The Only Way Forward
By Farhana Mohamed, MBA, PhD
California , USA
On August 10, President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari returned from his controversial ten-day trip of France and Britain. President Zardari’s opinion piece entitled, “ Pakistan’s Project of Renewal,” appeared in the August 11 issue of the Wall Street Journal. As far as the impact of War on Terror on Pakistan, it was concise & impressive. However, it failed to score points why President Zardari took an expensive and glamorous European trip (costing an estimated $1.5 million to the poor country’s exchequer) just as the misery of the monsoon rains in Pakistan was unfolding.
In the article Mr. Zardari acknowledged that he initiated his travel after the current devastating monsoon rains started pounding on Pakistan. The justification was to “mobilize foreign assistance,” but the amount fell way short of what would have been expected by personal appeal made by the President of Pakistan. The initial British pledge of $27 million, (later raised to $50 million) would have occurred anyway due to deteriorating flood situation in Pakistan. The latest U.S. pledge of $150 million was done without Mr. Zardari’s physical presence.
Speaking about the magnitude of the calamity, per the United Nations, Pakistan’s floods are the worst natural catastrophe of this decade surpassing Asian Tsunami (2004), Pak-Kashmir earthquake (2005), and Haiti earthquake (2010). While about 1,600 lives are lost, 20 million people have been displaced, 1.7 million acres of farmland destroyed, and about 20% of Pakistan is estimated to be submerged under water. Pakistan needs $460 million to address just the short-term needs. After a whirlwind tour of the flood-affected areas on August 15, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the Pak floods, “as the worst disaster he has ever witnessed.”
Besides being untimely, President Zardari’s visit to Britain was politically controversial as he had to walk on a thin line of national pride. This was considering the July 25 statement made by the British Prime Minister David Cameron in Bangalore, India. He accused Pakistan of double-dealing: “….we have to make sure that the Pakistan authorities are not looking two ways” by dealing with the Taliban as well as the West. He then chanted the favorite mantra of some Western leaders of Pakistan not doing enough in fighting militancy. There was no mentioning of the fact that over 6,000 Pakistani civilians have perished in the ongoing war on terror with almost 1,300 losing their lives by suicide bombing in 2009 alone.
On the August 3 stopover in Los Angeles, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, made an eloquent upbeat speech. He indirectly alluded to criticism that Zardari trip was drawing. He said he also makes business trip and they are part of his job so the criticism (on President Zardari’s foreign travel) was unwarranted. One is not sure if a fair comparison can be drawn since Mr. Haqqani was definitely on a bonafide job-related business trip to Los Angeles. His itinerary included items such as addressing the community, meeting with the local business leaders, and a chat with the Editorial Board of Los Angeles Times.
It would be interesting to compare President Zardari’s trip with that undertaken by the U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and her nine-year old daughter in early August to a fashionable resort in Southern Spain. Per the Los Angeles Times, while the leased jet’s expenses were $178,000, the first class round trip fare for two ($15,000) was voluntarily re-reimbursed by Obamas, Mrs. Obama’s friends who accompanied her paid for all of their expenses. Despite public criticism the travel drew, the expenses incurred are insignificant in comparison to usually lavish travel budget of the present and past Pakistani ruling elite. With about 35% of the Pakistani population living at $2 or less, these excesses undertaken by the Pakistani dignitaries are beyond any reason.
On August 9, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani announced that he is planning to send parliamentary delegations abroad to secure funds for the flood victims. Spending precious foreign exchange on such delegations is an exercise in futility since usually the delegates do not carry enough influence or clout to bring any foreign policy change, attract foreign investment, or secure monetary aid. In comparison, influential Pakistani expatriates, especially those residing in the West and Middle East, are more resourceful and sophisticated and have already launched impressive campaigns to collect donations.
According to the PEW Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project Poll released in July 2010, popularity graph of Asif Zardari had slipped to 20% - an all time low compared to 64% in 2008. The elected government of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) seems to have taken some positive steps lately to address the dip in its popularity. For instance, since return from his European trip, President Zardari has made several trips to the flood-stricken regions from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Sukkar. On August 16, he also cut short his (yes, one more) trip to Russia from two days to few hours. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani canceled glitzy celebrations slated for Pakistan Independence Day, and announced setting up of a National Oversight Disaster Management Council for fair distribution of funds to handle food, shelter, health, and rehabilitation issues of the flood-impacted population.
Pakistan is facing the brunt of war on terrorism; the deteriorating security situation and incessant energy shortage have negatively impacted economic growth. This unfortunate scenario is compounded by natural disasters (such as 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods) and further exacerbated by senseless target killing, sectarian violence, and unleashed government spending on non-developmental projects. Adding insult to the injury, slogans of bringing military dictatorship is nostalgic at best. With the exception of few years of economic prosperity during the Ayub Khan era, all other dictators were acutely responsible in bringing the country to the brink of collapse until kicked out by popular pressure.
It’s not to say that democracy has been a perfect prescription for Pakistan but that is the only way to bring long-term remedy to the malaise. No matter how flawed, excessive, and corrupt, in the end all elected leaders are accountable to the masses. Especially due to the new emerging vibrant civil society and vocal media in Pakistan, ineffective and inept leadership will slowly but surely get replaced by a more stable and transparent democratic system. Just like the Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, majority of Pakistanis do long for a moderate progressive prosperous Pakistan and democracy is the only way to actualize this dream.
