I ALWAYS wonder in dismay and astonishment that being such a poor country, why we have a ‘president’ at all. In the UK, there is only a prime minister and no ceremonial president, though it has a monarch.

In the US, there is a president and no prime minister. When such affluent countries cannot afford the luxury of maintaining two giant posts simultaneously, why should Pakistan, under a debt worth billions of dollars, is wasting its time, resources and energy in maintaining a president, who is good for nothing.

Is it not evident from his inertia and a back-seat approach during the ongoing political hiccup? If he is a symbol of the federation, then has he offered his pearl of wisdom to steer Pakistan out of the whirlpool of the political imbroglio? The money saved from the president’s post can be diverted to make universities and hospitals of repute. We don’t need a dummy and pliant president, do we?

Safir A. Siddiqui
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2014