Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has recently admitted that political stability was highly important to achieve economic strength, attract investment, and ensure development and prosperity in the country. According to him, there would be no economic stability until there is no political stability, as both are interlinked with each other. During the inauguration ceremony of Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road in Rawalpindi, the Premier noted that the government’s political opponents were hatching conspiracies and spreading false propaganda when there was political instability in the country, how any businessman could be ready to invest in the country. The Premier accused the previous government of breaching the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which shattered the credibility of the country and currently, the Washington-based lender was hesitant to resume its agreement. In a bid to pay tribute to a renowned national war hero, the incumbent government named the famous IJ Principal Road separating Captial territory from Rawalpindi, as Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed (Nishan-e-Haidar) road. The Prime Minister commended the sacrifices of martyrs and noted that those nations remained alive and moved forward with pride that remembered their martyrs and respected their Armed Forces.
Over the past years, Pakistan slid into a deep economic crisis because of multiple economic challenges including low foreign reserves, a global energy crisis, high inflation, bad governance, and climate-induced events such as droughts and superfloods. In contrast, an all-time high political anarchy created by the ruling elite and opposition worsened the situation for the masses. The severe economic issues and price hikes pushed the middle and lower middle classes below the poverty line, while low government spending in the social sectors including health and education sharply declined the living standard of the public. Currently, a bed-sick economy is taking its last breaths amid the countrywide shutdown of business and reduced trade activities, however, leaders are busy in their political dogfight, election saga, and social media campaigns to let down each other in the forthcoming electoral contest.
Being the Chief Executive and Premier of the country, Mian Shehbaz Sharif has much worry about the economic meltdown, monetary challenges, public issues, and social and economic degradation in the country. The Premier has identified the political instability as a core reason for ongoing economic turmoil in the country, while Prime Minister himself and his aides persistently advocating for a charter of the economy to rescue the nation from the prevailing impasse. However, this verbal sloganeering and bandwagoning have no positive impact on the current situation as ruling political pandits are not moving an inch from their position regarding dialogue with their adversary to forge consensus on disputing issues. No accord could be achieved without engagement, dialogue, and statesmanship, hence negotiations of paramount importance to end antagonism, deadlock, and confrontation, that marred each aspect of our national life over the past two years.
Currently, the country has reached the brink of collapse and our leaders must not hope for any external aid to get resolve their economic issues. No friendly nation and global donors could rescue a nation whose leaders are not ready to pause their political agenda and end their egos to secure their nation from the genuine risk of economic default. The high cost of living has become intolerable and the impact of inflation has been multiplied by the prevailing political anarchy as the dollar has crossed the psychological threshold of Rs. 300 per buck. The unending tussle between the ruling coalition government and the PTI-led opposition has completely nose-downed the country’s economy. Neither the government nor the opposition has a sense of the devastating effects of their rigid attitude and each of them is trying to champion the situation through accusations, and unreal sloganeering without taking crucial measures urgently needed to abreast political stability and economic growth.
It is high time that our leaders feel the sensitivity of the situation, and cease their hostility by initiating a dialogue with each other to discuss national issues, and forge consensus over conflicting policies to chart out a framework, that paves the way for the highly essential charter of democracy and charter of economy. For that purpose, the government has to demonstrate big-heartedness and generosity, whereas Prime Minister Shehbaz has a very crucial role in that context. Anyway, the time would illustrate whether Primer acts on the call of the day or continues point-scoring and political exploitation during his remaining term in office.
