let us all pray in this holy month that asif zardari turns out to be a good leader and that our country can progress and be a land of peace, ameen. he has got a chance so let us all wait and see and bear with patience and prayer.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [ankahi:716] Re: ASIF ZARDARIDate: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 17:16:27 +0000 ASTAGHFIRULLAHHHH Ramzan main kis ka naam subject main likh diya :S From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [ankahi:713] ASIF ZARDARIDate: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 08:35:43 +0000 Mr. Asif Zardari, the co-chairman of the Peoples Party (PPP), is eyeing the top slot of President. With the numbers game is still on, we believe he will be elected as president of the country with the support of small parties in center and provinces. If elected, he will be one of the powerful leaders in the history of Pakistan having majority in both upper and lower house of the parliament. Mr. Zardari will be lynchpin behind key economic decision making. Previously, he enjoyed nearly a whiz-kid style role during late Benazir Bhutto led PPP administration in mid nineties which was marred by misrule and financial crisis. That government was later on sacked by PPP’s own appointed president given erosion in foreign exchange reserves and ailing state owned financial sector. The only problem one can see would be his soaring relationship with PML (N) leader Mr. Nawaz Sharif, who is controlling all powerful Punjab provincial government. But we also expect Mr. Sharif to forget decade old differences and collectively work for a common goal to bring the country out of the present economic meltdown. Zardari – emerging as a king maker With the sad demise of Benazir Bhutto, Mr. Zardari has made a political comeback and now we see him to be an all powerful leader who could easily remove bottlenecks such as bureaucratic hurdles to bring economy back on track. With his election on September 6, 2008, all political upheavals would nearly die down thus lending him an opportunity to perform with ease. Mr. Zardari is becoming president at a time when, Pakistan Army has conducted successful operations in the tribal belt and nearly thwarted unwanted militants. We see this to be a good omen since army is backing democratic led set in up holding writ of the state in some of the turbulent areas adjacent to restive Afghanistan which is vital for Mr. Zardari’s success as an economic deliverer for Pakistan. Mr. Zardari is also mending fences with battling lawyers’ community by reappointing judges and we predict judicial crisis to come to a logical end. A cursory look at the past record Some of the finer points of the previous PPP led era were opening up of Pakistan market for foreign investors especially FDI flows in the power sector. The era coincided with President Clinton led US administration who’s energy secretary Ms. Hazel O’ Leary played a pivotal role in launching many heating oil fired power projects. Overall we saw Independent Power Producers (IPP’s) added 4,000 MW to the national grid. Moreover, a hydro power based Ghazi Barotha project was also started having a generation capacity of 3,000 MW. We see these projects were part of the major supply side program to enhance productivity. However, that government could not come out of fiscal constraints and also marred by serious allegations of financial misrule. Relationship with US is vital We see Mr. Zardari to be fortunate given strong chances of Democrats coming back in the White House in November 2008 presidential elections. Recently, presidential nominee Mr. Barak Obama supported bill to double Pakistan’s economic assistance whereas vice presidential nominee Mr. Joseph Biden is an expert on foreign relations and close to Pakistanis. Moreover, we expect secretary of state in waiting Mr. John Kerry has toured Pakistan during Feb 2008 elections and praised Pakistan’s transitional democracy. Mr. Zardari and his rusty economic advisors would be looking towards Democrats led US administration for supply side bale out plans especially investments in energy sector such coal, oil and gas and electricity generation. Challenges – economy needs strong political leadership Mr. Zardari’s success would depend on visionary advisors who could provide long term solutions to Pakistan’s sagging economy rather resorting to deficit finance. We see growth in agriculture is faltering (y-o-y 1.5% growth whereas crops are showing negative growth of 1% which we feel is the chief reason besides rise in global commodity prices behind Pakistan’s runaway inflation (July CPI: 24%). Pakistan’s twin deficit is almost 15% of GDP whereas Rupee is loosing its luster against greenback almost every day given lack of foreign inflows. Pakistan’s capital markets have lost more than 50% of the market capitalization wherein foreign portfolio investors are jittery on Pakistan’s future outlook. We see Mr. Zardari’s present economic team is incapacitated to deal with these surmounting problems. However, now country seems to have prospects of stable political future after September 6, 2008 presidential elections given strong chances of Mr. Zardari elevating power. We see unity of command in Zardari’s hand thus giving him chance to really perform and implement at least his touted pro-poor agenda. Given this prognosis, we see Mr. Zardari to play pivotal role in dispelling foreign portfolio investors fear of some sort of economic meltdown in the making. Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! 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