The establishment of a new coalition administration is unlikely to alleviate Pakistan’s political upheaval, but it does provide an opportunity to address the country’s numerous difficulties. Every country need a government, ideally one with legitimacy and public support. However, not having a functioning government is never a good alternative.
It is now widely acknowledged that Pakistan’s power structure is opaque. The establishment’s ambiguous position, as well as the greed of the country’s elite, are both problematic. However, Pakistan’s issues extend beyond that. In Pakistan, personality and victimhood-driven politics continue to push economic and security issues to the background.
Pakistanis have developed an addiction to what is best defined as the political game.
The establishment of a new coalition administration is unlikely to alleviate Pakistan’s political upheaval, but it does provide an opportunity to address the country’s numerous difficulties. Every country need a government, ideally one with legitimacy and public support. However, not having a functioning government is never a good alternative.
It is now widely acknowledged that Pakistan’s power structure is opaque. The establishment’s ambiguous position, as well as the greed of the country’s elite, are both problematic. However, Pakistan’s issues extend beyond that. In Pakistan, personality and victimhood-driven politics continue to push economic and security issues to the background.
Not long ago, Pakistanis shared films stating that the construction of Gwadar Port will be a game changer, transforming Pakistan into a worldwide container traffic center “larger than Dubai and Hong Kong.” Never mind that Gwadar Port now only has three slots, whereas Hong Kong Port has 24 and Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port has 67. There are eight ports in the world that are larger than Jebel Ali, while the UAE has nine other ports besides Jebel Ali.
Players in the political game, as well as their captivated audience, did not pause to consider how a port that can handle three ships at once could outperform others with far larger capacity. Similarly, the entire nation has long been in thrall to the idea that repatriation of ‘billions of dollars in stolen money’ parked by ‘corrupt’ Pakistanis abroad will somehow solve the country’s economic problems.
