I have culled, put together and edited various writings and news analyses and writings below, to form a complete picture of our present predicament, and where it will likely lead to, in the very near future....time has run out for the mess called Pakistan.......
At a high-level meeting last Thursday, the president and the prime minister have reviewed what appears to be a grim economic situation, agreed on tightening austerity measures for the government and bringing the wealthy into a tighter tax net. They would do well to start by setting an example themselves, by making their tax returns public, and asking other party members to do so as well. We all know that the taxes paid by politicians are in most cases low – sometimes well below the figure paid by the average salaried individual, who has little choice in the matter. As a result, taxes from those on salaries exceed those paid by some of the wealthiest in our land. The warnings of impending financial collapse that have recently been given by the finance team should not be taken lightly. There is evidence everywhere of just such a disaster looming ahead, somewhere not very far away. We all know of people taking money out of the country for fear of a melt down at home. A general lack of confidence in the government’s ability to handle matters makes matters worse. The austerity measures, even if they are effectively put in place now, come too late and may fail to make any kind of real difference.
We wonder if the issue of agricultural tax came up during the high-level meeting. This would seem to offer one means of bringing in the additional resources that are so badly needed. The tax should have been put in place many years ago. But given the scale of the crisis we face, it is all the more vital that this happen now, before we lurch into an even darker financial nightmare. One of the reasons why the tax has not been imposed, and other measures such as land reforms have also not been carried out, is the fact that our parliament is made up, chiefly, of land-owners. Many of those who sit in our assemblies hold many acres of land. They are hardly likely to favour either taxation or major reform, and this means a vital source of revenue for the state, as well as a means to improve the lot of tens of thousands of people, remains shut off to us as a result of selfishness on the part of the ruling elite.
The result of all this is that we have a bankrupt state but a well-off elite. Whenever the issue of bankruptcy is raised, there is a cry for reducing state expenditure. Actually, if defence and public-sector enterprises – which should have been privatised a long time ago – are excluded, our structure of governance costs are among the lowest in the world.
Our state’s bankruptcy is thus not an expenditure issue but a revenue issue. We have survived so far on dole from the global community either by making ourselves strategically relevant or scaring the world into helping us. If this comes to an end and we are really confronted with the consequences of bankruptcy, social upheaval is bound to occur.
What would an economic collapse, such as the one feared here - look like? In short, it would begin by us defaulting on our international debt that would have massive consequences for our foreign trade. The currency would go into free fall, with galloping inflation. Food shortages would become a real possibility for a section of the people. Oil imports would be affected, disrupting our transportation system.
Our elites have thus far got away with excuses of "defending national interest". This is a lie in patently audacious contravention to what is truly going on - as any damned fool will be able to fathom.....but it seems, that our populace is worse than damned fools even.......having allowed all this and neither said nor done anything; they respond to Islamic fundamentalism - when a loony like Mumtaz Qadri commits a brutal murder; and yet they have nothing to complain when their very flesh is being consumed.........what is the worth of such wretches? Defending and enhancing “national interest” in the murky world of Third World parliamentary politics, with secret military agencies and foreign powers jostling for resources, influence or space, is a tall order. Neither Zardari, nor Nawaz Sharif, nor the centralised, first-past-the-post political system in vogue, is equipped to do the job. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
The costs of the deals struck with the IMF have been heavy. The prices of utilities have gone up, people are pressed harder than ever and there is no sign of an economic upturn that could boost growth, generate jobs and possibly help people manage just a little better. Now we have even worse news. According to a report in this newspaper, the government will be raising power tariffs by two or three per cent each month - a process that will by June 2011 result in an increase of somewhere between 19.4 and 30.4 per cent. Over the last 30 months, tariffs have already gone up by a whopping 63.6 per cent. The incomes brought in by almost everyone in the country have meanwhile shrunk in real terms given the rate of inflation in the prices of vital goods. The degree of suffering has been intense.
It is to be asked how – in times when parents kill children they cannot feed, beggars increase in number along many streets and desperate families beg for food – any government can inflict such torture on people. Among the worst-affected of course are those too proud to beg. It is of course still more ironic that the measures come from a setup that claims to stand for the poor and was elected on this slogan. The impact of the power-tariff rise will be crippling. Independent groups should make an assessment of how families will manage. Will they cut back on food? On education for children? On healthcare? It is likely of course that all these vital areas and others will be affected. The government needs to state what is expects people to do. Its main responsibility, after all, is to serve the people. From the opposition too we need far more strident questions in parliament. The power-tariff rise is a huge issue. It should not be left only to the media to highlight its significance and the manner in which it will influence the welfare of millions of people who even now struggle to survive.
