He said that the issue of unemployment could only by handled if and when economic expansion with full involvement of the private sector takes place. Everyone is now watching to see, how the new elected government would deal with the perennial problems of poverty, unemployment and law and order.

But the recent elections have also gone to show that the business community has come of age. It was not just accidental that several known industrialists and traders contested for both national and provincial assembly seats on tickets won from all major political parties and alliances. There were in all some 15 businessmen who contested elections 2002 from Karachi alone. The list included some bigwigs, such as: Ejaz Shafi, Mamnoon Hussein, Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, Wajid Jawad, Mohammad Hussain Mehnti, Abu Bakar Sheikhani, Haji Saeed Shafiq, Owais Jangra, Abdul Majid Mewa Wala, Sultan Ahmed Chawla and Jabber Moti. They contested from platforms of different political parties. But the point is that the fact that contesting businessmen fought for almost all parties, was not at all by default, but by design.

Deliberations to chart out an election strategy by the business class had started much ahead of October. Enquiries revealed that the business leaders of Karachi, in anticipation of the elections had gathered at the office of a local business tycoon several months ago. The purpose was to chart out an election strategy for the protection and promotion of legitimate interests of the business class. In all some 30 to 35 business heavy weights representing all groups and interests participated in discussions that considered various options.

One idea that was most actively debated was that the community should form its own platform instead of giving out moral and material support to the in-field political parties’ candidates. The focus of discussion thus shifted to analyse if the previous strategy of putting weight of the community behind one or a group of political parties had really paid off.

Not really, but the new idea of stand-alone approach, it was agreed by the majority, looked to be premature and therefore risky.

The debate on the issue, however, continued at several rounds of meetings. It was finally decided that instead of fielding candidates from some separate platform, it was more appropriate to encourage members of the community to secure tickets for national and provincial assembly seats from existing political parties and their alliances.

It was also decided that the community would lend support to all candidates, irrespective of their party affiliations. Explaining the wisdom of the decision, a business tycoon who was among the participants of those strategy meetings, says: “Formation of an exclusive platform would have antagonised other political parties”, and he added that such a move would also have meant that the community has distanced itself from the future elected government, which businessmen could ill afford.

“We have dealings on daily basis with government functionaries... Our business interests dictate flexibility and we opted for that”, he stressed.

Much to the chagrin of some observers, there is little doubt that the business community is opting more than ever to mix business with politics. An academician remarked, rather uncharitably towards the ways of the private sector: “Instead of indulging in politics they should concentrate in putting their act together to make the sector perform better”, she protested.

But, direct participation of businessmen in national elections is, nonetheless, increasing over time. It is another matter that only one of the 15 candidates who stood up to fight, could win his way into the parliament: from MMA platform. Several businessmen attributed the dismal performance of the businessmen to flaws in implementation of the strategy that looked to have been carefully carved out earlier.

“It so happened that many businessmen stood up in the same constituency, contesting against each other, which led to confusion and all that ended up in cross cutting votes”, an ex-president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry commented.

He said that in future, the community would try to adjust seats as well, so as to achieve better results”. In Karachi, most known businessmen contested from NA 250, 252, 239 and 249.

For the moment, businessmen are talking tongue in cheek about the newly emerged parliamentary force: the politico-religious, Mutehda-Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

When asked how they perceive the MMA role, Shaukat Iqbal, President KCCI responded diplomatically: “They are not what they are perceived to be. They are all educated patriotic Pakistanis. We hope they will adopt flexibility and do nothing that may upset the apple cart”, said he.