There is no denying the fact that strong economic vision of a political party is incriminating evidence of its concrete plans aimed at addressing the economic challenges and socio-economic concerns of general population. A weak economic programme and disconnect with the voters hurt - profoundly and unquestionably - a party's electoral prospects regardless of its leadership's profile. General elections normally throw up a challenge to political parties to prepare their economic policies as viable alternatives.
This requires these parties to work with representative business associations and groups with a view to articulating effective and meaningful economic solutions or policy response to myriad economic challenges. Another crucial factor in relation to election strategies in the realm of economic policymaking is how these parties evolve general advocacy and communication strategies to influence policy. Easing widespread concerns about the absence of policy alternatives in its armoury, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan has finally unveiled its economic policy vision, which is said to have been based on its senior vice-president Asad Umar's strong interaction with business, think tanks, and other private sector organizations. Unfortunately, however, it is not clear whether or not the party has come up with realistic policy solutions to arrest the slide of socio-economic indicators.
In times of general election, the political parties do make golden promises, that's their right. But as for the realisation of these promises that's never their immediate worry. The classic example is that of the 'roti, kapra aur makaan' slogan, the central theme of the manifesto of the PPP, led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The means to this end was getting control of the 'commanding heights' of the economy. The PPP nationalised - brutally and brazenly - industry, banking, insurance, oil marketing companies, shipping and extended the programme by taking over even ghee units, cotton ginning, rice husking and flour mills. His daughter, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, decided to alter the course with a public-private partnership. But even some four decades later and being as many as four times in the government, PPP's slogan of 'roti kapra aur makaan' remains unimplemented.
The PTI's 'emergency programme' including reforms in the energy sector, rationalisation of expenditure, taxation, industrial revival and education, is an effort aimed at identifying the areas that beg urgent attention. But beyond good intentions, the package tends to be unrealistic and impracticable. We need to be informed of the methodologies that are pragmatic and practicable in our condition of precipitous economic decline. With the tax base as narrow as ours what magic wand does it have to raise revenue collection to figures indicated by the party? Is the energy deficit bridgeable, or can the railways be privatised now, when we have firsthand experience of running the Business Express, or how will the GDP double when the industrial sector has been irretrievably thrown out of gear? That on coming to power we will convert palatial government buildings into universities, bury deep under earth the mafia dons and beat swords into ploughshares - we have heard before. Nawaz Sharif tried to undertake game-changing economic reforms. But his last stint was cut short by non-democratic means. Selling public sector units to the highest bidder without pre-selection of the buyer's management expertise was a blunder. Little did he perhaps know that three words - privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation - do not necessarily give birth to viable solutions in a country like Pakistan.
The economic challenges remain grim and menacing and cannot be seen in isolation, bereft of their political context. For instance, courtesy the 18th Constitutional Amendment, provinces have acquired a greater say in the formulation and execution of economic policies and programmes. Then there is this lingering cry for urgent devolution of power to the district levels. Placed against that backdrop the PTI economic reforms package carries an unmistakable impression that its basic focus is central and it's fundamentally federation-oriented. The truth is all that is said in the PTI economic vision manifest is not doable, nor is it expected, though it carries the scent and has the flavour that is bound to sit well with the general public in Pakistan. It may be mentioned here that the present PPP-led coalition empowered Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh to set up a Board of Directors for public sector units. But political opposition within has kept its execution on a back-burner. The then Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, also tried to extract PIA from the clutches of the Ministry of Defence, but failed due to opposition from the 'Khakis'. Given the harshness of economic challenges and the stark and ugly but inescapable realities of politics, the PTI think-tanks could have been more realistic in setting goals in the reforms package. Asad Umar is, therefore, required to expend more of his energies on initiating a truly solid and thorough process to identify challenges at the national, regional or municipal levels with a view to presenting them before the public as feasible policy solutions. He is also required to not only identify problems, but explain how to finance the policy's implementation, answer whether the policy requires new legislation, and suggest its expected outcome. That the country is in dire straits for a long time is a compelling reason for all political parties, particularly the PTI, to articulate policies aimed at affecting core economic targets - high and stable economic growth, low inflation, increased job opportunities and a healthy balance between imports and exports. More importantly, they must not lose sight of the fact that vision without resources is nothing but hallucination.