Resilience and Change

Reversing the needle of the clock leads to the tales via which we un­derstand how the societies once crumbled to the dust, rose not only from the ashes but also managed to become the epitome of resil­ience and change. What made their change possible was the socioeconom­ic and political incentives and initiatives — broad-based and long-lasting — created by the state and individuals as well, for good.

Solon was one of the archons of ancient Athens, who via his vi­sions led the common Athenians against the mighty elite to cre­ate an egalitarian society simultaneously making the elite ‘hap­py enough’ so they would not run a rebellious campaign against him within solely a (busy!) year. He — Solon — brought about some sort of liberty in the society, relaxed the monopolies of the elite, broke the cage of norms and created economic and political in­centives to balance the power between the rulers and the ones being ruled.

Another example is from the so-called Western society: the United States of America. After the birth of America as an independent state with thirteen initial counties, the policies and procedures were hard to make though — same as Pakistan faced in the initial years of indepen­dence since we took nine-long-years to present a Constitution — the American revolutionaries like George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison had taken egalitarian incentives to craft policies and frameworks that were and are one-size-fits-all — such as the ‘Patent Sys­tem’. Those policies and the leadership odyssey made the difference! Ge­ography doesn’t matter. Leadership matters. The most, in fact. As the na­tion gladly bid adieu to the caretaker government, from August of 2023 all the way to March 2024, the government left scars of political polar­isation, a tattering economy, and worsening sociocultural affairs. The lengthiest of all, the epoch presented an even grimmer picture of Paki­stan with no positive change such as the subjugation of curtain political party leaders along with downsizing democratic values.

With the new government — weakest of all time, with the coalition of six parties — comes to surface with Shehzad Sharif as the captain along with a strong and aggressive opposition with an intention of resisting back ev­ery legislation presented in the parliament, can he turn the direction of the country towards prosperous Pakistan against the icebergs of poverty, inequality, violence, extremism, fiscal deficits, foreign debts, national se­curity and political polarisation? Being the only premier of Pakistan with having the privilege to sit on the throne twice in consecutive terms, a lot of expectations are attached to him locally as well nationally. When last time they ascended to the throne — again, a coalition government i.e PDM — in consequence of the vote of no-confidence in April 2022, a prolonged cloud of negativity overshadowed the silver lining of stability, a wave of ‘difficult decisions’ made the marginalised masses suffer further and unresponsive modus operandi towards combating flood repercussions underscored the PTI claims of an ‘imported government’ due to lack of calamity prepared­ness as well as the ineffectiveness of post-flood measures.

Pakistan has always been enduring the dearth of decent leadership, been under the heel of fiscal deficits and has suffered an economic proximity to doldrums. Plus, the hurly-burly political and social upheavals remained questions yet unanswerable for the successive governments. As the coali­tion clan walks in to undertake their respective responsibilities, can they manage to get back the ‘stability’ that is lost in the whirlpool of vulnerabil­ity? Will they apply new tactics and technicalities to recover shackled ‘pro­ductivity’? Will they be able to hold the hand of ‘sustainability’? Let time tell.

One of the Herculean tasks Shahbaz has to go through is provid­ing ministries to the individuals having background of that particular theme. Not to the parliamentarians having proximity to the clan. For ex­ample, the finance ministry must go to one with the potential to kill the cause of the problem, not just treating the symptoms. The likes of Ishaq Dar and Shaukat Tareen cannot lead to macroeconomic boons. Plus, the repetition of history will quite unlikely bear expected fruits as a saying goes through: “two wrongs cannot make one right”.

With the party deeply rooted in dynastic politics and lurking in the Paki­stani political landscape for decades, one assumes the top position will be crowned on the basis of acquaintanceship. If this happens. Forget it! Paki­stan is never going to be a welfare state — or appear better at least socio­economic and politically. Opportunities lie otherwise. This is a grand op­portunity to navigate the steer of the country towards a better future with an intention and inclination for public mobilisation and goodwill, an ab­solute fortune to bring the economy back to the track, and one in a thou­sand chance to prove the leadership potential and capability. The inten­tion and skill of delivery would help the party retain some reputation to be able to claim the narratives like “Vote Ko Izzat Do” next time around.

If the socioeconomic and political incentives and policies akin to those taken by Solon and the Federalists of the United States of Amer­ica — or above mentioned — are enacted in the near future by the co­alition clan, the Fulbright future awaits for Pakistani population since this shadow of opportunities, and progressiveness will cover the sti­fling heat of roguery and obsolescence — if not completely overshad­ow it, at least some respite will be on the way.

Insaf Ali Bangwar
The writer is a freelance columnist.