PAKISTAN has suffered enormous damage during the last six years. The democracy that we have managed to create in this country is nothing but a farce —— a dirty business where persons of shady character “invest” millions to get elected and then later loot and plunder billions. The rampant corruption, particularly by those who governed us during the period 2008-2013, had brought this country to the brink of disaster with billions of dollars of public money being stolen and stashed in foreign bank accounts.

The estimated quantum of corruption, based on calculations by Amnesty International, was about Rs. 8,500 billion in the first 4 years of the last regime during 2008-2011, (estimated at Rs. 11,000 billion over the 5 year period) bringing the nation to its knees. The rupee collapsed from Rs. 62 to Rs.100. Massive corruption in the rental powers project cleared the way for the collapse of our industry. Poverty has increased in an alarming manner and the suffering masses are being forced into lives of crime to survive while some prefer to commit suicides. The dream of Quaid-e -Azam has turned into a nightmare.

The Provincial and Federal Parliaments in Pakistan are controlled by feudal landlords who have turned elections into a dirty business. Most of these corrupt and incompetent parliamentarians are too busy lining their pockets to think of the nation. Pakistan is the only country in the world where 249 of our Parliamentarians, including Members of the National and Provincial Assemblies and Senators, shamelessly forged their degrees to get elected. Indeed it is a shameful reality that even the Federal Minister of Education in the previous government had forged school certificates and degrees. He was in PML-Q but then switched camps and is now seen defending colleagues in PML-N on national television! Mr. Nawaz Sharif should have more sense than to allow such shady characters in his party, as it casts a dark shadow on the PML-N honesty standards.

The British Parliamentary system of democracy has failed repeatedly. Indeed the bitter truth is that there was far more development and GDP growth under martial laws and military dictatorships than in this so called “feudocracy” that we have so stupidly nurtured in Pakistan. Looking at GDP growth figures over the last 66 years it is clear that the worst dictatorship was far better than the best democracy that we had. Those who would like to perpetuate the present system would argue that this was because democracy was never given a chance to flourish. This is pure nonsense.

If those who had plundered national wealth in the last government were given exemplary punishments by the present government, then there may have been a glimmer of hope. Alas over a year has passed and none of the corrupt past leaders have been convicted or sent to jail for their crimes against the nation. The “friendly opposition” serves only the interests of the crooks, and is contributing to the destruction of this country.

So what is the way forward? I advocate basic changes in the system of democracy. (1) What must be done is to introduce a Presidential system of democracy so that the President is elected directly by a general vote and he/she is the Chief Executive. (2) Additional provinces are created to ensure improved governance and it should be ensured that the President is elected from different provinces to ensure national integration. (3) The President should appoint his own team of Ministers, strictly on their competence and integrity. The Ministers must all be technocrats of international eminence, and each Ministry should be backed by a powerful think tank composed of the best experts in the respective fields. (4) The role of Parliament should be confined to law making and oversight of national affairs, and Parliamentarians should not be eligible to be appointed as Ministers of Federal or provincial governments.

This will, in one shot, remove such corrupt power hungry persons who enter politics to steal public money rather than to serve the nation. (5) The credentials of Presidential candidates, Ministers, Governors and other important government officials must be first approved by a judicial screening committee and experts in the respective fields to ensure integrity and competence. (6) The members of Parliament must have at least a first class Masters in their respective fields, as in our neighbouring country, the Islamic Republic of Iran, so they can properly discharge their primary function: law making. How can uneducated persons make laws, as is the case presently? It is preposterous! (7) There must be deep seated electoral reforms.

The members of the Election Commission should not be nominated by the major political parties as is the case presently. It is astonishing that out of the four members of the Election Commission, two are nominated by one party and another two by another party. How can you have fair and neutral elections under this situation? The members of the Election Commission should be appointed by the Chief Justices of the Supreme and High Courts from persons of unquestionable integrity and those that do not have any political affiliations. (8) The Election Commission should appoint the Returning Officers who should work directly under it. (9)

The elections must be done by electronic voting as done by India. (10) Army personnel should be posted INSIDE each election camp to oversee that the process is fair and that there is no stuffing of ballot boxes with fake votes, as was the case in the last elections. (11) The finances and powers to use them should be transferred to the grass roots as so eloquently suggested by Allama Dr. Tahirul Qadri in his speech of 11th May. (12) A major factor responsible for the failure of democracy in Pakistan is illiteracy among the masses and low level of education.

About half the people of Pakistan are illiterate. Of the remaining half, a major portion can barely sign their names. In this situation, elections are not fought on the basis of party manifestoes but on the basis of feudal strangle holds. It is not in the interests of those in power to invest in education as they would like their serfs to remain as slaves. It is a shameful reality that Pakistan spends only 1.8% of its GDP on education, ranking us among the bottom 7 countries of the world. A national education emergency should be declared and education given at least 5% of GDP rising to 8% over 5 years. Primary and secondary education should be declared compulsory and parents who don’t send their children to school should be sent to jail.

The mosques can be used to provide additional space for schools while retired army personnel can be mobilised to provide school teachers. A National Education Service requiring 2 years mandatory service for all graduating students needs to be introduced. Degrees should only be awarded after completion f this service period. (13) A major hurdle to democracy is quick and efficient dispensation of justice. This suits the corrupt ruling classes us as they can get away scot free without punishment. Terrorists belonging to various political parties roam at will in Karachi and a dozen or so political murders occur each day without any action against the persons responsible.

The justice system needs to undergo deep surgery to ensure that all cases are decided in 3-6 months and all back log cleared in 12 months. Military courts need to be set up in cases of terrorism as civil judges cannot cope with the threats to their safety. A large number of new judges will need to be appointed on contract, and those that fail to decide cases quickly should be removed. (14) Genuine land reforms should be carried out and agriculture tax introduced to increase tax collection. (15) FBR should be completely reformed as according to our former Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen, some Rs. 500 billion are lost because of corruption by FBR officials annually (16) A comprehensive road map for transitioning to a knowledge economy was prepared under my supervision after consultation with thousands of experts in public and private sector as well as with Ministry officials.

This 320 page document was approved by the Cabinet on 30th August 2007. It needs to be urgently implemented so that science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship can help us to emerge from the pile of debt, and stand with dignity in the comity of nations.

How can all this be done? The present Parliamentarians would certainly not want this. The army will need to use its muscle to make it happen. Indeed the army should have a formal role in the new democratic system, as in Turkey, to prevent any future Martial Laws.

The author is the former Federal Minister for Science & Technology, former founding Chairman of Higher Education Commission and presently President Pakistan Academy of Sciences.