Any wisdom?

Our politicians never seem to learn from their mistakes, no matter how costly or damaging those may be. They started playing a game of cat and mouse with each other right from the creation of the country in 1947. This ugly game kept on until 1958, lending in a brutal martial law. Right when people had a glimmer of hope that they would have a democratic government finally, politicians once again failed to see beyond themselves, paving the way to the dismemberment of the country. They don’t seem to learn anything from history and never end the farce of acquisitions and blame while in opposition and making tall baseless claims while in power. Every time there is a new government, they blame all that is wrong on their predecessors and assure the poor people that the country will soon become heaven on earth. Never have they realized that the there must be some core principles and policies that everyone must agree on. These policies must be adhered to by any party in power.

We can only prosper economically if we have core agreed upon policies that are followed by all parties. Otherwise, we will keep witnessing the same drama. We are again seeing signs of recovery, as evidenced by Moody’s rating going from negative to stable. Other indicators are also showing signs of recovery. I am afraid that, unless our politicians sit together and agree on some core principles for national development, we might once again be sitting where it all started or even worse. Perhaps Voltaire had our leaders in mind when he questioned if there were anyone wise enough to learn from the experience of others?

Raja Shafaatullah

Islamabad