10 Point Agenda for reforming Pakistan

Posted on July 25, 2011

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These points are a result of my thought process as a citizen of Pakistan, someone who decided to stay in this country and make a life here. I never applied for Canadian/Australian/UK migration or sought a job in the Middle East, despite opportunities and coercion by friends and family. I still believe there is hope for this country. When I discuss these points with a cross section of people, at least one or two of the points seem to upset people but the most important question I get is “who will bell the cat?”. Honestly, I don’t know. I am trying to give a direction to the thought process of the polity. I can justify and explain each of the points and practically write (at least) a short book on the reforms agenda and who know I might one day, but I just want to initiate a debate.

The reform points are self contained and closely tied in to each other. The fiscal space will be created through controlling our biggest expenditure on military, security services and defense industry. The other biggest item in our budget is debt servicing which is a result of fiscal mismanagement and outright corruption. Devolution of power along with revenue generation and budgetary controls will not only create a higher level of accountability but also reduce the leakage of revenues.

You will also note that I have not talked about religious extremism, corruption, violence etc at all. This is on account of my belief that these are just manifestations of serious underlying issues like lack of education, economic opportunities and injustice in the society. The points in the reforms agenda will remedy the underlying ills while taking care of the the symptoms.

I am putting these out there for comments, critique and general feedback. I will be happy to answer queries and explain the thought process.

  1. Administrative reforms
    1. Creation of smaller administrative units for better control
    2. Devolution of power to local governments
    3. Enhancing the e-governance program for effective controls and accountability
    4. Stricter rules enforcement in recruitment and promotion of civil servants
  2. Institutional reforms and strengthening of civil Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs)
    1. De-politicization of LEAs
    2. Localized police recruiting
    3. Police under control of the local government
    4. Effective evidence collection and analysis
    5. Forensics labs
    6. Investment in training and capacity building
  3. Judicial reforms
    1. Redraft and legislate Criminal Procedural law in light of 21st century
    2. Better recruitment and remuneration of judges specially at lower courts (district and city courts)
  4. Constitutional reforms
    1. Presidential system of government
    2. Cabinet of technocrats
    3. Removal of objective resolution
    4. Revert to Democratic Republic of Pakistan
  5. Reigning in the religious right
    1. State control over mosques
    2. Pesh Imam Appointments
    3. Regulating and issuing the Jummah Khutbah by the government
    4. Madressah reforms and controls
    5. Audit and compliance of fund flow in Madressahs and Mosques
  6. Educational reforms
    1. Massive commitment of funds to the education sector
    2. Hiring of qualified teachers through right incentives
    3. Massive training of teachers programs
    4. Collaboration with foreign governments for teacher exchange programs
    5. Serious commitment to vocational programs after high school
  7. Foreign policy re-alignment
    1. Fix borders with neighbors
    2. Sign NPT and CTBT
    3. Ditch meddling in others’ affairs
  8. De-Nuclearisation of Pakistan
  9. Institutional reforms in the Military
    1. Reducing the Military forces by half
    2. A focused and professional military
    3. Divestment of Military’s business ventures
    4. Reign in the security services and establish parliamentary oversight

10. Land reforms

  1. Land confiscation to eliminate rent seeking absentee landlords
  2. Eliminate feudalism as a source of all evils in the country
  3. Corporatization of the agricultural sector through right incentives and regulatory framework while providing enough protection to small and mid sized farmers
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