PAKISTAN`S problems seem to multiply by the day and contribute to the country`s deepening polarisation and instability. Public protests, insurgency, militant violence, terrorism, centre-province friction, disputes over the sharing of water and government-opposition confrontation are happening all at once. This at a time when a fragile economy still has to make the transition to sustainable recovery from temporary stabilisation.

What does this say about governance and the country`s leadership? That despite self-congratulatory advertisements splashed all over the media, fundamental problems wait to be tackled and governance remains way short of public expectations. Billboards across Punjab and elsewhere trying to build personality cults do not add up to leadership. Nor do PR campaigns on television, which show power holders performing routine tasks, convince many people. They have a contrary effect by indicating over-anxious efforts to elicit positive public affirmation. Appreciation is earned by performance, not posters plastered along roads or 60-page supplements in newspapers touting achievements.

The plethora of challenges facing the country today calls for competent and bold leadership that understands Pakistan`s deep-seated problems and has the will and capacity to solve them.

Muddling through economic, political and security challenges without a coherent plan or strategy doesn`t work. Nor does it inspire public confidence about the future. Already successive public opinion polls show a nation bereft of hope in the future. An Ipsos survey released last month, for example, found 70 per cent of people felt the country was going in the wrong direction.

Pakistan has had leaderless moments before.

Individuals have ascended to the country`s highest offices in the past without having the capability or any idea about how to deal with long-standing challenges. Wielding power does not translate into leadership. That is why rule has not produced governance and the gap between challenge and response has grown larger. Politics has been more about power than public purpose. Today, leadership matters even more given the enormity and complexity of the problems at hand. The present vacuum in leadership is, therefore, especially tell-ing and more consequential than ever before.

What kind of leadership does Pakistan need? What is competent leadership? What are the qualities that make effective leaders? It is, above all, having a vision that captures the public imagination and charts a way that goes beyond the moment to what is possible in the future. Effective leadership not only requires setting out a vision but also a strategy to implement it and forging national consensus to support it. Leadership means setting a clear direction, decisively embarking on a transformational path, showing courage and willingness to take risks and overcoming the resistance that inevitably comes from vested interests and entrenched elites. Quaid-iAzam Mohammad Ali Jinnah`s leadership embodied these qualities and serves as an example of how impactful leaders can change the course of history. But most of those who came after him, including the current crop of leaders, have been both uninspired and uninspiring.

Leadership also involves setting the highest standards of integrity and having an unblemished reputation for probity. It means choosing a team that embodies qualities of both competence and integrity. Indeed, putting the right people in the right job is an essential attribute of a smart leader. A team should be predicated on merit and ability, not `connections`, personal loyalty or considerations of political patronage. Another ingredient of leadership is the ability to connect to citizens, show empathy for their concerns, understand their aspirations and respond to them. It means winning their trust and motivating them to support the leader`s transformational agenda.

Judged against this criterion, it is apparent how far the country`s present leaders in power fall short of this test. The lack of vision is evident. But so is the absence of a comprehensive, coherent plan to address overlapping challenges.

Firefighting problems is all that has been on display, which is a stopgap approach that doesn`t solve problems. No credible strategy has been evolved, for example, to deal with Balochistan, a province in turmoil and where public disaffection has reached a record high. The dispute over the sharing of water between the Punjab and Sindh governments remains unresolved, with federalgovernment leaders looking the other way rather than resolving the canal issue.

No vision has guided the current leadership`s economic management, which has lacked a serious effort to tackle structural problems that have landed the country in perennial financial crisis.

Government leaders remain trapped in a cycle of crisis management, prioritising short-term fixes over long-term solutions, and shying away from the bold reforms needed to break the dysfunctional status quo, unlock the country`s growth potential and promote sustainable development.

The weak legitimacy of government leaders has denuded them of credibility because controversy over how they were elected in a disputed poll never went away. Governance has been ad hoc and characterised by short-term thinking.

The bloated team chosen to run the country does have a few competent professionals, but its overall character has been determined by factors other than merit; a telling example is that top positions are occupied by those with close family connections.

As for another crucial attribute of leadership, which is being able to inspire people and forge a strong connection and trust with citizens, this too is conspicuous by its absence. Instead, our leaders are increasingly disconnected both from facts on the ground and the needs and aspirations of ordinary people. They have shown little ability to enthuse and unite the country. They also lack communication skills needed in today`s world to reach out to and influence citizens.

In his seminal book Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy, Henry Kissinger wrote: `Ordinary leaders seek to manage the immediate; great ones attempt to raise their society to their vision.

Leaders shape history, he says, when they transcend the circumstances they inherit and carry their societies to the frontiers of the possible.

Pakistan today yearns for such leadership with a vision to break from an unedifying past and create a hopeful future for the country. It`s time for citizens to make a collective effort to demand a better leadership. • The wúter is a former ambassador to the US, UK and UN.