Islamabad, November 7, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Pakistan is facing a deepening national crisis, with its ruling elite allegedly accumulating wealth and preparing to move abroad while ordinary citizens struggle with mounting economic hardship and declining prospects, according to a report published by the Centre for Peace Studies.
In the report, Imran Khurshid, an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Peace Studies, argued that corruption, military dominance and political mismanagement had weakened state institutions, diverted national resources and brought the country closer to a breaking point.
Government figures presented to Pakistan’s National Assembly showed that more than 317,000 Pakistanis left the country for overseas employment in the first half of 2026. More than 1.87 million citizens migrated between 2024 and 2026, the report said.
It also cited federal audit findings reported on October 5, according to which more than 2,500 serving federal officers had obtained dual nationality, while hundreds of senior bureaucrats had allegedly concealed foreign assets. Portugal was described as a preferred destination for wealthy Pakistanis through residency-by-investment schemes.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had questioned the commitment of officials who acquired foreign nationalities while serving the government. “They [bureaucrats] prepared for this while they were employed by the Government of Pakistan, doing so under a deliberate plan. This raises questions about their commitment to their homeland and their jobs during their tenure,” he had said.
The report also highlighted the Pakistan Senate’s passage of the Passports (Amendment) Bill, 2026, on October 19, which grants retired parliamentarians and senators the right to retain gratis official blue passports for life.
Khurshid alleged that the military exercises significant economic influence in Pakistan, describing its business activities as resembling those of a real estate company. The report further claimed that, under Gen Asim Munir, the military was exploiting rare-earth minerals and critical metals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).
It alleged that the extraction of these resources was generating profits for the military while leaving local communities with environmental damage, disease and little economic benefit.
The report also criticised the distribution of the economic burden arising from IMF conditions, claiming ordinary citizens were bearing the consequences while Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s government acquired a Gulfstream G500 private jet valued at between $38 million and $42 million.
Citing the UNDP 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, the report said nearly 100 million Pakistanis were living in acute multidimensional poverty, while up to 7.5 million rural residents were facing acute hunger.
Khurshid also referred to the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Adiala Jail and continuing insurgencies and unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh.
The report further said Pakistan had topped the Global Terrorism Index 2026 for the first time, becoming the country most affected by terrorism.
“A country cannot sustain itself indefinitely when its elite accumulates the means to escape while its citizens are denied the means to live with dignity,” the report concluded.
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