Six rules for prime ministers

Shaukat Aziz, our ex-finance minister, is probably the most welcome prime minister in Pakistan to assume this portfolio. The welcome mat was not rolled out for some sentimental or political reasons or on the basis of a populist slogan.
The people longing for good governance and effective leadership hold very high expectations from a technocrat who has already created an unparalleled performance record during his stewardship of the finance ministry.
Some of the welcome sentiments have already worn off with the announcement of the long list of cabinet ministers. People, already wary of tedious political process prevalent in Pakistan, have started thinking that Aziz may also be forced by the political forces to adopt the non--productive populist approach.
This column borrows heavily from an essay by Peter F. Drucker, "Six rules for presidents." The rules are basically acknowledged management principles that most effective executives follow. This column is, thus, an essay on management and not a political statement:
Difference should be acknowledged between political rhetoric and what needs to be done. Serious policy decisions and working out of priorities should not be governed by political rhetoric and campaign slogans. An attempt to convert rhetoric into deeds may seem a popular move but is likely to fail in the long run.
Concentrate on few items. In Drucker's words, "There are usually half a dozen right answers to what needs to be done. Yet, unless a President makes the risky and controversial choice of only one, he will achieve nothing. The president's top priority has to be something that truly needs to be done. If it is not highly controversial, it is likely to be the wrong policy." An essential condition of the such objectives is that they should be executed with clarity, speed and precision. History is replete with such initiatives taken by great men.
Quaid's decision for partition and then go for it; Roosevelt's decision to jump into the Second World War in spite of domestic opposition are such epoch-making decisions. Musharraf's decisions to join the "war on terror" and go for detente with India belong to the same class. On the economic front the Prime Minister will face the conflict between first wave and second wave forces (using Alvin Tofler's terminology) and will be thoroughly tested. Abraham Lincoln's stand in 1860, although resulting in civil war, laid the foundation of an industrialised USA.
Do not get carried away by an apparently sure thing. Most sure things have a way of creating their own opposition. People do not like appearance of concentration of power. Power should not be flaunted. It is best used when concealed. President Roosevelt tried to pack the Supreme Court and thereby to remove the last obstacle to the New Deal reforms was to be a sure thing. He never even tested the plan before announcing it and it blew in his face. Although things become clear in retrospect, an effective Prime Minister must anticipate opposition to the surest of things and have contingency plan ready. An effective leader will create challenges for his leadership and will maintain a balance between possible overprotection (concentration of power) and acceptable degree of exposure (opposition).
An effective Prime Minister should not micro manage. There is a simple way to apply this rule. Whatever the Prime Minister does not have to do, he must not do. He should have others doing the jobs for him. An effective Prime Minister must resist the temptation to micromanage but he has to make sure that operations are being taken care of. Herein lies a major difficulty of parliamentary system. Whereas the American President is free to choose technocrats from all walks of life as secretaries (ministers) of different departments, the Prime Ministers are bound to rely on elected representatives as their ministers.
After all, there are not many Razzak Dawoods and Shaukat Azizs available in the elected persona. This makes parliamentarians dependent on bureaucrats. Introducing young, highly educated Ministers of State appears to be President Musharraf's idea of setting up a nursery for the future leadership. If taken to its logical conclusion, it may bear fruit in future. But, for the present Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, will have to shrink his contact span to a manageable proportion and shall have to create a layered structure to enable himself to devote more time for macro management.
Politicians should not consider bureaucrats as their personal friends. Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as saying, "A president has no friends in the administration." To repeat Drucker's words (reader is advised to read Prime Minister instead of President) "Presidents are human beings and their job is a lonely one. Being politicians, they tend to be gregarious people who crave company, companionship, and sympathy. This explains both why presidents are so prone to bring friends into their administrations and why they are usually extremely reluctant to get rid of a friend who has proved incompetent or betrayed their trust."
Once elected, concentrate on management and leave the political campaigning to party organs. Politics and management of country are two different jobs and often have conflicting requirements. Once elected, politics should be left to party's political machinery and the chief executive should concentrate on management, Shaukat Aziz appears to be fortunate as he has a party machinery and a party leader in Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, readily available to take care of politics.