by Shakaib Qureshi in Dawn, December 30th, 2020The writer is a former caretaker finance minister, SindhAS Pakistan commemorates former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s 13th death anniversary, the country remains hostage to a conflict that commenced with her father’s removal in a military coup in 1977. While Pakistan remains sharply divided over the Bhutto phenomenon, one thing that most Pakistanis agree on is that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto continue to symbolise resistance to unelected…
Posts published in “Pak Media comment”
edit in The Frontier Post / December 30, 2020Yesterday, Central Executive Committee (CEC)of Pakistan People Party was held in Karachi. After the meeting, Chairman PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the top leadership of PPP has endorsed the PDM’s decision of submitting resignations of all PPP parliamentarians by December 31 to the party leadership. Bilawal vowed, “We have set the December 31 deadline for [PM Imran Khan] to resign or else we will force…
Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 29, 2020Terrorism continues to rise in Balochistan with the latest incident claiming the lives of seven FC soldiers as militants attacked a checkpost resulting in an intense exchange of fire. A majority of these attacks are targeted at security personnel, which shows the enemies’ clear intent to weaken the effectiveness and morale of law enforcement agencies in the province. Parallel to this, attacks on civilians, like the one that took…
If the government didn’t expect the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to be outraged by the federal cabinet’s approval of the controversial National Census-2017 then it just wasn’t paying any attention at all to the number-one concern of one of its most crucial coalition partners in the National Assembly all this while. “When we joined the government, the census was our first point,” MQM Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui reminded everybody at a press conference just the…
edit in Daily Times, Dec 29, 2020It is noted with concern that even though the string of rallies that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meant to conduct ahead of its planned march on the capital have finished and it could well be time for a government-opposition collision that could leave the entire system paralysed, the ruling party is still looking to fight fire with fire and there is no indication whatsoever that the two sides…
THERE has been no let-up in the opposition’s campaign against the PTI government, and going by the latest jalsa in Larkana, neither is there any plan of relenting. For all its varied viewpoints and differences, as well as the dissensions within — such as the rift in JUI-F ranks — the 11-party PDM coalition appears firm on a single-point agenda — sending the ruling PTI home. The speech of former president Asif Ali Zardari in…
The writer is a political economist and heads INSPIRING Pakistan, a progressive policy unit.THE national narrative is stubbornly fixed: we lack progress due to the huge pillage by the Sharifs and Zardaris. Even many educated folks blindly believe any high but unproven corruption figure given on social media. In fact, anyone asking for proof gets incredulous stares reserved for imbeciles. Scholars too are a stubborn lot and oppose many dominant views. Like others, they call…
The writer is an MNA andformer minister for interior, planning, development and reforms.One big lesson from the political and economic history of Pakistan is that ad-hoc and inorganic political arrangements are destined to fail sooner or later. The latest example is the hybrid regime of the PTI government which has created instability, chaos and crisis in the country. The current political and economic crisis in Pakistan is aptly captured by this quote from Gramsci: “The…
Yesterday, on the eve of 13th death anniversary of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at Garhi Khauda Bakhsh Larkana, Chairman Pakistan People Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has announced long march to Islamabad if Prime Minister Imran Khan does not resign from his office by January 31. He criticized the policies of the PTI-led government and termed them as reason for poverty and suffering of the people of the country. Former president and PPP Co-Chairperson…
The writer is an analyst and commentator.Prime Minister Imran Khan recently expressed surprise at how difficult governing has been. He knows better than to pretend that he was surprised. The single most important characteristic he has sought in his political proxies and partners is the capacity to shout down, harass, abuse and tar and feather those that dare warn Pakistanis about the dangers of a lack of preparation. He can keep the trolls. But Pakistan…
Crisis of Pakistani democracy
by Zahid Hussain in Dawn, December 30th, 2020The writer is an author and journalist.THE ongoing battle between the opposition and the PTI government has brought to the surface the worst of the prevailing political culture. It illustrates patterns of behaviour that should have little to do with the norms and values relevant to a democratic polity. The war of words is becoming more and more revolting. The entire effort is to make lies sound truthful…