Country Democracy has been Chatted Up!

An Unessential Year

By Ardeshir Cowasjee
MOST of us commentators, indeed if not all of us, and a good many of those who are supposed to report things as they are, not as they are not, suffer from a lack of objectivity.

There are too many personal axes being ground into the mud, there are too many angles, obtuse and acute, there are too many chips on too many shoulders — and this applies not only to the writers and commentators but to the media barons themselves, many of whom are compromised by their own personal interests and leanings.

Minds need to be opened up and refreshed. We need to stop attacking, picking on old bones, and do a bit of cool analysis, criticise objectively and, if possible, constructively, point out the wrongs without forgetting the rights, and hope that someone or some persons who are in a position to act and come up with some solutions to this sorry mess are out there heeding.

What has happened to the grand reconciliation scheme? It has faltered. It has been one person and several other linked persons-specific. It has not been and is not evenhanded.

Why Rapid Growth is Necessary

By Shahid Javed Burki
FINDING the right way to bring a country out of economic, political and social backwardness and to help its people out of despair and poverty remains an enterprise that continues to engage many great minds.

Over the last 60 years or so, starting from the time when millions of people in Asia and Africa were able to cast off the yoke of colonialism and take responsibility for their lives and for their future, development experts have continued to come up with recipes that would help release nations from poverty.

Some countries, most notably those in East Asia, succeeded. Some failed and continue to fail. Most of those who are still struggling are in the region known as Sub-Saharan Africa.

Pakistan’s own record has not been dismal. Not given much of a chance of success, it has clocked a fairly impressive record of growth over the last six decades. The gross domestic product has grown, averaging at more than four per cent a year over this period. There are only a score or so countries around the globe that can claim to have sustained such a record of growth over such an extended period. During the same period, the population has increased five and a half times, from only 30m in 1947, the year of the country’s birth, to an estimated 165m, 61 years later.

What the State Bank Says?

THE SBP’s third quarterly report for the outgoing fiscal on the state of the economy does not make us any wiser. Much of what it says is already known. Yet it does underline the serious challenges facing the economy, and suggests a few measures that are crucial in terms of heading off any further economic downturn. The SBP has knocked down the GDP growth estimate to 5.5-6.0 per cent — well below the original target of 7.2 per cent — from an earlier projection of 6.5-7.0 per cent in December owing to “broad deterioration in the key macroeconomic indicators due to a combination of adverse domestic (political volatility, energy crunch, price inflation, water shortage, etc) and global developments (rising oil and food prices, global financial crisis, etc)”. For the first time in five years, the economy will grow at less than six per cent.

Fundamentals are strong; Issue Solvable

ISLAMABAD, June 2: President Pervez Musharraf has said that the country’s economic fundamentals are strong and expressed the hope the government would address the current downtrend.

Speaking at the National Defence University after presentation of a national strategy paper on governance of especially administered areas (Fata and NAs) and their impact on national security on Monday, he said that issues of economy and terrorism must not be politicised because that might harm the national interest.

The event was attended by NWFP Governor Owais Ghani, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Air Chief Marshal Tanveer Mahmood.

“I hope the government moves forward politically for the salvation and putting back on track the derailed situation. It is doable and achievable,” the president added.