The government is in a festive mood. The World Bank in its latest report has bracketed Pakistan among world’s top ten countries for ensuring ease of doing business.
The jubilant Prime Minister Imran Khan took to twitter to express his pleasure. In a couple of tweets, he said the PTI has fulfilled another commitment it had made in its election manifesto.
According to him, Pakistan has achieved biggest improvement in its history in World Bank's this ranking. Over the last decade, Pakistan's ranking had slipped more than 50 places. “Now we have improved 28 places - from 136 to 108.”
He congratulated his economic team “who worked hard to make this happen.”
“But we still have a long way to go. InshaAllah before the end of 2020 Pakistan will become one of the top places for investment.”
This announcement was followed by media interactions by Commerce Minister Abdul Razzak Dawood and other ministers highlighting the achievement.
The World Bank in its report praised the federal, Punjab as well as the Sindh government for making it happen.
While one should give credit where it is due, the prime minister himself pointed out that Pakistan still has a long way to go to ensure that it emerges as an attractive destination for private investment – both local and foreign.
The World Bank praise basically was meant for simplification of the paper work needed for a businessman to start his business in Pakistan and also removal of bureaucratic bottlenecks in this regard.
It is of course the first step towards luring investment, but the main challenge for the government is to ensure smooth and trouble-free implementation of these laws. Though there are many diligently framed laws which are on the statute books, they are never implemented.
The government also needs to take urgent steps to create conducive environment for investors to put their money into Pakistan without any hesitation. Political stability is the first and the foremost requirement in this regard.
Though Pakistan has had an uninterrupted civilian rule over more than a decade, which was ensured by timely elections and participation of all political parties in these polls, there has been political turmoil after both previous elections, which generally have negative impact on economic activity.
These political crises often take away the focus of the governments from economic stabilisation. This time again, there is growing fear that the present government might face the same situation.
At a time when the World Bank has released this report, the government’s focus remained concentrated on how to deal with the opposition agitation dubbed a Long March this weekend.
It looks quiet ironical that the protest is taking place at the time when the World Bank President is visiting Islamabad.
Though the government economic team is made up of technocrats, who are not involved in political activities of the government, they have to take directions from the prime minister who seems now more occupied with the political situation.
The country witnessed the same situation five years ago when the current ruling party was the main opposition of the country and was holding a sit-in in Islamabad which lasted for 180 days.
At the time a crucial visit of the Chinese President was to be postponed as Islamabad was literally occupied by the opposition activists.
The political leadership of the country needs to show some maturity now and try to evolve a consensus that too much politicking must be curbed.
The politics of agitation and chaos should now be given up and a government voted into power should be allowed to implement its agenda, while the opposition to its policies should be restricted within the confines of the parliament. Such matters should not be settled on the roads.
The prime responsibility for initiating such an effort rests on the government of the day. Prime Minister Imran Khan needs to rein in his cabinet ministers as well as party leaders from making inflammatory and belligerent statements. A reliable line of communication should be opened with the opposition to address their concerns in a political manner.
Seasoned politicians of the opposition also need to behave responsibly in this regard. Instead of hitting roads, they should use their parliamentary strength to force the government to legislate for public interest. They should also address their concerns through the parliament, which is an established practice in any democratic set-up.
It is not just political opposition, but a segment of the business community is protesting against government’s taxation and accountability measures. A group of leading businessmen a few weeks back met the prime minister as well as the army chief.
It is in the context of this meeting that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has set up a six-member committee of the businessmen aimed at addressing their concerns and resolving their issues.
The recommendations of the committee would be examined by a three-member NAB team which would make its final recommendations to the NAB chairman for implementation.
However, a dissenting segment of businessmen has still given a strike call for October 31, while also disassociating itself from the opposition protest which is due on the same day.
If the past is any guide, one can suspect a gathering political storm for the government and it needs to take measures to avert it.
The government has so far tried to keep its composure and played down the possibility of any political upheaval, but there are some signs of discomfort in the government’s ranks, particularly in the wake of the opposition protest.
The government should not hesitate to go the extra mile to avert any showdown on October 31 and if it succeeds in doing so than it should take serious measures to avoid this situation to recur.
Political maturity and prudence is needed from both the government and the opposition. If they fail to do so then the country may slide into another cycle of political instability and disturbance which it can ill-afford at a time when it is already facing serious economic challenges.
The writer is a senior journalist based in Islamabad