“Pakistan is an extremely hard country to govern.” This was a conclusion drawn and articulated by a perceptive individual, widely known for his financial acumen as well as for his political insight. “Even a leader/statesman of Mahathir Muhammad’s caliber would find it far too herculean to run this country,” was the last part of his statement.

Of course, Pakistan is so polarised and socio-political fault lines and sectarian fissures have wrought their debilitating effects on it. Terrorism in the name of religion, continuing for over thirty years, has dealt a corrosive blow to its multi-cultural ethos that had once been its strength.

The proxy war that it opted to wage on behalf of America and Saudi Arabia has spawned a culture of intolerance and militancy. On the economic front, the road ahead is arduously bumpy. None of the projects executed over the last decade has turned out to be economically viable. From Metros to IPPs and the construction of solar power projects, every venture has incurred losses.

Ishaq Dar, the former federal minister, had incredibly simplistic solutions for acutely complex problems confronting Pakistan’s economy. He had no qualms about borrowing, no matter how vexatious the terms. He’d mortgage the motorway or pledge airport terminals. For the last more than quarter of a century, the state was run without carrying out reforms in any realm.

The worst public school system in South Asia that had countless ghost schools was yet another instrument of sharpening the class divide. Government-sponsored education failed to produce well-equipped citizenry which subsequently turned out to be a liability rather than a resource for the country.

Healthcare and education were outsourced to the private entrepreneurs who ran schools, colleges and universities for profit. Despite being handed over to private interest groups, education remained low quality. Therefore, those who could afford sent their children abroad for education. Thus, social fissures got exacerbated with nothing shared among the Pakistani youth.

The sectors that prospered in this period were the sugar industry and the real estate. Add to that any project in which the families in power had stakes. Those aspiring to be rich sought to get close to the ruling dynasts. The dynasts acted like heads of a corporate body with its tentacles spread out to almost every state institution.

A lot is being said in condemnation of the establishment, much of that might have quite a bit of truth in it. But my contention is that the mafia is far more powerful than the establishment.

These dynasts believe in all earnestness that everything under the sun has a price and, therefore, can be purchased. That overly simplistic, yet extremely effective, method has worked for them accruing influence and of course riches, the amount of which the imagination fails to encompass.

Needless to say, corporate capitalism is its principal feature. Corporate capitalism ensures a capitalist marketplace characterised by the dominance of hierarchical, bureaucratic corporations that are legally required to pursue profit. A large proportion of the economy and labour market falls within corporate control. Corporate capitalism has been criticised for the amount of power and influence corporations and large business interest groups have over government policy, including the policies of regulatory agencies and influencing political campaigns.

For the last thirty years we have witnessed the corporate capitalist interests have gained enormous power and influence. During the Cold War era, the capitalist world was forced to keep up its egalitarian pretensions. Therefore, more resources were invested in strengthening the state structure so that the capitalist interests could be reined in.

More resources were allocated for the poor and the dispossessed. Public transport system, school education, healthcare and the system of social security worked as a bulwark to stall the socialist influence from pervading into the capitalist countries. But after the 1990, with the political collapse of socialism, the political paradigm got inverted.

Corporate capitalism broke loose and everything was monetised. That was a new world order in which the rich and resourceful made hay while the rest of humanity suffered. Now even the nation state structure and almost all the institutions representing the state, have been rendered subservient to these interest groups.

This is quite evident not only in the developed polities but in the post-colonial dispensations as well. Here, the corporate interests act like a mafia, with its tentacles having spread out to all organs of the state. Its agents are ubiquitous in every segment, be it the Judiciary or the Executive.

In India, Ambanis, Bajajs and Birlas are so powerful that the Indian state appears to be at their beck and call. Pakistan is no different. The mafia that has assumed the guise of corporate interests is more organised and has more resources at its disposal than many a state. What holds promise in Pakistan is the dissent within the mafia. The inherent contradictions prevent them from forging unanimity indefinitely.

A lot is being said in condemnation of the establishment. Much of that might have quite a bit of truth in it. But my contention is that the mafia is far more powerful than the establishment. Examples abound.

The corporate interests in the post-colonial world prosper on the resources of the state for which the politics is deployed as an instrument. The material drain that it causes is invested abroad and endears the mafia-men/women to the countries where the wealth is parked.

Thus, its relationship is internationalised. Whenever these people get into trouble, those countries play a role in bailing them out so that the reform process becomes all the more difficult. The first and the most daunting task therefore is to clip the wings of the mafia. Let’s see if Imran Khan can do that. Else, all his efforts shall go awry. That is what makes Pakistan an extremely difficult country to govern.

The writer is Professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore