The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to confront a host of challenges both existing and evolving soon after he assumes - God willing - the present day powerful office of president of Pakistan in the near future. He will be required to harness opportunities - both existing and potential - in pursuits of overcoming those challenges to for example, the satisfaction of people of Pakistan, friends of Pakistan (including inter alia the US, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey and the UK), neighbors of Pakistan (including inter alia India and Afghanistan) and others (including inter alia the World Bank, the United Nations, the EU and the NATO).

Factors such as and as appropriate - presented below not in the order of priority and importance - could be instrumental in making inter alia challenges of Pakistan more formidable, more difficult and more complicated than that at present (as of today - 1st September 2008) for Zardari administration to cope with them (I mean the challenges) in pursuits of say delivering Pakistan from its present day crisis and instabilities in a timely, cost effective and satisfactory fashion:

failures to re-stabilize Pakistan to a position that would enable the country to re-start for example normal developmental activities at local, national and other levels in a quicker, satisfactory and sustainable fashion. The re-stabilization failures could involve inter alia (a) failures associated with protecting at least innocent life (including inter alia that of children) and property (including inter alia nuclear weapons) on a continuous basis, (b) failures associated with the re-establishment (as required) of rule of law, justice and fairness in Pakistan in a visible, forceful, purposeful, equal, equitable, impact-oriented and sustainable manner, (c) failures associated with crafting appropriate policies and strategies aiming at giving an emergency relief and a continually progressive relief (as applicable) to the people especially the poor in areas of basic needs and amenities - per se, (d) failures associated with initiating and implementing above policies and strategies with the help of say crash programs and reliable controls, and (e) failures associated with capturing, sustaining and promoting political will initially for re-stabilization;

2. failures associated with the identification, prioritization and implementation of country's competing priorities (both immediate and otherwise) such as pluralism, security, economy, poverty and environment - in, as appropriate, proper, result-oriented and sustainable fashions. Further, failures associated with harnessing, creating and sustaining comparative, competitive and other advantages in favor of progress and prosperity of Pakistan, the people of Pakistan and others on a continuous basis and to the satisfaction of all concerned - I mean as far as humanly possible;

3. failures associated with the achievement of required amount of success in the war on terror through the near future;

4. failures associated with winning the war within the shortest possible time and cost (time means cost, though) for the benefit of Pakistan and the world at large - at local, national, global and other levels. An estimated time line for at least finishing the substantive part of war is needed at this point in time for say, giving a sense of direction, in terms of time dimensions, to people of Pakistan in particular, and the people of world at large;

5. failures associated with a further mobilization of people's opinion in favor of the war and in favor of working towards good for all at any time - without any fear and favor;

6. failures of concerned political parties, civil society and others in taking seriously consequences and ramifications of terrorism and extremism when it comes to building futures of Pakistan. Further, failures of all concerned in delivering results and outcomes to Pakistanis and others when it comes to liberating and protecting the country from those consequences and ramifications, in a more responsible, outcome-oriented (used in a positive sense) and sustainable manner than that at present;

7. failures of media (print, electronic and others) in for example, presenting and highlighting before Pakistanis and others problems and prospects associated with the progress and prosperity of Pakistan between now and the foreseeable future - in a more objective, result-oriented, helpful (to the people, to the country, per se) and neutral (to mention a few) fashion than that at present;

8. failures of media (print, electronic and others) in for example, identifying and projecting successes, lessons and failures at governmental and other levels with a view to attracting, harnessing and promoting - as appropriate - people's appreciation, people's constructive criticism, people's support, people's suggestion, people's assistance, people's help and people's cooperation - on a continuous basis - for building upon those lessons and successes, for dealing with above failures, and for following through remedial measures in pertinent areas, to mention a few;

9. failures associated with bringing about improvements, in a significant way and within the shortest possible time, in the health of country's economy and investments with the help of for example financial and non-financial incentives - as applicable and as appropriate, more effective but less costly people-intermediary (for example market intermediaries) transactions and intermediary-people transactions than those at present, more effective and efficient regulatory regimes in pertinent areas than the existing ones, more investment friendly law, order, and labor situations than the existing situations, and more productive resources allocation and utilization in relevant areas than that at present, to mention a few;

10. failures in initiating, implementing, maintaining and promoting solid and workable diplomacy-trade compacts and trade-diplomacy compacts for - facilitating minimization if not elimination of problems of unemployment and under employment - repositioning bilateral relations more in areas of strength than in areas of weakness, as required - and liberating bilateral and multilateral diplomacies from domains of say tunnel visions, naïve realism, emotional immaturities and more than required subjectivities, to mention a few;

11. failures in reviving the agriculture sector and in stimulating further the service sector including inter alia health sides and financial service sides;

12. failures in maximizing the return on investment in areas for example, education including inter alia female education, ICT, RDE (research, development and engineering), citizenship development, tooling or re-tooling youth for local innovations and inventions, cooperative ventures, cultivation of result-proving and pro-people political culture, anti-corruption, human rights and institutional development;

13. failures in war against wastage at local, national and other dimensions and in making recycling engineering and technology viable and affordable to all concerned as soon as possible;

14. failures in resolving - within an optimistic time frame - internal and external disputes including inter alia those relating to the country's tribal areas and Kashmir - either in part or in full - to the satisfaction of all concerned as far as practicable;

15. failures in realization of commitments made by Pakistan at the UN and other forums;

16. failures in ensuring a quick and sustainable recovery of Pakistan from say, the present day isolation, and loss of reputational costs - used in a negative sense;

17. failures in accelerating and sustaining intra and inter-generational transfers of fruits of present day civilization;

18. failures in establishing and in making the best use of way forward in pursuits of overcoming uncertainties, de-commercialization of religions, promoting provincial autonomy including inter alia that relating to Pakhtunistan (I mean NWFP) in the overall interest of Pakistan, and removing barriers to liberty, freedom and democracy, to mention a few; and

19. failures in using for example truth, honesty and commitment as powerful lines of defense at political, non-political and other dimensions.

The list is not exhaustive. But a windfall from the outcome of above failures could take a heavy toll on say, the country's present day potential for growth and prosperity, among other things. It is hoped that will not be the case. It is hoped concerns raised through the list of probable failures will among other things be considered for inter alia defining or setting or both the tone, direction and critical mass of President Zardari's first speech to the nation.

The success of President Zardari's administration would depend on, among other things how best and quickest Pakistan could deal and eliminate those concerns in a sustainable manner - with the help and assistance of ordinary people of Pakistan, political parties of Pakistan, the media (print, electronic and others), civil society, influential Pakistanis - both at home in abroad, friends of Pakistan, neighbors of Pakistan, development partners of Pakistan and others, as appropriate.

The last word: President Asif Ali Zardari - Congratulations in advance! You have played well the game of politics in at least the recent months. It is expected you will be able to set an example in ushering a new and prosperous era for Pakistan through the period of your upcoming presidency. All the best to people of Pakistan, people of world at large and last but not least to you!