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Article

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Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is reported to have told the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) provincial assembly members from Punjab that the ban on recruitment in the federal government would be removed. Job quotas will be given to each Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) in addition to the substantial grants from the exchequer for development work in their respective constituencies.

This seems to be the first salvo fired by the government in preparation for the elections to be held in the next 12-15 months – if all goes well. These election-specific preparations should remind us of 2007 when a strong economy was allowed to derail because of the short-term political expediency of winning the electoral battle. The then government opened up the coffers of the exchequer and avoided critical price adjustments in order to win votes. These actions and inactions proved inimical to the health of the economy in subsequent years. How viable is this strategy of using public finances for winning elections?

Publication Source

The News

Publication Date

12-12-2011

Pages

1-3

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