Political stability is imperative for economic prosperity. Persistent economic policies, security of investments, corruption free environment and a better law and order situation are some of the basic needs which a businessman wants. The government needs to improve each of the aforementioned areas to gain confidence of the investor. The public has no security of life, food, health and education. Unemployment is increasing. More and more people are sliding below the poverty line. The whole country is in the grip of severe electricity load-shedding and frequent power breakdowns. This may be due to shortage of fuel i.e. natural gas and furnace oil. As a result of this there is a big gap between demand and supply of electricity. There is no hope of overcoming the crisis in the near future due to bad conditions of fuel supplies, visionless planning, slow implementation of new power projects and the current state of electricity supply corporations. It may also be mentioned here that unpredictable outages have affected production of sport, surgical and leather units in Sialkot. Here 7000 industrial units had been affected due to power shortage. As a result of this sport, surgical and leather industrialists had suffered a 40 per cent shortage in export targets in this summer. As a result of this thousands of industrial workers are facing job cuts. It is imperative that government should take effective measures on priority basis for significant reduction in load-shedding. Moreover, no country can survive if there are leakages in the revenue and tax collection system. Tax evasion is on a very high level in Pakistan. It is not considered a conspiracy against the state and the guilty people are not given severe exemplary punishments, therefore, this crime is always on the increase. Also unchecked flight of capital has become the privilege of the political and bureaucratic elite. In these days crime situation is very alarming. Hardly, a day passes by without the news of ruthless murders, armed robberies, highway robberies, discovery of dead bodies mercilessly cut to pieces, packed in sacks and thrown in the fields or rubbish bins, gang rapes of women, kidnappings for ransom and other inhuman acts. The incidence of terrorism taking a heavy toll of life is also on the increase. Among many factors responsible for such an unprecedented wave of crime, the casual attitude of the government, the inefficiency of police in apprehending the culprits and the lenient punishment awarded by the courts are the most pertinent. It is generally said that crime and punishment must go together, but unfortunately, in Pakistan, while crime flourishes, deterrent punishments are rare. In the last but not the least, the economy of the country is on the brink of collapse. It is the political leadership which has to take difficult decision in this situation. But to do so, political will, leadership vision and character are of utmost important. S. A. KHOKHAR, Lahore, May 11.