s the year 2025 draws to a close, let us take a look at the lay of the land in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

As a nation, we are 78 years old. Nearly 33 of those years have been under military rulers. It has been frequently argued that governance, even during the rest of the years, has never been free from the influence of and interventions by the non-representative figures. Currently, we call the polity a hybrid regime. It took us 23 years to hold our first universal adult franchise general elections. There have been 29 inaugurations of prime ministers (including the caretakers and repeat tenures). However, none of those prime ministers has completed a five-year term.

Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan was murdered in 1951; former prime minister Zulifkar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto murdered in 2007. Many former prime ministers and would-be prime ministers including Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Yousuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi have been detained, arrested, prosecuted and jailed with or without a conviction. Former prime minister Imran Khan has now been behind bars for two years. Convicted on charges of financial corruption, he still faces charges related to May 23 riots that followed his arrest.

Key statistics

Externally, we have fought major wars with India in 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and border skirmishes have gone on since the May misadventure by India this year. Following the war in 1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. In 1998, Pakistan tested and acknowledged nuclear weapons.

In 1947, the population of West Pakistan was about 32.7 million, today it is around 250 million. In 1947, East Pakistan had nearly 40 million residents; today Bangladesh has nearly 177 million people.

The key determinants of development in any country are political stability, governance, rule of law, inclusive political and economic institutions, economic development, security, freedom from corruption and the quality of life of its citizens. The trends for all these indicators are painful to watch.

We have frequently hopped from one political crisis to another. Currently, we are in the midst of a major political conflict. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, one of the most popular political parties in the country, insists that the results of the 2024 general elections were changed to keep it out of power.

The disputed legitimacy of the PML-N led government has been a severe disadvantage in governance. Meanwhile, the PTI leadership has unfortunately accentuated the conflict rather than resolving it. Unless this conflict is resolved, there cannot be political stability in the country.

Rising cross-border terrorism and the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan too are major threats to security. Besides, conflicts in the border regions have impacted our relations with neighboring countries.

Governance

Public service delivery is in a shambles. After the 18th Amendment, the provincial governments have been assigned the resources and the responsibility to organise police, roads, water, sewerage, health and education. The provincial governments are also responsible for holding local government elections. However, most provincial governments have been reluctant to share resources and power with the district governments.

The PTI has led governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2013 and the Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh since 2008. The PLM-N has ruled the Punjab for several terms. However, governance and service delivery remain poor.

Social contract

The 26th and 27th Amendments to the constitution have changed key rules for the Judiciary, raising concerns about the independence of superior courts. Many of the fundamental rights of the citizens, promised in the constitution, are routinely flouted across the country. The Principles of Policy have been frequently disregarded. The PECA Act is being used to scuttle dissent.

Rule of law

World Justice Project calls rule of law “the foundation for healthy communities of justice, opportunity and peace.” It has evaluated and ranked 143 countries around the world since 2015. The scores range from 0 to 1 and the index is a composite score of eight aspects of governances and rule of law. Pakistan’s overall rule of law index score is 0.37. This places Pakistan 130th among 143 countries. All South Asian countries, except Afghanistan, are ranked better than Pakistan. In “order and security” Pakistan’s ranking is 143 out of 143 countries.

Economy

The average economic growth rate over the last three years has been 1.7, the lowest in any three consecutive years. 45 percent of the population is now living in poverty and unemployment stands at 22 percent. This means that nearly every other Pakistani is poor or near- poor. There has been a 65 percent reduction in the purchasing capacity of average Pakistani over the last years. The indirect taxes are among the highest in the world. The salaried classes suffer the most on this count. The corporate sector pays around 60 percent of the taxes. The power tariffs are higher than most countries in the world. Cost of doing business in Pakistan is therefore high.

Human development

As poverty grows, the quality of life of the people in Pakistan is deteriorating. The human development index (HDI) has declined over the last 10 years. In 2024, we were ranked 168 among 193 countries with all South Asian countries above us except Afghanistan. The HDI is a composite index of life expectancy, education and per capita income.

There is a crisis situation in health and education sectors. 40 percent of our children are stunted and around 40 percent of the children in school going age are out of school. We are among the top counties in neonatal mortality, hepatitis-C prevalence, Type II diabetes and one of the two countries in the world that have yet to eradicate polio.

Women suffer on account of rampant misogyny and lack of voice. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report of 2025, Pakistan was ranked 148 out of 148 countries.

This is a glimpse of the lay of the land. Are we destined to remain like this? Absolutely not. All are problems are man-made. We can change. The potential is there. In 1965, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Pakistan had very similar GDP per capita. 1990s Pakistan was the richest country in South Asia. In 1995, Pakistan ranked six places ahead of India and 18 places ahead of Bangladesh in the HDI.

The desired transformation will hinge on resolving the political crisis and addressing its underlying causes.

The writer is a former federal minister, adjunct professor of health systems and president of Pakistan Association of Lifestyle Medicine.