Saving Pakistan.

Byline: Ashraf Jehangir Qazi

WHEN I returned from the UN in 2010 Pakistan was being misgoverned by the PPP. This culminated in the national humiliation of the US assault on Abbottabad. This was soon followed by PML-N misgovernance which culminated in the national embarrassment of the Panama revelations and the politically tainted judicial process of removing the prime minister. The PML-N government was followed by the PTI and an untested and therefore unsullied prime minister. Tragically, the plague of misgovernance has not abated. Many feel misgovernance might even have worsened as a number of international ratings, including that of Transparency International, have indicated.

If the three main political parties have each failed to govern justly, efficiently and successfully the question arises: why? Apart from the prevailing political culture and specific failings of political leaders, the answer lies in the unconstitutional, undemocratic and obstructive structures of power that underpin a facade of democratic governance. The movers and shakers in Pakistan are not invested in the welfare and security of the common man. They are self-serving, risk-averse and disconnected from the people.

What lies ahead? More misgovernance! This translates into a fatal worsening of the current situation including (i) irreversible climate disaster; (ii) possible nuclear catastrophe given India's genocidal repression in India-held Kashmir; (iii) unending epidemics and pandemics; (iii) overpopulation limited only by the prospect of mass deaths; (iv) continued underinvestment in human resource development and human rights protections; (v) the absence of civil and political institution-building; and (vi) the prevalence of 'military security' over 'human security' which undermines national security, national development and nation-building.

Many Pakistanis articulate similar views and sentiments in their conversations, interviews, speeches, thoughts and writings. And yet a collective debility and individual lack of will prevents rational, organised and effective responses to the imminent threat of extinction. Those who are in a position to make a difference - within a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity - as suggested, don't care. They shift blame away from themselves, stifle criticism, rhetorically commit to do what they have no intention of doing, make empty but highly publicised gestures which a betrayed people are expected to appreciate, and prepare...