Not so Easy Business

By: Muhammad Ali Jan

Pakistan is part of the top 10 economies that improved the most in 2018/19. Source: World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report

Pakistan has jumped 28 places in the World Bank’s (WB) global ‘Ease of Business’ rankings to become one of the world’s top 10 performers for 2019. Naturally, the government is ecstatic and the Prime Minister has tweeted a message congratulating everyone involved in achieving this feat. At a time when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is finding precious little to celebrate – either on the economic or political front – their jubilation is completely understandable. It is also true that for a government increasingly obsessed with its international image, as well as one extremely popular with overseas Pakistanis, these rankings are meaningful, just like they are meaningful for a section of global investors. However, it is also important to read these rankings with a great degree of caution, and key stakeholders as well as the public at large should be aware of their limitations as well as the errors of commission and omission inherent within them. Indeed, presenting these – or any other global cross-country ranking – as some kind of objective indicator for improved economic governance is not only wrong, it is also dangerously misleading.

Without getting into a detailed critique, I will simply highlight three main reasons why Pakistan’s 28 place jump – from 136 to 108 – may mean very little for actual business development and growth in the country. To begin with, what does the WB’s ‘Ease of Business’ report measure? Briefly put, what it attempts to asses and compare are administrative hurdles across a few areas of business regulation, such as registering property, getting electricity, paying taxes, getting taxes etc. In total, there are 11 main dimensions that are combined to make up this ranking. To be more precise, it tries to assess and compare the legally required time and costs of regulatory compliance for these aspects of private enterprise across the globe. It gathers information on these variables through four sources: the laws and regulations in the books, 'experts' (mostly lawyers, consultants and accountants) supposedly well acquainted with local business practices, certain government officials and the WB staff itself.

The first problem is that, by the Bank’s own admission, this is far from a comprehensive measure of the business environment since it does not cover, for example, aspects like security, macroeconomic stability, corruption, labour skills of the population, the underlying strength of institutions, the infrastructure or the financial system,- all of which impact how easy it is to set up a business. Given the lack of any coherent plan from the government for increasing investment that involves sub-regional businesses as well as the general environment of crushing stagflation, it is doubtful that these reforms on their own can lead to a spurt of new business development.

In addition, underlying these rankings is a certain laissez faire ideological bias so that simply a permissive environment is deemed enough to spur growth and for the fruits of this growth to be widespread. To give one example, while the government has made the payment of tax much simpler by introducing online payment modules, the timing, manner and rate of taxes themselves are considered by observers to be a reason why cash has disappeared from the market and the economy has slowed down. Yet, the ease of business ranking would register the reform on paper as a positive while its effects will not be counted.

This brings us to a much more fundamental problem with the ranking: that its source of information involves tax lawyers, accountants, government officials but not entrepreneurs themselves. This is because the report is mainly about how rules and regulations exist on paper and not how they are experienced by actual actors (i.e. firms) on the ground. A much more reliable measure of actual experience are the WB’s 'Enterprise Surveys' which cover aspects such as access to finance, corruption, infrastructure, crime, and competition by interviewing a large random sample of managers and business owners themselves across a range of enterprise types in different parts of the country. What these reports show is that for economies like Pakistan, where close to 70% of all livelihoods are earned in the Informal economy, the disjuncture between laws on paper and actual experience can be monstrous. In fact, scholars who have compared the two surveys have found almost ‘zero correlation’ between improvement in the ranking in terms of laws and actual experience on the ground.

A final limitation of the report is that, even if one were to accept that the formal laws and regulations are important, they cover them for only two main cities, namely Karachi (where the Sindh government was as involved in these reforms as the federal government) and Lahore. Therefore, in addition to the limitation of only looking at laws on paper and not actual experience on the ground, ignoring the vast informal economy, restricting surveys to legal and government experts and covering a few aspects of regulation with a somewhat simplistic idea that less regulation is necessarily better, the report also suffers from a lack of coverage, which for a country as large and varied as Pakistan, is extremely misleading.

This is not to say that the report is entirely devoid of substance or that any other government would not have flaunted a report like this. It is also true that the global 'development industry' continues churn out such reports, even when the rankings contradict one another; to give an example, even as Pakistan has jumped many points on this index, it has dropped three positions from 107 to 110 on the global competitiveness rankings. In fact, the one key lesson of the current economic morass in the country is this: policy makers must dispense with the ‘one-size fits all’ approach to development, particularly that borrowed heavily from the Bank’s neoliberal ‘good governance’ agenda with its laundry list of reforms.

Instead, countries must rely on their own resources (of course, not in an autarkic sense) to chart a home-grown plan for reform, economic growth, decent employment and poverty reduction. Of course, that would require reaching across the aisle - both economically and politically - to people one may not always agree with or like but who are critical stakeholders if any stable and prosperous political economy arrangement is ever to evolve.

The writer is a Research Associate with the School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford. He can be reached at muhammad.jan@area.ox.ac.uk.

Women Leaders in Action: Lady Health Workers’ Protests

By Komal Qidwai

A health worker vaccinates a child during a polio vaccination campaign in a rural area in Punjab.
Photo credit: flickr.com

Since 2002, Lady Health Workers (LHWs) have protested against low stipends and delayed payments. The LHW Program, initiated by Benazir Bhutto in 1994, now employs over 100,000 workers. The aim of the program is to provide primary health services to women in rural and urban slum areas through LHWs, who are residents of the community they work for. Until 2012, LHWs were contractual employees. After their regularization in early 2013, they became full-fledged government employees, entitled to benefits, guaranteed payment of salaries, and a clear trajectory for career advancement through a service structure.

LHWs employ a range of protest strategies to have their demands heard. From sit-ins and marches to hunger strikes and self-immolation, these women-led protests have managed to achieve regularization, as well as increases in salaries. LHW’s protest action is one example of women’s involvement in contentious politics in Pakistan, which is currently being researched at the Collective for Social Science Research. We are conducting this study under the A4EA (Action for Empowerment and Accountability) research program, in collaboration with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex.

According to Ivan Gomza, contentious politics refers to political action which operates outside of institutions, such as government bodies. Disadvantaged groups use protests to voice their demands through collective action. Our research is focused on understanding women’s role in this type of political action, including the emergence of women leaders, their demands, and protest strategies.

Along with my colleagues, I interviewed founder and president of the All Pakistan Lady Health Workers’ Welfare Association, Bushra Arain. We learned that initially she struggled for permission to join the program as she faced resistance from her in-laws, extended family and husband. Through our interviews with women leaders in other types of protest action, we found that support from male family members is important for the emergence of women leaders. The same is true for Arain, who had to convince her family to become an LHW.

After joining the program, Arain was quickly promoted to the position of a Lady Health Supervisor. She experienced harassment from male colleagues, such as a doctor who was responsible for training her. She and other supervisors protested/objected and had him removed from the program. At the same time, Arain also realized that the program was helping a large number of people, but its workers were not being paid enough or on time. By 2008, she had formed the LHW Association and in 2010, LHWs across all four provinces protested on the streets, demanding increase in wages and regularization. To mobilize LHWs for collective action, she travelled all over Pakistan, forging connections with workers in different provinces. Her leadership style matches that of many other women leaders from our other interviews – she engages in grass-roots mobilization herself, taking on responsibility and bearing high personal costs such as threats to safety and distance from her children and family.

Many of the LHW street protests are carefully staged. Describing a hunger strike in 2010 outside the Islamabad Press Club, Arain says that there were forty protesters in the sit-in, and every time one would leave, she would be replaced by another. This way, the protestors were able to maintain their numbers. In another sit-in during April, 2012, some of the protestors gave the government an ultimatum - either their demands for regularization be heard by 3 p.m., or they would self-immolate. A lack of government responsiveness pushed twenty-five protestors to sprinkle petrol on themselves, and one driver even sustained burn injuries. This compelled government officials to step in and assure the protestors that their demands would be met.

Staging protests is one of the many organizational strategies LHWs employ. They have also effectively used the courts by filing a petition in the Supreme Court in 2010 for their regularization and increase in salaries. However, it was the cruel treatment of the protestors at the hands of the police in 2011 which finally prompted then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice of LHWs’ demands. Even after the Supreme Court issued orders for their regularization, there were delays in implementation and LHWs continued protesting to ensure the court orders were followed through. Arain describes this combination of using courts and street protests, “The world saw that (their protest) and pressurized the government.” So creating a spectacle by staging protests induces the government to sit down with the protestors, undertake formal negotiations about their demands, and follow through with necessary action.

However, they could not have filed a petition without legal aid, and Arain claims that advocates such as Qazi Anwar, now president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, helped LHWs draft and file the court petition. Forging alliances, then, is also a key strategy for successful protest action. As early as 2000, before the LHW Association was formed, it was through the help of the All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA), Aurat Foundation, and the Pakistan Paramedical Association that Arain and her colleagues had the doctor who was allegedly sexually harassing them removed from the LHW program. LHWs also form alliances with influential politicians, such as Marvi Memon. Memon was an MNA from 2008 to 2011, and her presence at their protests during those years afforded the LHWs some protection from police brutality. Even now, LHWs continue to build alliances, such as the Aurat March, and are engaging in protests to improve their conditions.

Apart from having their demands met, engaging in protest action has also led to personal empowerment for many LHWs. Arain, for instance, recalls that at the beginning of her career, she used to cry if she was chided by a person of authority. Now, after threats and beatings, she is not afraid of any backlash. Other women in the Association look at her with reverence, and her charisma certainly plays a role in marking her out as a leader. She has built this credibility over a long period of struggle. Our interviews in relation to other types of protest action reveal that many women at the forefront of protest actions have followed similar trajectories – enduring high personal costs, forming alliances, learning new organizational strategies, and emerging as leaders.

Challenges of Empowerment for Women in Politics: Resources, Voice and Agency

By Zonia Yousuf Baltistani

Source: publicdomainfiles.com

In today’s development context the notion of women’s empowerment has replaced a more confrontational and political discourse of women’s rights. With major development frameworks, like the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the demand for gender equality through women’s empowerment and inclusiveness has gained currency; the idea is to leave no one behind.

I believe this approach has transformed empowerment into a creative force; a resourceful power which is used to achieve and to accomplish. Scholars like Naila Kabeer, view empowerment in terms of the means that allow women to make strategic life choices: access to resources, enhanced voice and increased agency. In light of this understanding, how much (or little) has changed for women in politics? How empowered are women in politics in Pakistan?

It is safe to say that changes in the political arena have led to an increased number of resources that woman politicians have at their disposal. The Parliament itself, through an Act, created the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), which provides research and capacity building services to all parliamentarians. Various workshops and trainings have been conducted by PIPS specifically for female parliamentarians to realize their leadership potentials and enhance their jurisdictive abilities.

The institute not only responds to research requests from parliamentarians but also aids them in the process of making informed legislative decisions by conducting comparative studies, offering bill drafting services, assisting in developing parliamentary committee reports, talking points, background papers and policy briefs. The institute conducts a Parliamentarians Orientation Program for newly elected members to familiarize them with the procedures of the parliament along with more specialized trainings such as annual pre and post budget seminars which aim to better equip the parliamentarians for deliberations on the budget. Female parliamentarians are equal participants in all activities. Further, the political parties in Pakistan are largely structured to have women wings as an inclusionary measure.

Policy changes leading to reserved seats for women, 10 per cent requirement of women’s voter turnout, five per cent reserved general seats for women, creation of gender-centric supporting bodies like the national and provincial Women’s Parliamentary Caucuses and the national and provincial Commissions on the Status of Women, have increased the participation of female politicians leading to more inclusion.

However, our research with 200 female parliamentarians (2013-2018) from the National Assembly, Senate and the Provincial Assemblies revealed that female parliamentarians continue to operate in hostile environments. There is still a considerable amount of silencing and exclusion that these women face within their parties as well as on the floor of the parliament. The following table describes findings from the survey indicating that women in politics are subject to various forms of sex- based discrimination and harassment:

Findings from interviews with key informants uncovered that women parliamentarians are on occasion either physically excluded from meetings and discussions or encounter a suppression of their voices when present. Their voice is minimally included in party polices, even when decisions regarding their own political careers are being made by the party.

Our study divulges that despite the available resources, female politicians continue to lack space and agency (excluding a few exceptions to the norm). The agency of women in Caucuses to legislate on women’s issues is constrained by party policies which is why they might not be able to vote in favor of progressive legislation for women. The unsuccessful attempt to pass the domestic violence bill in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the last government is one such example.

Despite the existence of women’s wings, female politicians are not adequately represented at decision making levels; most political parties do not have women as top leadership. Women wings are used as campaigning bodies for male candidates rather than training grounds for women candidates to run in their own right. The findings from the interviews indicate that women politicians aren’t treated at par with their male counterparts by the party leaders.

The dearth of voice and agency can be causally linked to an absence of accountability within political parties. Even though frameworks to ensure female participation exist, there is a lack of internal accountability mechanisms within political parties. For example, Ayesha Gulalai’s sexual harassment charges were never formally investigated within Parliament or her party. The concept of women’s empowerment, particularly within the political domain, needs to be coupled with the notions of transparency, accountability, democratic decision making and rule of law.

Making the most out of democracy

By Ali Ahmad

Photo credit: flickr.com

2018 has been a significant year for Pakistan’s democratic transition. In July, general elections took place, and the country made a historic decision by electing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by Imran Khan for the first time. The PTI’s election campaign revolved around slogans of ‘accountability for all’ and removal of corruption with many arguing that we must celebrate the success of democracy and the rise of a new government.

What are the underlying factors that help voters choose public representatives and form perceptions about politicians? What role does the media play in ensuring the functioning of democracy? How can we, as voters, become more critical evaluators of our representatives?

Which is worse: corruption or misogyny?

By Ayesha Khan

Imran Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman in Abbotabad
Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

The ‘Naya Pakistan’ we find ourselves in will be filled with unknowns and new opportunities. One of them will be the chance for women voters to decide which is more inimical to their interests: corruption or misogyny?

Pakistan will have a Prime Minister with a strong view on the question. He is personally not corrupt, in the sense that no accusations have ever been wielded against him for illegally making or giving payments or ill-gotten gains. He has made incorruptibility the backbone of his credibility as a politician, and the masthead of his party.  (However, his selection of ‘electables’ in the allocation of tickets, including many old-guard figures whose reputations are more questionable, led to protests from PTI workers before the elections.)

Misogyny, on the other hand, is a badge he wears with pride. As a recovered playboy, he is at great pains to distance himself not only from his past but any whiff that may remain from his considerable time spent in the west. Comfortable, at last, with a pious and curiously shrouded wife, he said in an interview before the elections, “I totally disagree with the western concept and the role of the feminist movement, which has completely degraded the role of mother.” He then waxed on about having been brought up by his mother, etc.

Identity Search: Women and Social Media Politics

By Sana Naqvi

Digital revolutions are on the rise in Pakistan
Photo credit: Wikimedia commons

Each era brings a novel tool through which thoughts are expressed, networks are formed and ideas disseminated and Pakistan is no exception. The insatiable desire to reach out to more and more people has led to advanced thinking in terms of how collective spaces are defined and how to interact within them. Social media, whether WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter, has come to the forefront and transformed the digital arena in constructive ways. In Pakistan, the internet penetration rate stands at 22% as of April 2018, with 55 million 3G/4G subscribers and 35 million social media users, with political engagement and awareness campaigns now being run through such mediums. These social platforms are being used in ways that they have never been used before, with citizen journalism becoming a popular phenomenon, where the general public (as opposed to just journalists) speaks out and documents events even as they happen. What they articulate has wide-spread influence and has given a new face to civil society, expanding its powers to affect people, events and legislation.

The Mystery of Political Will

by Kabeer Dawani

Political will is thought to be the solution to all development problems. But what is it?
Photo credit: Flickr.com

Along with corruption, the “lack of political will” is perhaps the most common lament among Pakistanis for public policy failures. For instance, a recent article in the Economic and Political Weekly argued, “many of the issues surrounding the recent census [in Pakistan] would have been solved had there been a political will.”

Pakistani politics: Where are the women?

By Ayesha Khan

Panel discussion.
Left to Right: Dr Saba Gul Khattak, Ms Khawar Mumtaz, Ms Munizae Jahangir (moderator), Ms Bushra Gohar, Dr Nafisa Shah
Photo credit: Collective team

The Collective for Social Science Research (CSSR) and the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS) held a launch event for their research studies on women’s political voice in Islamabad on September 27^th 2017. These studies are designed to explore pathways to increasing women’s political participation. The launch is part of a multi-country study on Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and coordinated by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex.

Ending poverty – drama or whimper?

by Haris Gazdar

Incidence of multidimensional poverty in Pakistan, 2014-2015
Photo Credit: UNDP, Pakistan

The first sustainable development goal (SDG1) is dramatic: “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” by 2030. Is it even a logical possibility? Have learned economic philosophers not pondered over the relative nature of poverty – which means that no matter how well off everyone is, some will be poorer, and poverty is about those who are poorer. Perhaps because the “ending poverty” wish is so fantastic it has been helpfully broken down into more tractable targets: ensure that no one lives on less than $1.25 a day. This idea owes its origins to a debate about global poverty lines – or levels of income below which a person is considered to be poor. And if the $1.25 a day target seems too rigid then there is the more achievable goal to “reduce by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.” This gives quite a lot of leeway to national governments to come up with their own definitions of poverty reduction and then to try and achieve them.

The price of political Islam

by Ayesha Khan

RAWA's rally against Taliban in Peshawar, 1998
Photo credit: Wikipedia/RAWA

Why does it come as no surprise to us in Pakistan that Tashfeen Malik spent significant time in Saudi Arabia and was a student at al-Huda in Multan? Because we already know that violent extremism in the name of Islam has been fostered in our country through external funding and religious education emanating from these sources, much as they care to deny this on the international stage. So what are we, ordinary men and women whose lives have been changed by this phenomenon to varying degrees in Muslim countries over the last few decades, doing to stop it?

Politics and social change

by Haris Gazdar

Pakistan's youngest political prisoner: 4 year old MRD activist Fraz Wahlah, 1985
Photo credit: Wikipedia

Last Saturday, I spoke at a panel discussion - “Pakistan: fossilized or quietly transforming” at the 2015 Khayaal Festival. Dr. Ali Cheema who teaches economics at the LUMS and conducts research at the Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS) and the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP) moderated the discussion. I was privileged to share the panel with the distinguished demographer and social scientist Dr Zeba Sathar who heads the Pakistan country office of the Population Council in Pakistan and does pathbreaking work on fertility and demographic trends.

Has Pakistan changed, or is it caught in a rut? Ali Cheema introduced this question using the work of two commentators on Pakistan, William Easterly and Anatol Lieven. Easterly wonders why Pakistan lags behind in so many social indicators of education, health, and women’s empowerment despite having a relatively educated and sophisticated elite, and having produced many individuals who excel in the professions globally. Lieven characterizes Pakistan as being “governed by the traditions of overriding loyalty to family, clan and religion... a highly conservative, archaic... inert mass of different societies".