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Economist Ishrat Husain, who once “served as the non-elected member of a federal cabinet,” says Pakistan would be ill-served if a “technocratic government” were allowed to run the country on the basis of a perception that the martial laws of Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq, and Pervez Musharraf led to economic progress. Recalling the “collateral damage” these regimes inflicted on Pakistan, he says that “parliamentary committees, Parliament, the Council of Common Interests, the National Security Committee and the National Economic Council” should be utilized to steer the country out of crises.
In a government of technocrats, lawmakers are rarely members of any political party or politicians by career; this is supposed to free governance from politics running against economic realities. Proponents claim this allows for the appointment of individuals to ministries on the basis of expertise and not political weight, i.e. a finance minister with an academic background in the field of economics who worked for international organizations and can take “tough” decisions that politicians would avoid in fear of voters’ rage at the “belt-tightening” imposed on them.
In some developing states, the public accepts “experts” to handle the economy on the basis of their knowledge. A technocratic government can also be set up in some instances through consensus of parliamentary parties when they are unable to form a normal government; such a consensus is not to be thought of in Pakistan. The Constitution, however, does not permit any unelected, technocratic setup. To implement it, you would have to either amend the Constitution or allow a “wise” dictator to set it aside. Similarly, the Constitution does not permit the kind of extended interim government that is being proposed by people currently toeing the technocratic line. Under Article 224, a “technocratic” government can only act as caretaker, which is required to hold elections within three months.
Pakistan’s experience with technocratic governments has not been good and thus lacks precedence to implement it. Aware of their checkered history, both the ruling coalition and the opposition PTI have rejected the “plan.” In recent memory, the “technocratic” governments of both Zia and Musharraf boasted “carpet-bagging” adventurers on important positions in government. Even the PTI-led period of 2018-2022 had few experts of Pakistani origin, with its government comprising several “on the make” special assistants and advisers. Technocrats do work indirectly in parts of Europe today, but their prominence is more pronounced in some countries (e.g., Italy, Greece) than others (e.g., United Kingdom, Germany), and they serve as facilitators within elected governments, and not unelected replacements.