The ‘curse’ of the PPP

The PPP's bad luck factor seems to have continued from the 1970s to 2011.

Taimur Arbab September 29, 2011
Akbar Zaidi, one of the country’s foremost political economists, in his magnum opus ‘Issues in Pakistan’s economy’, discussed at length the Bhutto government of the 1970s. 

The writer brought in a new side by delineating the causes for that government’s failure with regard to various aspects of policy making, including the legendary “bad luck” factor. The bad luck dynamic, in Zaidi’s analysis, comprised of some salient factors, both international and domestic, that contributed to the unwrapping of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) socialist economic agenda. These were the oil crisis of 1973 that led to high inflation and balance of payments problems in many third world countries, the floods of the same year, jute revenue lost after Bangladesh’s creation, as well as depleted foreign exchange after a colossal cotton crop failure.

The PPP-led coalition government of today seems to face a multitude of problems as well: terrorism, a severe energy crisis, fleeting investment channels and a year of massive deluge followed by another one with never-ending rains. However, even if one concedes that the regime does indeed seem to be hampered by the ‘bad luck’ factor today, its apologists would still need to dig hard to find evidence of any appropriate response by the government to the many challenges that it is facing.

Take, for instance, the response to this year’s rains. Yes, one wouldn’t expect an otherwise desert oasis getting over a thousand millimetres of rain. However, was the disaster so overwhelming that even ministers and members of parliament from the affected areas could not make it to their constituencies to help out in the rescue and relief effort?

Were no lessons learnt from the previous year’s experience? The weakened embankments on either side of the Indus River suggest that this indeed was the case. The absence of even logistical supplies in towns such as Nawabshah, Khairpur and Larkana — places with a solid PPP vote-bank — is difficult to comprehend.

All in all, Zaidi’s bad luck factor seems to be ‘enforced’ this time around by the government itself.
WRITTEN BY:
Taimur Arbab A former sub-editor at The Express Tribune, college teacher of Sociology and English Language and a graduate student at Aga Khan Institute for Educational Development, who leans toward the left side of the political spectrum and looks for ideas for his short stories and poems in the everyday happenings of life.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (13)

Raja Islam | 12 years ago | Reply All in all ZAB was by far the best leader we have had.
Doctor | 12 years ago | Reply While I believe the PPP has done some things right, let's stop pretending ZA Bhutto was a great leader. He was not. Zia was much worse than him but ZA Bhutto's racism against Bengalis is what lead to the tragic events of 1970 and 1971.
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ