Pakistan According To Indicators From The World Bank

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press

Freedom of speech is the right of a people to voice their opinion publicly without fear of punishment or penalty given by the state. Constitution of Pakistan provides freedom of speech and freedom of press with certain limitations (Blasphemy in Islam is not legal in Pakistan; restrictions are imposed by the law only to maintain integrity, security concerns and maintaining Islamic values within the country). I would rate freedom of speech 6 but I would rate freedom of press 5 because in general there is freedom of press but when it comes to government policies and political influences, data is censored and journalists suffer for providing such information or reports that go against political interest.

One of the renowned Human Rights activists, Sabeen Mehmud was murdered in Karachi on the account of freedom of speech which depicted the influence of extreme ideologies and political pressure. Not only this, there have been many journalists killed in Pakistan while covering the insurgencies or on the account of their free expression about the issues.

Political Stability and Absence of Violence

Political instability is one the major problem in developing countries and it hinders the development and growth of these countries. The main reasons behind the political instability are the political influences, lack of reforms and government instability. Political instable society leads to frustration where people feel unsatisfied and lose interest and trust in the government institutions and exert their energies in wrong directions to find their own ways and ultimately such society collapse. Looking at Pakistan history and present political situation I would rate it 4 on the scale of 0-10.

The main cause of political instability is the biased system of feudal lords and illegal use of power by the authorities or parties who win the elections. The judicial system is Pakistan is not even just; they give power to political leaders to use law which favors them. Military coup and intelligence bureau also plays significant role in violating democratic governance and bringing political instability. As a result of political instability in Pakistan the economic and social development has been declined.

Another significant factor for political instability is impairment of federal system; a federation can’t exist without the cooperation and mutual respect by treating all provinces equally. In order to bring the political stability, the judiciary should be independent without any influences. Secondly, there should be establishment of fair and free election commission. Moreover, the culture of family leadership or politics should be discouraged which is due to lack of education or knowledge. As literacy rate is so low in Pakistan, we need to educate the masses first so that they can choose a just leader by voting.

Government Effectiveness

The current situation of Pakistan calls for effective government reforms and policies. The significant institutions in Pakistan should not recruit misfit individuals for the job. If right person get the job, progress is visible and institutes grow. The recruitment of suitable and competent candidate is not encouraged in some of the major institutions which play a vital role in economic and social development of Pakistan. Pakistan is dealing with economic, social, financial and energy challenges, which require immediate government action to make such reforms and policies that would help to overcome the challenges faced. Pakistan needs to have strong integrity systems in order to bolster economy. The strategies for planning and budgeting in Pakistan are very poor which results in bad practices leading to corruption, injustice and exploitation of power and resources. I would rate government effective as 5 on 10. I believe there is room for improvement and government effectiveness can be achieved through democratic processes/practices with stability and accountability. Improvement of technical and public institutions would result in greater effectiveness, providing education, good health care facilities, safety and security to ordinary citizen etc.

Regulatory Quality

I would rate regulatory quality as 5 on 10. In Pakistan, the regulatory quality is on the decline with slight improvement. The regulatory and control policies are not very effective and lack of implementations of quality standards has introduced inefficiencies in economic and social sector. The consecutive government doesn’t have long term goals and pay no attention to Institution building and reforms that provide sustainable development. Such policies makers and practitioners should be appointed who have good education about the subject and implement such reforms that benefit the nation as whole. But new elected government seem to be quite well and educate and people are hoping that this new government would bring some positive reforms and regulation to maintain the quality standard with proper system of accountability, transparency, honesty and consistency.

Rule of Law

In Pakistan the rule of law is dealing with massive challenges and government and state functionaries are not held accountable usually. Such society only suffers due to alteration of law for by people in power for their own particular profit/benefit. The quality of governance is the reflection of democratic society and it only work well with integral reforms and regulations. The society with poor law leads to criminal and terrorist activities. The judicial system is not very effective in my country but improvement has been witnessed over years due to the press media and human rights and judicial activists.

There are a lot of challenges faced still by the society in general and less effective government action is deteriorating the situation. For example, sale of unauthorized medicines and drugs, non-payment of taxes, land or property mafias depict weak law in Pakistan. In some sectors tax is exempted due to weak enforcement of law and influential political pressure. Baluchistan is one of the provinces in Pakistan which face critical challenges in establishing the rule of law. In order to improve the rule of law, it is very important to improve the judicial system. A judicial system should be independent, transparent and should have accountability. The laws should be reformed and synchronized with each other, only that way we can hope for the improvement in the law and order of the country which provide equal shelter to every citizen.

Control of Corruption

Corruption is one of the major causes of overall problems in Pakistan. There is lawlessness, lack of credibility, no accountability and transparency in many public and sometimes private sectors also. Political influence, socio-economic differences and misuse use of power is escalating the trends of corruption. Our judicial system, police sector, power sector, health and care sector, land administration are plagued with corruption. Therefore, I would rate 4 on 10 for control of corruption. Pakistan must target towards establishing institutions, organizations with pillar of accountability and develop long term sustainable policies and reforms which provide economic and social development. A strong judicial system is required to overcome corruption from its root. Integrity and honesty in every institute and sector whether it’s public or private should not be compromised at any cost. The violation of law and misuse of power should have severe punishments. Illegal cash flow internationally and illegal practices should be monitored.