Farmers demanding legal guarantee for MSP have invoked recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, which said MSP should be ‘at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production’
The writer is a former member of the prime minister’s economic advisory council, and heads a macroeconomic consultancy based in Islamabad.
OVER the last few weeks, calls from influential members of civil society have been growing for a ‘grand national dialogue’. This appears to be a result of the growing political polarisation in the country, and a shrillness in the public discourse introduced by the PTI government since it came to power. However, this also coincides with much of the mainstream political opposition’s leadership facing an accountability process for some fairly visible amassment of largely unexplained wealth that has happened during their respective tenures in public office. As a result, the opposition has bandied together and been forced into a ‘do-or-die’ situation, taking fairly extreme and unprecedented positions.