Political stability denotes perennial peaceful conditions in a country. It owes its prevalence to a host of contributory factors including good governance, social harmony, absence of social fault lines, a strong justice-dispensing edifice, absence of economic disparities and social justice. They collectively represent the culture of a country. Studies and Researches done on the impact of political stability on economic growth and prosperity have invariably drawn the conclusions that there was a strong correlation between political stability and economic development. They actually complement each other.
The traditional view about economic development is that it was dependent on four factors of production namely land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship. They may be the vital ingredients to nudge economic growth but they could not prove productive without political stability acting as a catalyst. This is corroborated by the fact that some countries, in spite of having abundance of economic resources, but lacking political stability, remain underdeveloped or less developed whereas others with comparable amounts of development ingredients with political stability have achieved dizzying heights in the domain of economic prosperity. This reality corroborates the maxim that development is always culture-bound.
Germany, other EU countries and some Asian states such as Korea, Singapore, China and Malaysia, are the best examples of development being culture-bound. It was after the rise of Germany from the ashes and emergence of EU countries as economic powerhouses in the backdrop of World War II that the idea of development being culture-bound gained universal recognition and acceptance.
The bottom line is that no country can embark on the path of sustained economic development without the prevalence of political stability. It is imperative for providing a congenial environment for development of state institutions, strengthening democracy, promoting development in the industrial and agricultural domains, attracting direct foreign investment, building a competitive economic environment in the country, nudging intellectual development , creating an export-oriented industrial machine and above all improving governance.
Unfortunately Pakistan belongs to the group of countries where political stability has remained an elusive dream ever since its creation. It has great potential for economic development owing to the fact that it has a very strong agricultural base vital for the country’s transformation into an industrial economy and a hydro-power potential of well over 60,000 MW. The question arises as to why Pakistan has failed to use these factors as engines of growth? The answer is very simple. It has been a victim of self-created and self-inflicted political instability and tragedies. Both the military rulers and the politicians are equally responsible for the elusive political stability. Their shenanigans and politics of self-aggrandizement respectively are the root-cause of Pakistan being in the economic mess at the moment.
There is a need for national dialogue to look at the debilitating factors in our system of governance, economic policies and the mode of elections with a view to introduce required reforms that guarantee political stability vitally needed for changing the economic profile of the country. In view of the present political gridlock probably the praetorian powers and judiciary can play a facilitating role in kick-starting the dialogue between all the political stakeholders. Perhaps it is a good opportunity for the establishment to refurbish its image by playing a positive and neutral role in bringing the political stakeholders to the negotiating table
However, the political instability which has prevailed in the country since 2013 is greatly responsible for pushing the country towards the edge of a precipice. Regrettably there seems no end to it. Political rivalry which is a hallmark of democratic dispensation has been transformed into political enmity akin to tribal enmity. False egos and politics of self-aggrandizement are the main stumbling blocks in the way of defusing the volatile situation and averting economic disaster that stares us in the face.
The situation demands impregnable unity among all the political forces and employing their collective wisdom to winch the country out of the economic mess that it is trapped in, resolve contentious issues regarding governance and the way we elect our representatives. That is the only way to ensure political stability in the country and create a congenial environment for economic development.
To say that immediate elections are the only and desired prescription to tide over the situation is not a convincing proposition. We have seen the consequences of elections held under the prevalent system of governance invariably leading to the aggravation of political instability in the country. Repeating that exercise without effecting required reforms enjoying consensus of all the major political entities is tantamount to insanity. In the words of Einstein doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results is insanity.
Our system of governance and electing the public representatives promotes power politics and an elitist culture fraught with in-built avenues of corruption and misuse of power. It is indeed the root cause of our economic and political woes and failure of successive governments to deliver. The result is that neither the country has moved ahead nor the people— the real owners of this country— have seen any improvement in their lives.
There are no two opinions about the fact that the economic crisis gripping the country at the moment is a cumulative result of the incompetence, flawed policies of the successive regimes and their focus on building their own fortunes rather than promoting the economic wellbeing of the masses. However the major blame for the current economic mess lies on the incumbent regime and its predecessor.
There is no way to quick-fix the economic aberrations and if somebody says that the elections would bring forth the miracle to revive the economy and mitigate the sufferings of the people, he is surely trying to befool the people. In the prevailing circumstances when a party is unabashedly blaming the state institutions of being biased against it and is already hurling allegations of rigging, I do not think it is advisable to go ahead with elections. Who can guarantee that Imran Khan would accept the results if he loses or if he wins the opposition parties would let him rule the roost peacefully?
There is a need for national dialogue to look at the debilitating factors in our system of governance, economic policies and the mode of elections with a view to introduce required reforms that guarantee political stability vitally needed for changing the economic profile of the country. In view of the present political gridlock probably the praetorian powers and judiciary can play a facilitating role in kick-starting the dialogue between all the political stakeholders. Perhaps it is a good opportunity for the establishment to refurbish its image by playing a positive and neutral role in bringing the political stakeholders to the negotiating table.
