Zardari Presidency – The Best Hope for Pakistan

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Let's rewind back to September 2008. Pakistan was in the midst of arguably the worst crisis of its modern history. After the assassination of Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, there was a lack of leadership at the national level. The disgruntled people of Balochistan were contemplating severing their bond with the federation of Pakistan. The brutal forces of intolerance and hatred were marching towards our scenic valley of Swat. The nation stood divided over the issue of how to deal with the Taliban. The stock markets were tumbling. All economic indicators were nose-diving. Suicide bombers were on a loose in every major city. Our diplomatic relations with Afghanistan had reached their lowest ebb. Internationally, we were being labeled as sponsors of terrorism and fingers were being pointed at us for stirring up trouble in neighboring Afghanistan.

It was at this critical time of Pakistan’s history that Zardari became the president and within a year we have witnessed a mighty transformation in our fortunes. It was Zardari who chanted “Pakistan Khappay” when the country was on the brink of disintegration after BB’s assassination and upon taking over as President his call of choosing hope over fear, unity of purpose over discord saved the federation from collapsing and successfully steered the country out of crises.

Upon taking over, a conscious decision was taken by the President to pursue policy of national reconciliation following the principles of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed as key to social and political stability. In this context, Mr. Zardari as PPP Co-Chairman sought apology from the people of Balochistan and as President called upon the Parliament to heal the wounds of the past by giving amnesty to Baloch nationalists. President's policy and practice of national reconciliation has helped rebuild the notion of national unity with the disenchanted Balochis. President abolished anachronistic law in tribal areas and for the first time the Political Parties Order has been extended to the tribal areas to enable the secular political parties to organize political activities in these areas. Further, due to the vision of President under the policy of national reconciliation PPP currently has a coalition government in the centre as well as four provinces.

When the PPP government took over power, the country was faced with severe economic problems, the state of the economy called for difficult decisions and courageous actions, and President acted — to lay a new foundation for economic stabilization and growth. Today, the bullish stock markets are leapfrogging to newer heights each passing moment. A macro economic stabilization program was launched with consultation of IMF. This program has started bearing fruit and the international rating companies have improved our economic and fiscal ratings from negative to stable. Under the leadership of President, steps have been taken to bring down the fiscal deficit followed by a very tight monetary policy to tame inflation. Central bank borrowings have been reduced to zero and major efforts are underway to improve tax revenues. As a result of all these far-sighted policies, inflation has decreased from 25% in September 2008 to 13% in June 2009, fiscal deficit has declined to 4.3% of GDP, current account balance has declined to 5.3% of GDP and foreign exchange reserves have recently crossed $13 billion.