Overseas Pakistanis: Only responsibilities and no rights
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Pakistan’s economic situation has been facing daunting challenges and in order to avoid a default on its debt the country has to rely time and again on financial assistance from its foreign partners. Such dependence upon foreign monetary support has in turn weakened significantly Pakistan’s regional standing and the leverage it once enjoyed vis-à-vis its foreign partners. This has also meant that in its foreign relationships Pakistan has effectively become a junior partner and its national interests which once had been respected by its allies and friends no longer hold reverence of a similar degree.
Pakistan’s worsening economic malaise is a complicated subject. Multiple governments over the last 15 years have attempted to institute reforms to improve the country’s fiscal outlook but with little success. The most recent iteration of such a policy initiative has been the creation of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) which is supposed to serve as a ‘One-Window’ platform to fast-track decision-making and promote as well as facilitate Foreign Direct Investment in the country. This hybrid entity that involves both the country’s civil and military decision makers will be particularly focusing upon investment from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States. Owing to the military’s special role in the country’s relationship with Gulf States and political uncertainty in Pakistan, the inclusion of the military as a guarantor to boost investor confidence perhaps makes some contextual sense.
Yet this initiative alone will not be enough to alleviate Pakistan’s ailing economy and might also fall short of the high-level expectations that have been linked to it. It is imperative that the country’s decision makers also focus upon other actors who have over the years become a much more reliable asset for Pakistan’s economic prosperity. One such critical actor is the Overseas Pakistanis Community whose foreign remittances have become a life-line for the country’s ailing economy. Over the last three years these foreign remittances alongside exports contributed nearly $164 billion to the national economy. With China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects largely stalling, and the overall foreign direct investment decreasing every year, it is these two avenues that are largely holding Pakistan’s economy afloat.
A community of citizens contributing nearly $30 billion annually to the national economy has been deprived of its right to vote.
Umar Karim
Pakistani governments do understand this dynamic and periodically have taken steps to facilitate and accommodate both the exporter community and overseas Pakistanis. However, in the case of overseas Pakistanis, domestic political motivations and sensibilities have always been at play particularly with regards to their inclusion into the country’s electoral process. These political games have complicated their relationship with their mother state resulting in an ever-growing trust deficit between the ruling authorities in Pakistan and overseas Pakistanis.
The government of former Prime Minister Imran Khan was the first to realize the economic importance of Pakistani expatriates living in various parts of the world and understood them to be a major untapped reserve. In order to further integrate these foreign remittances into the country’s economy, the government introduced the Roshan Pakistan Digital Account and Naya Pakistan Certificate schemes. The unique stature of the former premier within the overseas Pakistani community further helped to shore up the interest of the expatriate community in these schemes.
The departure of Khan’s government was not positively received by the overseas community and protests across the world were a testament to that. The new government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif instead of understanding the vitality of these overseas Pakistanis for the country’s economy, approached this question purely from a political perspective. Sensing the overwhelming support for the ousted premier in the overseas community, the government annulled their right to vote through an amendment in electoral laws.
This step by the government was not just a move to remove a pro-Khan voting block from the country’s electoral process but was also meant to diminish the political agency of these Pakistanis. This move sent a message to this community that while their economic contribution toward the parent country was welcomed, their remittances would not translate into them getting political rights. Political rights remain the sole premise of the citizens who live within Pakistan and are not meant for those who have left the country even when they continue to shoulder their economic responsibility vis-à-vis Pakistan.
This state of affairs and the denial of constitutionally guaranteed rights has disillusioned this important community and has shaken its confidence in the political system of Pakistan. On one hand the country’s ruling quarters are initiating new institutional structures to attract foreign investment into the country with the country’s military itself assuming the role of a guarantor. but on the other hand a community of citizens contributing nearly $30 billion annually to the national economy has been deprived of its right to vote.
It is time Pakistani rulers approach the question of overseas Pakistanis from an economic perspective and integrate this indispensable asset into the country’s political life. Without the political inclusion of overseas Pakistanis, any plan for Pakistan’s economic transformation can never be realized.
- Umar Karim is a doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham. His research focuses on the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s strategic outlook, the Saudi-Iran tussle, conflict in Syria, and the geopolitics of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Twitter: @UmarKarim89
