Pakistan needs a strong government with decisive electorate mandate to manage the country effectively.

If election 2013 throws up another hung parliament, the current low economic growth phase may drag on, fears the business community.

The community tends to cast its vote long before the elections by providing financial support to candidates and parties. It is safe to assume that all political parties must be busy capitalising on their contacts to locate resources to fund their campaigns.

The businessmen are said to be operating individually or in small groups of like-minded peers in dealing with parties seeking support. The chances of collective endorsement of a particular party are slim.

Eyeing the fragile balance between power centres they would adopt an apolitical public posture while most likely supporting major political parties simultaneously to minimise the risk of falling on the wrong side of the next government.

There were many shades of opinions in the trade and industry over the question of collective political preferences of the community ahead of elections. A random interview- based survey by this scribe indicated that the business opinion was influenced by its size and location.

A strong segment of Corporate Pakistan prefers new entrants over the two mainstream parties as they find PTI and MQM to be more sensitised towards business issues with a set of solutions that they find favourable to their interests. They said their vote is for a change that traditional parties cannot deliver.

The medium-size industry with a stronger base in Punjab attributed the poor quality of governance to the nature of the coalition government and not necessarily to the absence of will on the part of the leading political party to implement a programme of action to deliver. They found the big business opinion unrealistic.

They maintained that either of the two major parties, the PPP and PML(N), are capable of changing the destiny of Pakistan provided they enjoy undivided electorate mandate.

The small businesses were found comparatively indifferent and disillusioned with politics. Like ordinary people they were too distressed. They expressed their distrust on the current crop of politicians irrespective of their political orientation and party affiliations. They were skeptical about the conduct of leading lights of the business community who, they felt, failed them as much as politicians did. They said they cannot afford to annoy anyone and would prefer to keep to sidelines.

A strong segment the big business, for the first time, has articulated its position based on an elaborate exercise. All other layers of businesses were represented by their leaders who aired their views but lacked convincing basis to justify their stand or consistency in their position.

Pakistan Business Council, a private think tank representing 38 top firms in Pakistan, covering textile, auto, drug, cement, fertiliser, chemical, consumer giants and banks, carried out an elaborate exercise to develop its own preference for a political party.

They have evolved a five- point national economic agenda (NEA) which they consider can help achieve a target of high 6-8 per cent GDP growth in Pakistan. They interacted with six political parties to seek their support. They tabulated their response and published it.

PTI endorsed 68 per cent of NEA, MQM 45 per cent, PPP 42 per cent, PML(N) 35 per cent, ANP 29 per cent and PML(Q) 23 per cent.

“Yes, we tend to be soft towards PTI, as the party that understands and has committed to solve issues facing the economy our way”, PBC CEO Kamran Mirza, commented.

“I think many businessmen of Karachi, outside PBC, feel the same way. Both PTI and MQM keeps close liaison with battered community and speak their heart out on issues such as taxation regime that unduly burdens industry and lets the agriculture income enjoy tax holiday, etc.”, Majyd Aziz, a former president of Karachi Chamber of Commerce, and Industry said.

“Besides presence of Asad Omer and Jehangir Tareen in PTI and Dr Farooq Sattar in MQM also matters in cultivating understanding between industry and their respective parties”, he added.

Some leaders contacted in Punjab were not ready to treat MQM as a national party and considered PTI a group that has yet to prove its electoral credentials. They were inclined more towards PPP and PML (N).

“United you rise and divided you fall. I believe that the nation is still divided over every issue under the sun. We need to strive to evolve consensus on basic issues to tread forward. When energies are applied to pull the country in all possible directions, the outcome will only be what it is: stationary movement like a rocking chair or a see- saw”, lamented a business leader of Faisalabad hinting at pulls and pushes in the PPP -led coalition government.

“I met President Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto a few days back and found them to be much better than their image. They were patient and appreciated problems faced by the business community. They explained reasons of their ineffectiveness that made sense”, Iftikhar Safi, whose late brother Eijaz Shafi rose to become minister in 1990s in Nawaz Sharif cabinet, told Dawn over phone.

For the country to deliver on the promise of better economic opportunities to its citizens and businesses and to catch up with other competing nations it needs to expand its economy at the minimum annual rate of six per cent. The rich endowments in Pakistan in men and material remain underutilised because of mismanagement, corruption, inconsistency in policies and collapse of governance.