There have been a few articles claiming that having a technocratic government is the answer to all the problems that are being faced by Pakistan. The best example would be Professor Atta-ur-Rahman himself. It has been a common misconception, since the time of Malik Ghulam Muhammad, that professional experts would run the country better than politicians. Technocrats are as guilty of lying, cheating, corruption and playing politics as any ordinary politician. In addition, today’s scientific knowledge is so wide and specialised that it is impossible for one person to be an expert even in one subject. We should give the politicians a proper chance and stop blaming them for all our problems. With today’s easy access to information and communication, experts should give guidelines to the government on various issues in an objective manner. They should not try and run after ministerial jobs as they invariably end up compromising their objective judgement. Politics is a difficult and dangerous profession and unless we allow politicians to develop the skills necessary to run an effective government, we will keep having periods of incompetent technocratic governments alternating with incompetent political governments. We have enough competent people, including the much maligned politicians in Pakistan, who can address the problems being faced by the country, but they have to be given a proper opportunity. Asif Ayub Islamabad
