Pakistan is facing a Catch-22 situation as it prepares for the nationwide elections next February. It badly needs money, but the global lenders who are wary are dictating stiff terms that the county’s political class is loath to accept. The situation is worse as both sides know that the elections sought by the people guarantee no economic panacea, or even a political one unless the polls’ outcome is one of a stable government that the country’s all-powerful army accepts. Having tried various persons and options, the military seems clueless on whether its gambit, which failed many times in the past, will work this time over.
As for the lenders – the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank — their script is starker and bolder. Not to be left out are allies China and the Gulf nations. They share similar anxieties but in private, muted tones. Pakistan must reform its economy or perish, they have said.
Ironically, all lenders worry about the safety of their money in the hands of an ever-volatile and inept political class. That the Army is doing all the driving back-seat only complicates matters. It is hardly a consolation for those who find the whole economic system wanting and in which, the army is a player and also part of the problem.
Significantly, the army, the elephant in the room, is hardly mentioned. The Army Chief, General Aseem Munir visited the United States, the principal benefactor, and tried to drum up support. It must listen to the general. But Washington, for whom Islamabad remains crucial to its presence in the region, seems clueless as to whom to back.
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https://asianlite.com/2023/top-news/2024-special-pakistan-in-catch-22-as-it-prepares-for-polls