Exit CJ Saqib Nisar
An eventful stint No doubt outgoing Chief Justice Saqib Nisar will be remembered, along with former CJ Iftikhar Ch, as one of the more controversial chiefs to grace the judiciary. And that,…
Imran Khan’s NRO charge against opposition
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results Imran Khan needs to take note of how some of his most fervent supporters in media have got disenchanted with his…
A flurry of hectic activity
Afghan peace settlement efforts at zenith The concerted and intense diplomatic moves, especially in the last couple of months, for ending the 17-year long Afghan cauldron are unique, unprecedented and hopefully in…
Is PTI gradually transforming into its opposite?
A familiar phenomenon in Hegelian dialectics One government makes a bilateral commitment with China, its successor rescinds it. Requesting Beijing to delete a major fuel-based power plant from the China Pakistan Economic…
The plot thickens
A small but significant step for former premier The confusing, long-drawn Sharif family corruption saga has taken yet another twist, this time for the better for the erstwhile three-time prime minister. In…
Budget expectations
Pro-people, Mr Finance Minister? Finance Minister Asad Omer will try, no doubt, but even his best efforts will struggle to put a positive spin on the mini-budget due for the 23rd. Even…
Who’s asking for NRO?
Some attention to parliament, please Once again the government is talking about somebody begging for another NRO. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary this time enlightened the media about how the government is under…
Towards a new NFC award
Stashing provincial shares without amending Constitution The army has either taken out the terrorists or made them flee. But it is yet to complete the costly fencing of the Durand Line. What’s more it…
Vengeful politics
And its consequences It is not surprising that the political temperature is at its peak within five months of PTI’s government considering that their entire election campaign revolved around slogans of rounding…
Politics under a willful PM
Imran Khan beating democracy out of shape Unlike medieval monarchs, a prime minster in a modern democracy is not supposed to take decisions on whims. To start with, the PM’s freedom to…
Curious case number 19 of 1996
Late Asghar Khan’s petition lives again The outstanding ex-air chief and, despite being a principled person or perhaps because of it, less successful in his later political career, died in January 2018…
When will PTI abandon its infantile bellicosity
And learn to address governance challenges? While under pressure from a barrage of bad reports about the government’s performance, it should be a matter of satisfaction for the PTI leadership that a…
About military courts
And that sunset clause Everybody agreed to military courts after the Peshawar school tragedy because of very serious, yet straight forward reasons. One, there was an urgent need for the perpetrators to…
Endgame in Afghanistan?
US agrees to talks in Qatar Imran Khan does not want Pakistan to be a hired gun. The PM is however willing to become an ally of the US for achieving…
Wanted urgently: A JM Keynes!
Pak economy tossed about in stormy waters If the last two federal governments were characterised by gross maladministration and misplaced priorities, the current PTI dispensation is best exemplified by its agonising indecision…
Fake accounts case
It is for the court, not the government, to determine criminality The charges that have been leveled against former President Asif Zardari and his financial partners are highly serious. Zardari maintains that…
Winter of defeat and discontent
Pakistan cricket emulating its hockey and squash decline Though it has fortunately not reached rock bottom despite the best efforts of vastly overpaid but clueless, infighting administrators and collapse-prone players, Pakistan cricket…