In words of someone wise...jithay di khoti, othay hi aan khaloti. Why does that khoti reach the place same place every decade?
What needs to change so we finally come to the realization that this simply cannot happen?
And what solution might that be?
Well - lets look at it if this was a company - also enjoyable (in a twisted way) by letting AI do its thing.
So if Pakistan was a company - it would be a leveraged industrial group with a security subsidiary that owns the holding company.
And if the CEO of the company is doing:
| CEO behaviour | Corporate outcome if this were a firm |
|---|
| Title inflation / dual role | Board independence collapses; agency risk spikes (classic dual-CEO problem) |
| Strategy set by promoter, not board | Strategy becomes unchallengeable; bad bets not killed early |
| External IR over internal ops | Stock pops on “strategic partnership” headlines while factories burn |
| Hard internal culture | Short-term compliance, long-term fear culture, bad news doesn’t travel up |
| Brand messaging that backfires | Markets hear “we’re the ugly truck that can wreck the luxury car”—customers and talent flee; partners price in volatility |
| Kinetic “restructuring” of problem units | Cost-cutting by closing stores instead of fixing product; regional franchises go hostile |
| Political interference as “aligned management” | Related-party deals; minority shareholders (voters) lose voice |
What is "management" optimizing:
International Relations = Investor Relations + Key Account Sales
A company whose CEO spends most of the week on
roadshows and strategic MoUs, while plant managers report rising accidents, theft, and walkouts.
Performance grade (IR side): mixed / short-term pass
Customers buy
one product only (security cooperation), not the whole conglomerate. That’s like surviving on a single defence contract while consumer and industrial arms bleed.
Internal Policy = Operations, HR, Franchise Control
KP & Balochistan = loss-making regions where local “store managers” (police) are attacked, QRFs ambushed, and “competitors” (TTP/BLA) take shelf space. Leadership’s answer is more security headcount and kill metrics, not a new customer-value proposition.
AJK = angry franchisee association (JAAC) banned after pricing/representation disputes—classic “sue the franchisees” move that kills brand loyalty.
Political HR = high turnover, loyalty filters, weak independent directors
Culture = “hard state” = command-and-control, not continuous improvement.
A multi-province retail/industrial group where HQ answers every store riot with
more security guards and a ban on staff unions, while refusing to renegotiate rent, wages, or profit share.
Performance grade (ops side): fail / deteriorating -
HQ metrics and PR over ground P&L.
Here your cabinet are hired professional managers and PM
is CEO of a subsidiary who must hit quarterly cash covenants while the group Executive Chairman runs M&A, firing, and external alliances without board minutes.
So you have stabilization without strategy which leads to:
Credit rating under permanent watch
Cost of capital up
Talent flight
Regional write-downs — Balochistan/KP treated as impaired assets; security opex crowds out growth capex.
Medium term outlook options:
Optimistic Soft landing: Executive Chairman steps back; real independent board (parliament/judiciary); political settlement in loss-making regions = turnaround plan.
Distressed sale / breakup - worst case: “subsidiaries” (Baloch/KP dynamics) become permanent drag leading to either forced or even voluntary spin off?
Zombie firm (most likely): Survives on creditor forbearance and one big client (geopolitics), never compounds value for ordinary shareholders (citizens).
The current style of leadership means - they represented by FM can still look like a
deal-making Executive Chairman. Internally the firm is running the classic failure mode:
HQ believes the strategy deck; the branches are on fire. In corporate life that ends in forced restructuring or breakup.
