Ahead of Eid Al Adha in Pakistan on Friday, the country’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once again flew overseas, this time to the United Kingdom on a journey that will eventually take him to the annual session of the UN General assembly in New York.
Indeed, this was not the first time that a top leader such as Sharif or his predecessor Asif Ali Zardari, the former president, chose to spend an important holiday season well beyond Pakistan’s frontier — welcome to the not-so-unfamiliar story of Pakistan where the country’s ruling elite clearly remain detached from the realities of its rank and file.
The choice by Pakistan’s leaders of frequently remaining outside the country during important holiday seasons smacks of a largely detached style of leadership. In the very extreme, it’s almost as if Pakistan’s leaders couldn’t care less about how the country evolves for its mainstream population.
Though roughly halfway into his five-year tenure, Prime Minister Sharif has overseen a country where the mainstream population remains surrounded by a number of exceptionally difficult challenges. While Pakistan’s privileged relatively few remain well catered for, ordinary Pakistanis cannot even bank on their fundamental needs being met.
Though Sharif departed for a supposedly high-profile visit of national importance, there are no assurances that an array of tough challenges for Pakistanis will be heading towards a resolution any time soon. These specifically include matters such as a troublesome energy crisis driven by shortages of electricity and gas, the prevalence of corruption around the workings of the public sector and/or the private sector or indeed vital public services such as education and health care lying in disrepair and unable to live up to the public’s expectations.
Turning around these areas for the better will be far more essential for the future of Pakistan than any amount of publicity given to Sharif’s overseas visit. Yet, it’s a simple reality that neither Sharif nor any of his political cronies appear to have understood so far. Consequently, as Pakistan’s ruling structure loses ground in the eyes of the public, the ability of Sharif or the other politicians to regain that lost space seems increasingly in doubt. Tragically, a once democracy-starved Pakistani public seems to have little appetite left to favour those democratically-elected politicians who promised to lead Pakistan towards a more promising future.
Counting military gains
In sharp contrast, there appears increasing public appreciation for the way that Pakistan’s armed forces are confronting the challenge posed by violent extremism. Led by General Raheel Sharif, who is not related to the prime minister, the army has successfully cleared a number of areas along a tribal belt in the past year, which were previously occupied by Taliban militants. The army’s push was once considered suicidal with warnings of a bloody bloodbath waiting for Pakistan if indeed the Taliban were confronted militarily. Clearly, those warnings have been proven to have been blown out of proportion.
Though the military’s gains have been impressive, the long-term challenge remains that of sustaining the gains through a combination of armed action followed by policy measures. This is precisely where Sharif is far off the mark.
Across Pakistan, with its population of around 200 million, there are plenty of indications of policy gaps that have simply not helped to meet the militancy challenge. For instance, the failure to even remotely begin reforming the educational system has simply increased the risk of a growing number of illiterate men becoming exposed to militancy-related influences. In the very extreme, such individuals will likely include a sizeable number who are set to become the extremists of tomorrow, unless facilitated by the Pakistani state to look for promising opportunities.
Likewise, the virtual absence of quality healthcare for the mainstream public is likely to contribute towards fuelling popular discontent that in time may fuel popular anger. And finally, Pakistanis who are clearly pushed to the economic periphery of society through significantly widespread unemployment, pose as much a threat for the future as violent extremists of today who are fighting the Pakistani state actively. Pakistan’s experience since the country joined the US-led war against terrorism after the New York terrorist attacks of 2001 is indeed clear. Fighting the battle successfully is not just about a military-styled offensive.
Though key leaders around Sharif actively refer back to the challenge thrown up by Pakistan’s undemocratic past — a reference to the military’s past rule over the south Asian country — they clearly miss out on an important aspect of its development. An overwhelmingly large number of Pakistanis are primarily seeking evidence of exactly how their vital needs will be met rather than exactly who meets those challenges.
Ultimately, Sharif’s visibly detached style of ruling over Pakistan will likely throw up an increasing number of questions surrounding his rule. Though heading out of Pakistan during a holiday season in itself hardly sets the pace for the country’s direction, it says much about how the country’s top leaders relate to its mainstream population. In recent weeks, the visibly popular approval of the arrest of a Karachi-based politician known for his close ties with Zardari, clearly said it all. Pakistan’s largely deprived population may well be running out of patience with those who rule them, notwithstanding their democratic credentials or lack of them.
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political, security and economic affairs.
