Disconnect at Jati Umra: elite retreat vs national crisis

Days after Nawaz Sharif led his top leaders to discuss the next budget, the government was left humbled on Saturday over the latest flip flop surrounding the change in domestic oil prices.

Just as the huddle summoned by Sharif at the sprawling ‘Jati Umra’ estate outside Lahore was far removed from the reality of Pakistan, the oil price saga said much about the disconnect between the rulers and the country’s all too overwhelming challenges.

Just hours after the PM Office on Friday notified a Rs15.39 and a Rs7.88 per litre drop in the prices of petrol and diesel respectively, the subsequent cuts per litre at Rs4.74 for petrol and Rs3.86 for diesel effectively put a clumsy look on the government’s face. How the faux pas came about was the announcement of the May 15th government file tied to an earlier fuel price change being put out inadvertently in a rush.

On a wider scale, this latest blunder in Islamabad raises questions over more compelling ones, notably the disastrous failure of a timely procurement of this year’s wheat crop across Pakistan -- a mainly wheat consuming country. The failure is set to eat into prospects for the next major crops, notably cotton and rice to be planted this summer. Some of Pakistan’s poorest farmers would use their revenue from wheat to invest in their next agricultural venture, though most are left hugely cash strapped for now.

Advertisements on social media platforms, notably Facebook, offering Rs2500-2800 for a maund (40 kgs) of wheat or virtually two-thirds the official price of Rs3900 a maund, acutely highlight the crisis. In brief, farmers who sell their stocks immediately in utter desperation risk losing up to a third of their return.

As this prevailing crisis continues to unfold across Pakistan, the mood around Jati Umra hardly connects to the coun-try’s real-life outlook. Early morning daybreak at the estate typically witnesses exotic animals such as antelopes and peacocks let out on the neatly manicured lawns.

First-time visitors to the palatial residences surrounded by a well-protected boundary are struck by rare sites such as that of two stuffed lions reputedly acquired from Botswana in the 1990s. The opulence of the premises, so detached from the rest of Pakistan, easily becomes eye popping as those privileged to step inside find a variety of well-built rooms using merchandise imported from afar.

It is here that the elder Sharif who has recently re-acquired the top leadership of his party, hopes to set the pace for a more progressive and economically vibrant Pakistan. That journey however is plagued with many pitfalls, just as the contrast between the setting of this estate bearing no relevance to Pakistan.

Jati Umra notably remains far too removed from Pakistan’s key decision-making federal platforms, such as the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance in Islamabad. Given the history of the former prime minister, it is possible that his huddle might well pop up economic revival plans built upon populist spending in the new budget. If so, that would be a repeat of the infamous yellow cab scheme of the 1990s which left Pakistan’s banks with billions of ru-pees in bad debts that eventually were written off.

Decisions flowing from Jati Umra -- for some the de facto capital of Pakistan as the seat of the ruling party’s leader -- risk ushering in more disasters for the country as the nation copes with the biggest economic crisis in its history.