Pakistan, it seems, is getting deeper and deeper in the mire as the state institutions are now on a collision course. The current government is intent about using parliamentary measures to reject each Supreme Court ruling.
All indications point toward the government’s intention to somehow subdue the Apex Court to its will and the confrontation between the government and the judiciary likely to become more intense in the coming days.
Some of our ambassador friends do question the logic of not forming the full court on such a sensitive topic, regardless of the reason the Supreme Court did not; but, that is an argument for another day.
Army Chief General Asim Munir reaffirmed that the people are the source of power during the National Security Committee meeting, but in these hard times, the average person is anxious about providing three square meals for his family. Due to the country’s record inflation, which broke the back of the masses, people are being compelled to take to the streets.
The Supreme Court became even more divided as a result of Justice Qazi Faiz Isa’s involvement in the NA session. The situation in Pakistan is rapidly moving toward a point of no return. Every governmental institution suffers from divisions and schisms. I worry how Pakistan’s reputation abroad will suffer when foreign diplomats send their cabals to their respective countries.
The tragic news of Sweden closing its mission in Pakistan casts serious doubt on our position on the diplomatic front. Does anyone consider the diplomatic failure we’ve had? How can we complain to anyone that the rest of the world does not share our views on the Kashmir and Palestine issues?
We should give thanks to God that FATF removed us from the grey list last year, but the agreement with the IMF is still pending. Although there are some encouraging signs, the agreement has not yet been finalized, so we cannot be certain that the recent discussions will result in a favorable outcome.
In the first sentence of our constitution, there is also a reminder that the sole ruler of Allah, the Most High. In the civilized countries of the world, the source of power is the people of the country, however when one state organ attacks another, and scandalizes the judiciary, no matter how many times the Supreme Court orders the State Bank to release funds for the elections, the government won’t let it happen which will ultimately lead to a collision.
Elections in Punjab are currently uncertain since it is easy to infer from the contentious claims made by the government and institutions that the elections may not be held yet. If elections in Punjab and KP were held, at the time of general election, there would be governments (presumably led by the PTI) in two provinces, and the losers would undoubtedly reject the outcome of the general election.
People are anticipating a political dialogue between the government and the opposition so that the country may concentrate on more pressing matters like the economy and reducing poverty.
There is no hope for any respite for the people who are suffering from inflation in regards to the implementation of IMF loan requirements. However, as long as the existing loan program is in place, the IMF does not think that Pakistan should worry about defaulting; however, they did not completely rule out a situation similar to what happened in Sri Lanka and Ghana.
Although we can only hope that the current IMF program will continue till June, the economic data paint a gloomy picture because international analysts believe Pakistan’s inflation rate could hit 65 percent.
The aforementioned statistics may be inflated, but according to the hunger index, Pakistan ranks 99th out of 121 countries in the world. 16.6 million people may require emergency food assistance. Due to the country’s grave circumstances, debt repayment will total $8 billion over the next three months. Our country owes 131 billion dollars in international debt altogether. A dialogue between all political parties must take place. There are numerous strategies for improving and stabilizing the economy, but each one necessitates political stability.
If our institutions and political parties continue to downplay the seriousness of our economic crisis, all we will have is regret.
