Editorials

The media never had a thing for the ruling party. Dominated by the urban middle and upper classes, the fourth estate isn't quite under the spell of the country's largest voting persuasion. Part of this is the conservative, knee-jerk, jingoistic ideology of the hacks, part of it is plain and simple reporting of the not insignificant failings of the party. But when Senior Minister Punjab Raja Riaz turned up the heat by several notches, there were several other ways he could have done

The Pak-US strategic dialogue is being held at a time when relations between the two countries are by no means at their best. What is more both sides are putting up demands, the fulfillment of which would be possible only if both are willing to ignore domestic pressures. Washington is being asked to commit a further $2 billion in a military package by Pakistan when public mood in US has soured on Islamabad. What is more, President Obama is fighting an uphill battle that he is likely

All is not well in the alphabet soup known as the Muslim League. A chunk of the PML(Q) wants to be back in the PML(N), which doesn't want all of them. The PML(F) is, for the moment, with the bit that doesn't want to be in the PML(N). There is another bit of the PML(Q) that wants to join the new, shiny and laughable APML. Then there is the PML(Q)-LM, ironically known as the Like Minded group, some of whom want to go to the PML(N), some want to go to the APML and a third faction within

The bloodbath in Karachi has continued almost uninterrupted for more than two years of the present administration. Yesterday was no exception, with violence in the city's shipyard, leaving at least 13 dead. To many, it is the outcome of a war of turfs between the three partners of the ruling coalition. There is a perception that instead of bringing the land mafia, drug mafia and criminal gangs of all sorts under control, coalition partners are in fact relying on them to advance their

Each Pakistani is over fifty thousand rupees in debt, more than half of it foreign. The debts that previous governments have incurred are the gift that keeps on taking. This pound of flesh basically renders us absolutely unable to get out of the vicious cycle that we are in. This is in no way to imply that our own house is in order. Our misplaced fiscal priorities serve only to exacerbate the problem: defence and debt servicing eat up the lion's share of our resources, cutting off

After Prime Minister Gilani's speech and the adjournment by the Supreme Court of the related suo motu case, the crisis caused by the standoff between the two sides is hopefully defused. The story about the dismissal of the Supreme Court judges, avowedly through an impending executive order, was bound to create a countrywide sensation leading to a standoff between the government and judiciary and adding to the sense of uncertainty which is as much harmful for the country's economy as

Each Pakistani is over fifty thousand rupees in debt, more than half of it foreign. The debts that previous governments have incurred are the gift that keeps on taking. This pound of flesh basically renders us absolutely unable to get out of the vicious cycle that we are in. This is in no way to imply that our own house is in order. Our misplaced fiscal priorities serve only to exacerbate the problem: defence and debt servicing eat up the lion's share of our resources, cutting off

After Prime Minister Gilani's speech and the adjournment by the Supreme Court of the related suo motu case, the crisis caused by the standoff between the two sides is hopefully defused. The story about the dismissal of the Supreme Court judges, avowedly through an impending executive order, was bound to create a countrywide sensation leading to a standoff between the government and judiciary and adding to the sense of uncertainty which is as much harmful for the country's economy as

The PML(N) has an identity crisis. This is but natural. A party that was midwifed by the military is bound to have issues when it jettisons the institution and joins the pro-democracy, anti-army route. But the episteme remains the same. The approach towards the people, development and the democratic process remains the same. So while the League might, at times, display a near Oedipal rage against its father institution, the statements its leaders make might as well have been given by

Karachi is ablaze. Yet again. The different players have been through this dance so many times that by now the rest of the country knows the sequence of events by heart. First there are the target killings. Then there is the standoff, both the ANP and the MQM urge the government to take action, the latter then lets it out that it is considering leaving the coalition, the interior minister flies over to Karachi to pacify the two parties and announces stern actions against anyone who

Every round of Pak-US dialogue, the third one beginning next week, provides an occasion to each side to squeeze out as many concessions from the other as it can. This requires a lot of haggling and recourse to direct and indirect pressures. As the talks proceed, negotiators from both sides have to keep an eye on public opinion at home where numerous lobbies and interest groups keep making all sorts of noises. The announcements subsequently made comprise of truths, half-truths and

The west is in a bit of a wringer when it comes to Pakistan. On the one hand, they cannot afford to let it slide into anarchy: the phrase that has caught on when it comes to describing nuclear-armed Pakistan is, unfortunately, the drunk with the car keys. It has to be helped. On the other hand, however, is the feeling that aid to Pakistan is like throwing in good money after bad. Like anybody putting in the money, the western leaders want results. They want a change in the status quo.

The report about the arrest from South Punjab of seven militants who wanted to blow up the Prime Minister's camp office in Multan once again underlines the urgent need to cleanse the region from terrorists. The issue has come under focus several times during the current year. It would be too dangerous to ignore the issue on account of the rivalry between the federal and Punjab governments. As things stand, this is what one sees happening. The matter of Punjabi Taliban was raised by

It was like a bolt out of the blue. The Supreme Court's order stating that the judges initially deposed by the Musharraf regime could not be denotified through an executive order the way they were brought back has puzzled a number of court-watchers. Not because the order's logic is flawed but because it remains to be seen what the need for the action was. That, too, by a full court bench past midnight.
That the motive behind the order was reports in the media that seemed to

Turkish premier Tayyip Erdogan is in Pakistan where he has expressed full support for post-flood reconstruction. One wonders if Prime Minister Gilani ever asked his Turkish counterpart how his government managed to make some of the outstanding achievements in economy, controlled terrorism, balanced powerful institutions, and turned Turkey into a major player in the Middle East. Since 2003, when Erdogan became Turkey's Prime Minister, GDP per capita has climbed by 150 percent leading

October 13th came and went. Yet another date has passed. The government did not fall. Some from the commentariat are seething with rage; others are pretending to be relieved. Some are embarrassed at having made yet another incorrect prediction, while a minority from within them have the sort of smirk only an I-told-you-so can bring about.
To paraphrase the great economist Milton Friedman, you don't judge a model by the validity of its assumptions but by the accuracy of its

While the MQM has been accused by its opponents of using the issue of land reforms as a gimmick, it goes to its credit to have raised a highly relevant question that major political parties continue to ignore. In a way, it is easier for the MQM to take up cudgels in support of land reforms as it is an urban party not in need of support from the powerful landlord lobby. One wonders why the MQM which has been a part of almost every administration since 1988 took so long to raise an