Holding Parliamentary elections in about 60 days from a standing start, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) says that “Local Bodies” polls cannot be held soon for various reasons, informed sources claim delays may range from 4 months to 8 even. The deliberate foot-dragging in the various Provincial Local Bodies Bills confirms lip-service only to…
The Federal Interior Minister’s excellent initiative for reinvigorating the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA) effective is most welcome, so is the concept of a National Intelligence Secretariat, NACTA has been mostly dormant, mostly due to the obduracy of Rahman Malik. He wanted NACTA to function under his aegis, with good reason NACTA officials feared Malik would…
Dear Readers, Emphasized by political thinkers and administrators as being very important, local self governments are crucial to society as they help set the structure and guidelines for an individual community. Surprisingly local government finds mention in the Constitution of very few countries and still fewer contain rules for local government. In the case of…
Dear Readers, Since that fateful day on 9/11 when the USA came under terrorist attack, Pakistan has come to be regarded by many nations as the epicenter of terrorist activity committed in the name of Islam. While this is not entirely true, we have given space and opportunity to extremists and terrorists to prosper. Many…
Declaring a State of Emergency on Nov 3, 2007, Musharraf held the Constitution of Pakistan “in Abeyance.” Article 6, Clause (1) in effect on November 3rd, 2007 did not describe “holding the Constitution in Abeyance” as an “Act of High Treason”. This clause was substituted and “Abeyance” was inserted into the Constitution with the Eighteenth…
Facing multiple crisis simultaneously, most of them man-made, Pakistan’s workforce and institutions remain amazingly resilient. In many ways PIA is symbolic of the nation it is the national flag carrier of. Beset by extraordinary interference over the years, both during military and civilian rule, thanks to the competency of its core staff PIA is still…
An imperfect electoral exercise copied from western models our democracy has very little relevance to the local environment or the “genius of the people”. The “first past the post system” does not ascertain the real majority, the “run-off” measure does. Negating “proportional representation” bedevils good governance. PML (N) obtained 14.9 million votes in 2013, 32%…
While thankfully Imran Khan’s injury was not life threatening, it has immobilized him for the time being. One should be grateful that it was an accident rather than a security incident. However security guards were involved, therefore one must look at all the aspects of personal protection afresh, particularly when it involves the security and…
Twice Mian Nawaz Sharif was unjustifiably stopped from completing his stipulated term as PM, he has now taken oath of office again. Acquiring a “heavy mandate” in his 1997 comeback, Mian Sahib proceeded to do all the things he should not have, mostly getting rid of anybody who he thought stood in his way to…
Even as the democratically elected government led by the PPP became the first civilian government to complete its tenure, one finds very little to cheer about its performance in office. This was evident on August 29, 2012 when Syed Munawar Hasan the Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer ridiculed President Zardari’s claim of having served the cause of democracy….
