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THE PAKISTAN ECONOMY
STRANGE ALLIES
STATE OF RAWALPINDI
ABOUT BENAZIR
THE SURREY MANSION
Since my last comments on the pakistani economy there seems to have been a distinct negativeness in its state. Acording to two recent statements of the economic managers of this country (the prime minister and the economics minister) the state of the economy is disastrous and this might be the worst economic year in pakistans history. The only brightness in this dismal picture comes from the approval of the govts economic measures from that great economist Wali Khan(also known as the rahbar of the ANP).Previously Wali Khan was only known for issuing dire threats to challengers of his pukhtoonism.Such comments when the country is moving towards its first budget under nawaz sharif can only spell doom for the people as tougher measures to increase tax revenues and increased taxes might be in the offing. Previously both sartaj aziz and nawaz sharif had been painting rosy pictures that there measures to revive the economy had the praise and approval of the World Bank and the IMF. Both institutions have never been a friend of the pakistani people and they and their advisors have failed repeatedly thruout pakistans history. One has yet to know of the new ADVISOR that the UN institutions are sending to destroy our economy. They seem to have run out of WB bred pakistani economists and planners. One news item mentioned a person namely Shahid Hussein who after having retired from the WB is in need of a job. And who else is going to layout the red carpet? The pakistani govt of course. One would suggest that in future if the powers that be need to topple a govt than they do so on June the 30th so that the new govt can plan ahead and be responsible for its successes and failures.
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The Pml(n) ie the pakistani ruling party has some very strange allies. These allies while being part of the govt still do not seem to be in agreement with its policies and often seem to be parties in opposition rather than coalition partners.The main ally antagonists are the MQM(A) and the ANP. One wonders what are they doing in an alliance in which they have no confidence. The recent eruption from the ANP has been its opposition to the KALABAGH DAM which the punjab chief minister and the prime ministers brother has supported strongly. On the other hand PML(N) mnas and the MQM seem to be at loggerheads over karachi policy. This has led to the murder of a senior PML(N) figure in karachi presumely by none other than a political party of karachi known for its historical involvement in such criminal activities. One must therefore urge the parties in govt to be parties in govt and give up street criminalism. Here one must mention that the failure of the Benazir govt to reach a consensus on the Kalabagh dam had been cited as one of the prime reasons for its toppling.
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The city of rawalpindi the fourth largest and one of the most neglected in the country has had to rue its opposition to the Benazir govt. Eversince the removal of the benazir govt all small and large projects have ground to a halt as the federal and provincial govts have stopped funding development. One had hoped that with the arrival of the Nawaz govt development would be increased rather than stopped. The PML(N) walas had campaigned that the Benazir development package for rawalpindi was a complete hoax. It now seems apparent that something was at least better than nothing. Accountability is alright and nabbing the corrupt is alright too but does that mean that all development has to be stopped. One can only assume that the PML(N) does not know what to do since they are not very capable at the lower levels. One can only give a few examples of devastation that have been caused by the stoppage of projects. One is the Kurri road which looks as if it lies the 17th century. The second is the Murree road which needs a repaving as well as redesigning and some underpasses and overpasses. And lastly I will mention the Faizabad Interchange which was started by the previous Nawaz govt and is still lying uncompleted. The failure of the provincial, federal and local govt deptts needs no other example. While Benazir belonged to karachi and her apathy to the north vis a vis karachi was understandable. What one does not understand is the apathy to genuine unpolitical projects by rulers elected from the north.Even the crumbs that Benazir handed out to us were better than what we are getting now.
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While her husband was getting all the notoriety during her govt days she personally seems to be running into the nawaz bait her group these days. Her penchant for useless travel continues with her leading nawaz sharif in the overseas trips category. The powerless president seems way ahead of both in this category.She still seems annoyed at the huge mandate given to nawaz sharif and has in a statement said that it is now also the respomsibility of the mandate givers to control nawaz sharif. With such an attitude she would obviously be useless as an opposition leader. The other major scandal she has raised is that her govt apparently tried to bribe Bill Clinton too but he proved powerless and could not deliver on the F-16 issue. According to rumours US$10million were despatched to Bill Clinton via the president of Kazakastan(Dont believe this as it is only a rumour).
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The famous surrey mansion continues to be mentioned despite no proof as to who owns it. Since Benazir has contributed so much to advertising property in England one would urge the british govt to confiscate the mansion and hand it over to benazir for services rendered in the cause of the realm. Since Asif Zardari will obviously spend the rest of his life in jail there will be no one left to certify her ownership of the mansion. One does not know how third party bought property can be handed over to there rightful owners. While we are all against corruption we are also against losing something for which the country has paid for??
Added On 26-9-1997
Alas according to Saif Redcowala the Surrey Mansion has been sold.
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