Shedding Crocodile Tears over Inflation

The News Tuesday, June 24, 2008
by Aqil Sajjad

The PPP and its supporters argue that the “common man” cares more about inflation than the restoration of the judiciary. They insist that forcing the present government’s hand on the judges’ issue would create political instability, threaten the democratic process and make it difficult for the elected government to resolve the economic issues.

Certainly, a major effort is needed to curb inflation, reduce unemployment and put our country on a sustainable path towards progress. But is the judges’ issue indeed beginning to be a distraction for efforts to solve the country’s economic problems, or is this only a false excuse to make the two issues look mutually exclusive? After all, the PPP supporters did not see inflation as a more urgent issue than the judiciary when the PPP was trying to get political mileage from the lawyers’ movement after March 9 last year and was passionately in favour of the independence of the judiciary.

Honest attempts at addressing any problem need to start from development of a team of competent people who can put together a coherent programme. This programme needs to be included in the party’s manifesto and shared with the public instead of spending all the time on rhetoric centred on personalities and emotional blackmail. A political party needs to do such homework before coming into power so that it can get to work straightaway and have a dedicated team of economists capable of working out the economic problems, regardless of the political situation and irrespective of the lawyers’ movement.

While we regularly hear the retort that inflation is more important for the common man than the judges’ issue, we don’t see the same PPP apologists raise this self-created weakness of the political parties which is a much bigger hurdle in to the solution of the economic and other problems affecting the people than any imaginary difficulties created by the lawyers’ movement.

We seldom see these supporters of the PPP trying to raise the level of the discourse on inflation and other issues relevant to the “common man,” but when the lawyers and the civil society criticise their party for its lack of sincerity regarding the judiciary and decide to continue their movement for the rule of law, they suddenly remember the issue of inflation.

If these apologists, whose lack of seriousness about the economic problems is clear from the fact that they ignore the connection between these problems and corruption, had spent some time trying to understand the issue of inflation, then they would perhaps have recognised this important link. They would have seen an independent judiciary as part of the solution rather than a pointless distraction. And, then, perhaps they would be more interested in siding with the judges who saved billions of rupees of the nation in a single case alone, on the privatisation of the Steel Mills, rather than defending those who need the NRO to escape accountability.

I am not trying to present the judiciary’s restoration as a panacea for all ills that will make all our troubles ranging from inflation to political instability instantly go away. Far from it. The judiciary’s restoration is only one part of the solution, albeit an important one, and a lot more will be needed to address our problems. But what is really disturbing is that some analysts have started falsely presenting the situation as if the judges’ issue is standing in the way of dealing with inflation and the other daily issues affecting the “common man.”

Our economic ills cannot be removed through empty rhetoric. They need honest efforts to address the real reasons. If high oil prices are hurting us, the solutions include reducing our oil consumption by improving public transport and using smaller and more fuel efficient cars instead of flaunting large luxury vehicles that consume too much oil. If housing is unaffordable for a section of our population, the solution is to initiate affordable housing schemes for the people and block quick-buck investors who jack up prices by purchasing land only to sell it at higher rates, instead of being genuinely interested in constructing a real brick and mortar structure. If excessive printing of money is contributing to inflation, part of the solution is to cut wasteful expenditure and reduce corruption, for which restoring the independent judiciary would help, so that the budget deficit does not skyrocket. Since hoarding and market manipulation are compounding the economic problems, the solution is to take action against the guilty.

It is the vested interests of the elite and lack of will on the part of our government, and not the movement for the restoration of the judiciary that stand in the way of such solutions. If some pro-PPP intellectuals are really concerned about inflation and therefore want to place it above the judges’ issue on their priority list, that might also be somewhat understandable since they are entitled to their opinion on how various issues should be prioritised. But, then, they had better be making an honest and sincere effort for raising the level of debate on inflation and discussing possible solutions instead of shedding crocodile tears over it only to defend the PPP through cheap point-scoring against the lawyers’ movement.

The writer is a student in the United States and is affiliated with the Student Action Committees (SAC) of Islamabad and the US. Email: aqil_sajjad@yahoo.ca