Journal Observations
Ittefaqat Nama Did I not predict the election will throw up surprising results? It did. The party which was winning actually won; there can never be a bigger upset in Pakistani politics than this. And...
View ArticleFrom the Editorial Desk — Building upon the present
There must have been a moment, after the exhilaration ebbed and the headiness of triumph subsided, when Nawaz Sharif’s resounding success in the polls appeared to him to be a pyrrhic victory of sorts....
View ArticleComplaints and identified discrepancies
NA 47Polling station: 20Document of evidence: Statement of countThere were 557 female voters, but not a single woman turned up to vote NA 117Polling station: 89Document of evidence: Statement of...
View ArticleNuclear explosions and elections
Interestingly, issues related to India and Kashmir are completely absent from political parties campaigning for the 2013 election. This could be perceived in both, a positive and negative manner....
View ArticleIn the ‘right’ direction
Javed Manj is raving and ranting against “corrupt and inefficient” politicians in front of a crowd of approximately 400 industrial workers and roadside vendors at Rohanwala village at the outskirts of...
View ArticleVote versus veto
Scores of women, wrapped in big chadors and holding photos of young men, shout at the top of their voices in the main bazaar of Balochistan’s Turbat city on a hot March afternoon. They want Baloch...
View ArticleJournal observations
Dear Diary, today is the 91st day of my prime ministership. Time magazine has declared me Person of the Year, Foreign Policy calls me “Pakistan’s Nostradamus”, and Newsweek wishes I could run for the...
View ArticleForum: Manifesto Talk
Left to right: Ayaz Amir; Haris Khalique; Amit Baruah All major political parties have publicised their manifestos for the election 2013. These manifestos express and articulate their respective...
View ArticleCampaign of terror
There were nationwide protests against the February 16 bomb blast targetting the Hazara community in Quetta Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti was on his way to address a public...
View ArticleLive discussion on party manifestos
Are party manifestos addressed to voters? On March 7 the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz launched its manifesto in which the focus lay on putting the economy back on track. A week later the Pakistan...
View ArticleA second coming
President Zardari in a meeting with cabinet members In hindsight, it is clear as day, viginti/viginti. Once the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had won the most number of seats in the 2008 general...
View ArticleLooking in all directions
Nawaz Sharif addresses Sindh National Front’s (SNF) workers at a rally in Ratodero In early May 2012, Nawaz Sharif was addressing a public gathering in Ratodero, a town in Larkana district synonymous...
View ArticleThe youth factor
Thousands of PTI supporters demonstrate in Islamabad in support of the Supreme Court’s contempt of court verdict against former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. AFP Cries about change and a “tsunami”...
View ArticleBoundary disputes
Attorney general Irfan Qadir was categorical in his September 25 letter to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim: “the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has the exclusive...
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