Fitting put-down
THE symbolism in Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar being tasked with visiting the world’s most misogynistic regime, the Afghan Taliban, for talks was potent. In a country where women have been forced to disappear from public life, Pakistan — which itself does not have a stellar global reputation for gender equality — was being represented by a woman at the highest levels of government. It was a PR triumph — except for those who can only see the world through a sexist lens. On Monday, the lone JI member of the National Assembly, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali proved his affinity with the latter. During a discussion on the Chaman border clash, Mr Chitrali expressed his reservations over the government’s decision to send Ms Khar to Kabul, saying it had perhaps had a negative effect on the Afghan regime. Several lawmakers, mostly from the PPP and PML-N, berated the MNA for his remark, after which he agreed to withdraw it and tendered an apology.
Unfortunately, far too many share this myopic worldview. That is why a firm put-down was needed, and given. There must be no latitude for words that objectify and demean women. And legislators across the board must consider this a red line, even in today’s toxic political culture, and set the right precedent for society. Instead, several party leaders appear to see such reprehensible language as part of their political arsenal. Maulana Fazlur Rehman is a frequent offender, with PTI’s enthusiastic women supporters in particular throwing him into a moral panic several times, most recently about a fortnight ago. But Imran Khan, who has robustly called out the maulana’s sexist musings against his party’s female cadres more than once, himself made a highly offensive remark about Maryam Nawaz in a speech some months ago. No one from his party, not even the women lawmakers, uttered a word of reproach. If things are to change, an attack on one woman must be considered an attack on all women.
Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2022
Spurious drugs
THE rampant sale of fake or substandard medicines in Pakistan is literally a matter of life and death. This fact was tragically established after the Punjab Institute of Cardiology scandal a decade ago, in which a large number of patients died after they were administered spurious drugs at the government-run facility. It was in the aftermath of this tragedy that Drap — the national drug regulator — was established, ostensibly to keep an eye on the fake medicine racket. Yet 10 years down the line little seems to have changed, as a recent Drap survey of drugs being sold in Karachi has shown. As reported in this paper, the regulator found that several fake and spurious medicines were being sold under different brand names in the metropolis. Some of these ‘medicines’ were found to be nothing more than chalk or starch. These disclosures come only weeks after Sindh’s drug testing lab found that 18 samples of lifesaving drugs confiscated from Karachi and Hyderabad had no active pharmaceutical ingredient.
It is a travesty of immense proportions that unscrupulous elements are playing with the lives of patients in such brazen fashion, with the state apparently unmoved. Perhaps the government is waiting for another PIC-like tragedy to take action. For starters, those responsible for manufacturing fake and substandard drugs need to be hauled up before the law. It is not too difficult for Drap, aided by law-enforcement officials and provincial health departments, to crack down on the producers of substandard drugs, if the intention is there. Secondly, all pharmacies must be warned that if dubious drugs are found on their premises, action will be taken. The public also has a responsibility in this regard; too often people ask salespersons at medical stores to recommend medicines, instead of consulting doctors or qualified pharmacists. Consumers should only buy drugs from reputable medical stores, with the latter supervised by capable pharmacists. While Drap bears primary responsibility for keeping counterfeit medicines off the market, the authority needs the full support of the health administration as well as the law-enforcement agencies to accomplish this task. Moreover, the state must ensure that medicines available at public health facilities are of satisfactory quality. While more well-off segments of society can afford private healthcare and imported medicines, the poor have no option but to turn to the state for healthcare, which is why quality drugs need to be available at public hospitals.
Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2022
Default narrative
PRIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday came to the rescue of his finance team led by Ishaq Dar, amid continuing speculation that Pakistan was on the verge of a debt default.
“Pakistan will not default,” he declared at a news conference as he explained that his administration was forced to accept tough IMF loan conditions because the multilateral lender no longer trusted Pakistan, thanks to the former PTI government’s failure to honour its commitments.
But Mr Sharif’s reassurances may not be enough. There are reasons why speculation has persisted, even though Pakistan hasn’t missed or delayed a single debt payment since the financial crisis set in earlier this year. At the moment, a major concern is foreign exchange reserves dropping to a four-year low of $6.7bn as inflows dry up on account of Islamabad-IMF tensions.
The disagreements between Pakistan and the Fund include, but are not limited to, the government’s flood-related expenditure estimates and serious fiscal slippages because of the failure to collect enough tax revenues to meet budgeted targets.
On top of that, a certain narrative is being pushed by the PTI to pressure the coalition government to announce early elections. Before the news conference, PTI chief Imran Khan had already painted a dire picture of the economy while calling for snap elections to pull the nation out of the current crisis. Failure to do so would push us to default, he had warned.
No matter how exaggerated that assertion may be, it is fed by deteriorating economic conditions, especially falling reserves, and the delay in policy-level talks with the IMF for the disbursement of the next loan tranche of $1.2bn.
The PML-N shouldn’t blame the opposition for exploiting the situation, however: even its previous finance minister, Miftah Ismail, has been issuing similar warnings of late.
The PML-N-led coalition government may indeed have warded off the possibility of a near-term default. However, it continues to face mounting challenges: spiralling inflation, massive devaluation of the rupee, elevated fuel and power prices, and shrinking foreign currency reserves.
Together, these are cause for serious concern. The present crisis results from inconsistent economic policies, the pursuit of flawed priorities that have favoured politically powerful lobbies, and questionable fiscal governance.
Each government has blamed its predecessor for the bad economy it inherited, but none has done much to fix it. With new elections — if held as per schedule — less than a year away, the PML-N is clearly in a bind as economic decisions, such as the hike in fuel prices, are eroding its political capital in its fortress of central Punjab and elsewhere.
It is now looking for shortcuts to please the voters. But that is a dangerous road to travel as past experience has shown us. It is time political considerations stopped dictating economic policy. Or these fears could well become a reality.
Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2022