Thursday, September 17, 2009
By By Hashaam Riaz Sheikh
Let’s rewind back to September 2008. Pakistan was in the midst of arguably the worst crisis of its modern history. After the assassination of Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, there was a lack of leadership at the national level. It was at this critical time of Pakistan’s history that Zardari became the president and within a year we have witnessed a mighty transformation in our fortunes. It was Zardari who chanted “Pakistan Khappay” when the country was on the brink of disintegration after BB’s assassination and upon taking over as president his call of choosing hope over fear, unity of purpose over discord, saved the federation from collapsing and successfully steered the country out of crises.
Upon taking over, a conscious decision was taken by the president to pursue policy of national reconciliation following the principles of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed as key to social and political stability. In this context, Mr Zardari as PPP Co-Chairman sought apology from the people of Balochistan and as president called upon the Parliament to heal the wounds of the past by giving amnesty to Baloch nationalists. President’s policy and practice of national reconciliation has helped rebuild the notion of national unity with the disenchanted Balochis. President abolished anachronistic law in tribal areas (and for the first time the Political Parties Order has been extended to the tribal areas to enable the political parties to organize political activities in these areas) Further, due to the vision of president under the policy of national reconciliation PPP currently has a coalition government in the centre and provinces.
When PPP government took over power, the country was faced with severe economic problems, the state of the economy called for difficult decisions and courageous actions, and president acted - to lay a new foundation for economic stabilization and growth. Today, the bullish stock markets are leapfrogging to newer heights each passing day. A macro economic stabilization programme was launched with consultation of IMF. This programme has started bearing fruit and the international rating companies have improved our economic and fiscal ratings from negative to stable. Under the leadership of president, steps have been taken to bring down the fiscal deficit followed by a very tight monetary policy to address inflation. Central bank borrowings have been reduced to zero and major efforts are underway to improve tax revenues. As a result of all these far-sighted policies, inflation has decreased from 25% in September 2008 to 13% in June 2009, fiscal deficit has declined to 4.3% of GDP, current account balance has declined to 5.3% of GDP and foreign exchange reserves have recently crossed $13 billion.
Law and order situation has improved significantly. A national consensus has been forged against the forces of extremism. The Taliban are on the run in Swat as well as the tribal areas of Pakistan. President Zardari and his team have efficaciously highlighted the sacrifices of Pakistan in the global war against extremism. As the supreme commander of the armed forces, the president successfully spearheaded the operation against the militants in Buner. A democratic president with utmost support of the brave armed forces under a professional army chief achieved in few months which couldn’t be achieved by a military dictator in 9 years. Gone are the days when Pakistan was blamed for ‘running with the hare and hunting with the hound” in the war on terror. Now Pakistan asks the international community to do more.
Adoption of Kerry Lugar Bill providing for tripling assistance to Pakistan and de-linking military assistance from economic assistance is a proof of the success of Zardari’s Presidency. Pakistan is no more alone on diplomatic front, the international community was brought together on the platform of “Friends of Democratic Pakistan” to lend strategic support to Pakistan in the difficult times on the one hand and a vigorous economic diplomacy was launched on the other to help Pakistan overcome its economic problems. President Zardari’s special friendship with his Afghan counterpart has reinforced the strong bonds between the two countries. And if anyone has any doubts about the diplomatic achievements of President Zardari, they must tune to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s press conference in India in the aftermath of Mumbai attacks; all doubts shall be laid to rest for good.
Poverty alleviation and women emancipation have been on top of Zardari’s agenda and therefore Benazir Income Support Programme has been launched which currently covers more than 3.4 million families and will increase to 7 million by next year. On the basis of targeting mechanism with consultation of World Bank, government is going to issue a Benazir card which will create a highway for all other social programmes which include health insurance and vocational training for the recipients. Benazir Behan Basti was recently launched under which the women holding Benazir cards would be given land to construct houses. Benazir Employees Stock Option Scheme was introduced to provide benefit to around half a million workers of State Owned Enterprise and thousand of sacked workers have been reinstated. The scheme, reflective of the President Zardari’s vision, aims at transferring 12% GOP share holding will not only enhance growth but also ensure protection and security of the assets as employees would now have direct stakes in the viability and profitability of the entities.
Other major achievements of president’s first year in office include ROZ programme, through this programme, the US would grant duty-free treatment to goods produced in designated areas of Pakistan. This programme would stimulate trade, create investment opportunities and provide long-term legal employment opportunities for citizens on the border areas.
President has been visiting China every three months to pursue the objective of economic diplomacy and translating the strong political ties into strong economic ties between the two countries. As a result over fifty new initiatives and more than thirty MoUs have been signed with China on different projects notably on hybrid seeds, sprinkle irrigation, telecommunication and the like.
The constitution envisages the president as the symbol of our federation. By forging national unity at home and vociferously voicing Pakistan’s case on the global forum, President Zardari has truly served as a formidable guardian of our federation over the period of last year. Let’s stand united and support our president in his endeavours to fulfil the dream of progressive and prosperous Pakistan that Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed had envisioned for Pakistan. Pakistan Khappay!
The writer is a former Wall Street banker and is currently based in Islamabad. E-mail: [email protected]
Zardari — the best hope for Pakistan
after reading this all i can say
Qadam bharao Zardari Quom tumharay sath hain