For Pakistan to shake off its historical baggage, a pro-people power shift has become inescapable in any well-thought-out strategy for synchronised, balanced economic, social and political development.

The space for such a shift, though apparently subdued now, is opening up owing to the mess created by poor governance and weakening writs of governments, despite the support extended to them by the core establishment to manage what is turning out to be virtually unending political instability and economic crisis.

And going by news reports, the power centres are also not immune now from the influences of the country’s divisive politics. Power politics appears to be in a melting pot.

The cost of living crisis and rising unemployment are further widening the wedge between governments and the common citizens. We appear to have reached a dead end and turning back to take a new correction course is the only option left.

The power centres are not immune from the influences of the country’s divisive politics

“The existing dysfunctional and decomposed governance mechanism, people and processes cannot handle the nature of the crisis we are in,” says social analyst Naeem Sadiq. In his opinion, the existing government machinery is a parasite that consumes almost the entire budget for its own maintenance and benefits, adding very negligible value to the purpose of its being.

And our only escape, he suggests, lies in closing down many of our non-productive ministries, departments and commissions and downsizing the rest to half. Sadiq calls on the policymakers to focus on dilapidated governance and its archaic processes.

Given the above scenario, Dr Khurram Tariq, President of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, argues that tax should not be a source of income but it should be a by-product of economic activity.

Politician and economist Aisha Ghaus Pasha informed the National Assembly that Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio is only nine per cent, one of the lowest in the world. Estimates differ but Pakistan’s undocumented economy is between half and one-third of the country’s GDP.

Researcher Amal Hashim says 62pc of the citizens of Karachi live in informal settlements where they face a host of issues from lack of transport to quality of education and healthcare. Karachi is the country’s largest city, with an officially estimated population of 16.5 million people. Mr Hashim was speaking at the sixth international Conference on Urban and Regional Planning, which was organised by Karachi University with the theme ‘Urban Poor and the Cities.’

Social scientist Foqia Sadiq Khan is of the view that Pakistan is under-performing and needs to adhere to good policy advice and strengthen the ‘winners’ of reforms at the cost of elitist ‘losers’ of reforms if it wants to transform into a country that has equitable growth undergirded by productivity.

Every country, including desperately poor nations, has moneyed elites who aren’t interested in economic growth, says former finance minister Miftah Ismail. Their preoccupation is with keeping a large share of the economic pie for themselves. It is the poor and the middle class that benefits from economic growth.

“Only grassroots movements can deliver,” says Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, former ambassador to the US, China and India. He believes that “economic vulnerabilities are carefully sustained by domestic ruling elites and their Western approved technical policy minions against any radical reform programme.”

One can already witness a movement for culture change reflected in the national discourse that embraces a wide segment of stakeholders and opinion builders. Subjects such as the role of establishments in politics, that of various institutions in upholding specific constitutional provisions and the conduct of three mainstream parties are being discussed with fierce intensity.

Independent economists, analysts, and opinion builders deviate from economic textbooks and offer practical solutions to worsening problems. Smaller political parties, with closer links with the local people, are throwing their weight to voice the common citizens’ demand and strengthen grassroots democracy.

It is also an era of individual self-determination, which is reinforced by the opportunity provided by disruptive technology for the ‘have nots’ to improve their quality of life. For example, according to a Pakistan Institute of Development Economics survey, vendors’ street economy in urban Pakistan is conservatively estimated at around Rs900-Rs1,000 billion, run by close to a million street vendors.

The citizens need to take their governance into their own hands, says analyst Anjum Altaf. They would not do a worse job than the motley bunch of uncaring electable(s) and strong men they have handed over their destiny to. The eminent analyst says that the current deep-seated crisis can only be resolved by radical solutions, not the usual reforms.

While the incumbent government is struggling to pull the country out of the current crisis, there is no clarity on what former prime minister Imran Khan would do if returned to power in the forthcoming elections.

Referring to Mr Khan’s narrative for change, political, defence and security analyst Shahzad Chaudhry says, “it is still about the man rather than his mission that find our fancy.” He raises some pertinent questions: How will Khan improve the lot of the common man? What shall be his economic policy? How will he deliver us from the yoke of an import-based economy and astronomical debt stock? What are his plans to convert the more than likely two-thirds majority into an effective governance opportunity? He points out that it is time to place issues before individuals and tasks above the person.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 28th, 2022