There was quite a hype of elections’ 2013, and it was proved to be one of the most popular and remarkable events of the year. Before the elections, many predictions were made as to which party will come into power, and all these predictions had one name common among them- PML and Mian Nawaz Sharif.
Mian Nawaz Sharif has taken charge of the Prime Minister Office for the third time. No other leader has won this honor and privilege before. Where one set of critics is happy with this outcome, the other one has quite low hopes for Pakistan. However, upon analyzing the progress and failures of Sharif’s previous tenures, we can say that he is a ray of hope for Pakistan’s critical situation.
Having belonged to an industrial background, Sharif knew the importance of economic policies and open economy to a country’s development and progress and thus he took many initiatives directed towards economic development. These policies include privatization of public sector industries, deregulation and opening up of the economy.
Sharif successfully privatized over 50 industrial units including two nationalized banks. His government also opened up many new areas of development to the private sector and the economy boosted up. Not only had that, but his government also solved federal issues: water distribution issue and National Finance Commission award. Before the water apportionment accord and NFC, there was no system of water distribution and revenue distribution among the provinces, which resulted in unequal distribution of water and water wastage, as well as dispute among the provinces over the revenues.
His government paid much attention to the communication system of the country, since he was well aware of the fact that a good infrastructure is needed for the growth of industrialization and industrialization in result paves a way towards development. One of the most popular, yet controversial projects was Lahore to Islamabad motorway project. This project was started during his first tenure and got completed in his second term of PM ship. This is a much controversial project since the motorway was only 340km long, but it was built at the cost of 24 billion Pakistani rupees. The national highway, N-5, which is used by 70% of traffic of the country, was also upgraded during his tenure.
One of the most important and the much appreciated decision of Nawaz Sharif was the nuclear testing at the Chaghi hills on May 28, 1998 in the result of Indians’ 5 explosions. After the successful testing of a nuclear bomb, Pakistan became the world’s 7th nuclear power and the first Muslim country having the nuclear power. Pakistan’s defensive position strengthened after this success.
Furthermore, Sharif’s government started many other programs and took many other initiatives. Projects like Gawadar miniport and Ghazi Brotha were started. Not only had that, but his government also repealed eight amendment, which gave extra powers to the President.
On the flip side, the Sharif government also had some blind spots. The major ones among them were the fiscal deficits and the lack of interest in the betterment of the education system. As mentioned in “The Economic Policies of the first Nawaz Sharif Government” by Abdus Samad that the Sharif’s government was unable to address the issue of fiscal deficit. After a few initiatives to reduce the deficit, the government totally lost control and the deficit expanded to 7% of the GDP. Moreover, Sharif government did not take much interest in the education system. The curricula were outdated, exams were being postponed, and many vice chancellors and principals were plundering education funds but the government showed no interest in resolving the most vital issue.
Additionally, many of the projects of Sharif’s government got failure or were not completed. According to the 15th April, 2013 Express Tribune “Nawaz Sharif launched the ‘Mera Ghar’ Scheme, the biggest public sector housing scheme. Under this scheme the government proposed the construction of over 500,000 houses for low income groups over the next three years on 20,000 acres of state land, but the desired objectives could not be achieved”
Sharif was also alleged for corruption of up to $418 million during his tenures as Prime Minister. As published in the Pakistan Today and Capitalism’s Achilles Heel by Raymond W Baker, Nawaz Sharif pocketed almost $160 million from the motorway project, $140 million in unsecured loans and the rest from the exports of sugar.
However, if we critically analyze the development during Sharif’s era and the loopholes that his government had, we can certainly conclude that Sharif’s government is the best option that Pakistan has today to boost our country’s economy. The development outweighs the blind spots. Pakistan has no doubt achieved much during his leadership. The employment rate boosted up due to his taxi scheme and many other schemes. Pakistan became a nuclear power during his regime, and there was no concept of load shedding in Pakistan under his leadership. The infra structure policies and the economic policies boosted the economy. Besides, PML-N has also shifted its attention towards education recently and has launched Danish School System in Punjab which is not only an example of quality education, but it is also very affordable for the poors. We can even notice that Pakistan Stock Exchange has reached its highest point since Nawaz Sharif is elected as a President. On a concluding note, it would not be wrong to say that Sharif’s government is a ray of hope for better Pakistan.
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