Today, Pakistan stands at a critical juncture. Seven years ago, we joined the international fight against terrorism, whose ripple effect has haunted us as a nation the most. The domestic terrorist threat from religious extremists is real and increasing. This is a very serious situation, which calls for national reconciliation. I, therefore, appeal to all the political parties to join hands, forgive and forget past sources of political friction, and struggle collectively for safeguarding the national interest of Pakistan.
During the eight years I was associated with the governance of Pakistan, five years as finance minister since 1999 and as prime minister in the past three years, we were able to achieve substantial economic successes for Pakistan, even amid continuing security predicament. I also headed a government which for the first time in the country’s history completed its full five-year constitutional tenure.
Back in November 1999, when I was invited to serve as Finance Minister, the country’s Foreign Exchange Reserves were around a billion and a half US dollars, today they stand at around 16 billion; Foreign Direct Investment was negligible, today it has reached 8.4 billion dollars. In the past eight years, our Per Capita Income more than doubled, reaching up to 950 dollars at present; the rates of inflation, unemployment and poverty showed a decline; and the purchasing power of the people rose significantly. During my three years of premiership, 2004-07, the real GDP growth averaged 7.5 per cent, the best the country has seen for many decades.
These are concrete, irrefutable facts. I have the honour of being one of those Pakistanis who have made their mark in the international corporate world. As Finance Minister, I brought back to the country thirty long years of managerial experience in global finance, which I utilized for the economic recovery and take-off of my beloved nation.
I am not a politician by profession, although I did learn a bit of the art of politics during my right years in government. However, even during this time, my preference remained doing as much as possible, with honesty and dedication, for the development of my country.
The exiled leadership of the country’s mainstream political parties has returned home. There is a neutral caretaker regime in office. President Pervez Musharraf has removed his army uniform and become a civilian head of state. He has lifted the state of emergency and revived the Constitution. The President has promised to hold free, fair and transparent elections on the eighth of January.
Given that, rather than issuing a Charter of Demands at a time when the nation is faced with an extremist/terrorist threat, political forces must aspire for a Charter of Reconciliation. I am afraid that if we continue to be embroiled in current political uncertainty, then we stand in danger of losing all of the historic economic gains made in the past eight years.
I, therefore, appeal to all the political parties and members of the society, including journalists and lawyers, to please, for God’s sake, keep the national interest in mind and help Pakistan come out of the present political turmoil and security quagmire. Together, we should work for greater economic success, which is impossible without having necessary political stability.
I particularly urge the leaders of all the political parties to forego their personal differences, and play a constructive role for the sake of Pakistan by adopting and promoting a moderate and tolerant political culture.
It is in the interest of people of Pakistan that all of the political parties participate in elections, which will provide a level-playing field to each one of them. Those who will gain majority of parliamentary seats in the elections will form the government. Therefore, instead of considering potentially destructive options such as election boycott, all politicians should strive for positive and constructive politics, and prepare for and participate in the forthcoming elections.
Pakistan was born out of great human sacrifices. During our sixty years history, we may not have succeeded in completely realizing the national vision of our great leader, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but we have made many achievements. We are the only Muslim country having nuclear deterrence capability. Our frontline role in the War on Terror, whatever its domestic repercussions may have been, has made Pakistan a pivotal player at the international stage. Pakistan is also a formidable actor in the affairs of the Muslim world. Indeed, the whole world is looking at us, as we prepare ourselves to take the third step in the past eight years in our transition to a real democratic rule.
Political parties and civil society have a responsible role to play in this transitional era, which they must. By conducting ourselves irresponsibly in these most crucial hours of our national destiny, we will not only be jeopardizing the economic success and scuttling the process of relative political stability achieved in the past eight years, we will also be providing an opportunities to all of those forces which do not want to see nuclear Pakistan emerge as religiously moderate, politically democratic, socially stable and economically prosperous nation-state in the Twenty-First Century.