Anjum Niaz is a freelance journalist with over twenty years of experience in national and international reporting. This post was picked up from Pak Markaz and puts it straight for our “leaders” to understand. We whole-heartedly support this plan instead of an IMF bailout.

After China’s reluctance to bail us out, what next? The Saudis were shy to say they will give us oil on deferred payment; they have since gone silent. The Americans did promise us some millions but are today scurrying like scared rabbits stopping their own economy from collapse. The UAE royal family will cough up cash for old time’s sake but only if we hand over our family silver to them on a platter. We have no cash to keep the IMF wolf away from the door. Pakistan has begged from all, but none has come forth with money, only hollow promises.

Knock, knock. Enter the big bad wolf. With our economy in the emergency ward, the IMF will shove its painful economic drip down our throats to revive us. Do we deserve it? Yes, because our leaders, military and civilian, present and past, have been too busy living like emperors, building their own palaces in Pakistan and abroad, junketing abroad with toadies unlimited, lining their own pockets, hoarding dollars in their own foreign banks and looking the other way while their honchos have done the same. The rape by our leaders continues. The fear of God doesn’t work on our leaders; the fear of IMF does.

If the world’s second richest man Warren Buffet is willing to invest in his country’s future by buying American stocks why can’t Pakistan’s suggested second richest man President Asif Ali Zardari and the fourth richest man Mian Nawaz Sharif invest in energy projects that can save Pakistan from going bankrupt? Just think about it. This is no idle talk but a practical solution to our biggest problem today: lack of energy.

‘Put your mouth where your money is,’ writes Warren Buffet in a column recently. ‘Today my money and my mouth both say equities.’ A simple rule dictates his buying: ‘Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.’

Pakistan cannot come close to America and its wealth. Cynics may point out that my citing Warren Buffet is therefore way off the mark. They may point out that Zardari and Sharif are no Warren Buffet. Granted. Darn, it’s time we talked shop. Sharp-suited-smiler has done the international rounds but returned home empty handed. Zardari’s last resort was China. He hoped that the Chinese would deposit $1.5 billion to $3 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan before his plane touched down in Karachi. That did not happen.

Why?

The much-celebrated democracy dividend engineered by the US and UK envoys and seconded by the Saudis and the UAE earlier this year saw the emasculation of Pervez Musharraf. The dictator was forced to issue the NRO which washed away the years of corruption our politicians were accused of and indicted for in courts here and abroad. The death of Benazir Bhutto left in its wake a power vacuum that Zardari and company were not prepared for. The PPP co-chairman overnight became the accidental candidate and in turn got crushed under the welter of his own power. Consequently he bungled not once but many times. He allowed Farooq Naek and Latif Khosa to block the return of the chief justice. He allowed his ego to guide him in his choice of a subservient prime minister. He okayed Rehman Malik’s underhand move to take control of the ISI. He let loose the dogs of war in Punjab all the while schmoozing with the Sharifs; trooping with the Americans (Ambassador Anne Patterson in Islamabad and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in New York); cajoling the Saudis for free oil; humouring General Kayani and pampering Altaf Hussain of the MQM giving him what he wants. Read more »