Dr Lubna Zaheer
The Pak-China friendship is usually said to be sweeter than the honey, deeper than the ocean and higher than the Himalayas. History is evident of the fact that China always stood by Pakistan in every good and bad time. China has always backed Pakistan on Kashmir issue and supported Pakistan’s position vis-a-vis India at other international forums including the United Nations (UN).
The second largest economy was also seen playing role in solving Pakistan’s internal problems. Whenever we faced financial and economic difficulties, China came to our rescue in no time and provided us with billions of dollars. Before 2013, power outages gripped the entire country, but again with China’s help, power plants were set up and the problem of load shedding was solved.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is an example of timed-tested friendship between the countries. Experts opine that if it is completed, it will change the destiny of the people of the region. A recent example of China’s friendship is safe evacuation of Pakistanis from war-torn Sudan when China went ahead and helped us.
The purpose of this brief introduction is to express how sincere a friend China is to us. This friend wants Pakistan’s prosperity and progress. In the context of Pakistan’s political scenario, China has advised Pakistan to change its political situation, so that its internal conditions can move towards improvement. A few days ago, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, while talking to Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, suggested to bring political stability in Pakistan.
The Chinese FM said the political forces in Pakistan should meet and establish a political consensus. On this occasion, the Chinese foreign minister assured that China will support Pakistan to reduce the global economic pressure. We are well aware of the importance of political stability. The implications of political instability aren’t hidden from us. Today, managing the national economy appears to be a daunting task, much thanks to the political instability.
For the past several years, the political landscape has been in constant chaos. There is such a state of political uncertainty that foreign investment has been frozen. We hear that the wrong economic decisions of the previous government brought our national economy to the brink of destruction. A year ago, when the coalition government was formed, there were talks of bankruptcy of the country. Economic analysts used to say that Pakistan’s economic situation is such that it is close to bankruptcy like Sri Lanka.
It’s universal truth that political uncertainty swallows economic stability. So our intellectuals often suggest that there should be political stability and consensus in the country. The leaders of the political parties should sit together and solve their political disputes. After all, even after the terrible wars, the parties have to sit at the table to resolve their issues. But hardly any political party or political leader bothers to listen to these suggestions. Now our sincere friend China has also advised us that the political leadership should sit together, agree and establish an atmosphere of political stability in the country. Before it’s too late, it is very important that our political leadership take China’s advice.
What seems to be lacking most in Pakistan at the moment is political stability. However, if the country’s political history is to be examined, ones hardly finds any stable period. Political conflicts began soon Pakistan came into being. Until Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was alive such disputes couldn’t rise to a high level, but soon after his death, the political leadership got involved in mutual fights. Even the Constitution of Pakistan couldn’t be formulated in time. After many years, the constitution was formulated, but after some time it was suspended. The prime ministers kept changing rapidly. Once an Indian prime minister had to say sarcastically that he doesn’t change as many pajamas the way PMs in Pakistan are reshuffled.
Pakistan used to witness military coup d’état and long military regimes continued to be established. The overthrow of democratic governments continued. Finally, General Pervez Musharraf’s martial law led the country’s two major parties – the PML-N and the PPP, to democratise the charter of democracy. The two parties were not able to fully implement the Charter of Democracy and some clauses of the agreement were violated. However, the fact is recognized by all that the charter of democracy helped creating an atmosphere of political understanding.
After the PTI’s popularity, once again the attitude of political intolerance has become common in the country and a culture of accusations and defamation has taken its roots. It seems that political differences have turned into personal animosities and the tradition of squeezing political opponents begun during Imran Khan’s regime is now being practiced by the PDM government. In this tug-of-war between the government and the opposition, sometimes one side wins, and sometimes the other.
This snake ladder game continues continuously at the cost of the country’s economic situation as foreign companies are avoiding to invest in Pakistan under tough economic conditions. And same is the case with local investors. Adding fuel to the fire, IMF is also seen placing certain tough conditions to be met before disbursing even the smallest installments of loans. The burden of all economic constraints ultimately falls on the fragile shoulders of the people. Political enmity has reached such a level that the honor and reputation of the country is not cared about.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari recently visited India. Look at the attitude of our politicians that India might have not criticized the visit of the Pakistani foreign minister and his speech as much as the PTI leaders did. The patriotic approach was to back our foreign minister, but it appeared our politicians have crossed all limits in political rivalry. How can an atmosphere of political understanding be established in current circumstances?
The country’s economic conditions and the masses’ miseries now demand that the political parties give up their mutual differences and sit together for the sake of the people of Pakistan, take decisions by consensus and establish political stability in the country.
In this critical time, instead of demeaning each other, we should be concerned about Pakistan and the people. We pray that Almighty Allah will bless our politicians an opportunity to follow the advice of our sincere abd everlasting friend China and rescue our country out of the circle of a series of difficulties. Ameen
— The author is an academician and political analyst
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Lahore Mirror
