The President's speech

President Mamnoon Hussain's annual speech to a joint session of Parliament was devoted mostly to extolling the performance of the government during the last two years, though he mentioned some problem areas as well. He deservedly praised the government for having achieved consensus on the route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor; patted it on the back for starting power projects that will be operative by 2018 and help control loadshedding; and fully endorsed the policy towards India saying "friendly relations with India based on mutual confidence and cooperation is our priority, but that India needs to honour its promise to settle the Kashmir problem in accordance with the relevant UN resolution and "aspirations of the Kashmiri people so that a solid foundation is laid for peace in the region."
The President also commended the government for what, he said, was its success in achieving more through reduced expenditure, going on to iterate a common contention that no real change can come without expanding the tax net and tackling corruption. But he did not raise any questions as to why there has been no progress in these areas during the last two years. In a similar vein, he advised the government to increase budgetary allocations to education, even suggesting that the primary education sector should be completely managed by women, but refrained from censure. The fact of the matter is that everyone knows that education is the building block of progress and development. The President should have shown more serious concern about education not getting the priority it deserves. It is worthwhile to note that the Economic Survey report released the same day as the President's address said that Pakistan had not made 'adequate' progress in the field of education, and that 42 percent of the population could neither read nor write. That should not be surprising considering that the budgetary allocation for education during the last decade, as per the Survey report, has remained static at around 2 percent of the GDP, much of which went into recurrent heads. Where the government's priorities lie it amply demonstrated the same day, inaugurating a flashy metro bus project in Islamabad costing nearly Rs 45 billion, that the Prime Minister described as "the dawn of a new era" and symbol of "a changing Pakistan." Pakistan will change for the better only through substantially higher investments in education and healthcare.
Touching upon a particularly sensitive issue, President Mamoon Hussain advised the government, in an indirect reference to Baloch insurgency, to initiate dialogue with "disaffected people" saying the national leadership should take the initiative to bring these elements into the national mainstream. For that to happen, all 'stakeholders' have to be on the much clichéd same page. There is some fresh reason for optimism regarding the issue considering the news of surrender on Thursday by a commander of the self-styled United Baloch Army - a splinter group of BLA - at a high profile event in Quetta. Hopefully, the powers-that-be have come to the realisation that it is a political problem which needs to be resolved mainly through political means. It was also good to hear the President reject the extremists' view of national destiny and talk about building a Pakistan that is in accord with the country's founding father Quaid-e-Azam's vision. On this particular score the government has yet to show a seriousness of purpose.