Economy Of Pakistan

Beyond all the despair about rigged elections and other such very real fears, the positive side of it is that the 2008 elections вЂ" if held freely and fairly and that is a big IF- can turn out to be a landmark in Pakistan's history not just for the importance Pakistan has today in world affairs butbecause the complete rout of theocratic politics it promises to bring forth. For the first time since the introduction of the "Islamic" constitution of 1973, these elections promise to be fought around an agenda that has to do more with democracy, social welfare and minorities rights- ideas that were central to the very creation of Pakistan in 1947. There are five parties that promise to dominate these elections. These parties are:

Pakistan People's Party

Pakistan Muslim League- Q

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz

Awami National Party

Mutahidda Qaumi Movement

Out of these PPP, PML-Q and PML-N are parties that claim with varying degrees of truth to their claim to be national and federal parties. A curious alliance of the landed gentry, left-leaning city intellectual and to a certain extent secular-minded Pakistani nationalists, PPP's claim is the strongest as it has a significant electoral base in Sindh and Punjab with smaller but resilient pockets in NWFP and Balochistan. PPP has fielded 778 candidates in National and provincial assemblies of Pakistan.

PML-Q- which is the re-incarnation of the age-old Unionist Party- is a winner's club with some right wingers, land owners and industrialists along with a few progressives here and there backed by the establishment- has a strong base in Punjab but smaller yet significant support in the rest of the provinces. It has fielded close to 600 candidates in the National and provincial assemblies of Pakistan. PML-N is the party of the right-leaning city folk and some land lords with small but strong pockets of support in all four provinces but with a main support base in North Punjab. It has fielded close to 500 candidates for National and provincial assemblies of Pakistan.

What is encouraging however is that all three parties have put on their manifestoes a commitment to Jinnah's Pakistan- a federal and democratic state where minorities and women would have equal rights. PPP and PML-Q have concentrated at length on "Quaid-e-Azam's Pakistan" and his vision, which strangely enough is a first in our recent history- believe it or not. For the most part, Jinnah's vision of a secular Pakistan has been omitted from our election manifestoes in the past. While both these parties have not gone so far as to use the word "secular" which is considered a bad word by some in Pakistan, they have spoken of equal rights, impartiality and equal opportunity which is good enough. All three parties have committed themselves to a modern and forward looking polity committed to eradicating social distinctions and disparity by including the marginalized groups.

Pitted again these three mainstream parties are the two ethnic parties, ANP and MQM. Both parties are fiercely secular this time around. ANP, which has its roots in Khudai Khidmatgars, the Congress Party and to a certain extent the Azad Pakistan Party of left-leaning populist ex-Muslim Leaguers who had formed the NAP in the mid 1950s, has over the years become confined to the Pushtun ethnic constituency. With the mainstream parties now underscoring Jinnah's ideals of inclusive and pluralistic Pakistan, ANP, viewing itself as the heir of the raditions of Indian National Congress seems to be confident in finally using the word "secular" in its terminology, a word it had abandoned since its opportunistic Nizam-e-Mustafa alliance. The ANP has emerged as a regional and ethnic party committed to the federation of Pakistan which it feels should be inclusive and secular. None the less it is very clear about its role as a Pushtun-based party and has fielded only 142 candidates in the National and provincial assemblies predominantly in NWFP and pushtun dominated areas of Karachi and Balochistan.

MQM- the party of the Urdu-speaking descendants of the migrants from India in 1947, has вЂ" in the past few years- tried to reinvent itself as a federal, secular and democratic party- an image that took a major setback with May 12 tragedy. In these elections it is seeking to show its humane face to the world. MQM is backing Musharraf to show the west that it is committed to fight Islamic extremism more than anyone else in Pakistan. MQM has also laid a claim to Jinnah's secular ideals- ironic given that MQM chief had denounced the creation of Pakistan a few years ago in New Delhi. It has fielded 330 odd candidates all over Pakistan in the National and Provincial assemblies.

Social