Democratic system at risk
Elected civilian governments in Pakistan have mostly owed their fall less to the opposition parties’ doings and more to their own death wish. Hopes that our politicians had learnt enough…
Democratic deficit in global financial system
The government believes that Pakistani nationals having more than 152,500 offshore bank accounts could have stashed away a hefty sum of $11 billion, half of which is presumed to have…
‘Democratic’ ethnic cleansing
THE discourse on democracy in the West — in particular — is self-congratulatory, and other systems that have delivered hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, hunger, illness, illiteracy…
Democratic backsliding
WHAT is the state of Pakistan’s political system today? Is the country experiencing significant democratic erosion? Is this different from the past? Pakistan doesn’t, after all, have an edifying democratic…
Towards a just system
The passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment marks a pivotal moment in Pakistan’s journey toward greater democracy and political reform. For decades, Pakistan’s judicial system has struggled under the weight…
Resetting the system?
THE move speaks volumes about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s politics of religiosity. The man he has chosen to head the newly established National Rehmatul-lil-Aalameen Authority (NRA), as part of his effort to…
Democratic transition? Zahid Hussain
JUST about nine weeks are left for the current term of the National Assembly to end. The Lower House of parliament will stand dissolved on Aug 13, and, under the…
Shock to the system
SHOCKED millions glued to their TV screens saw a three-hour Bollywood-type political thriller unfold before their eyes on the evening of April 9. An intense day-long struggle in the National…
A social democratic, green, mission-oriented budget
In contrast to the usual approach to a budget discourse based on ideas around raising taxes, and expenditure allocations with slight hints of expanding the tax base, and having progressivity,…
Getting prices right in Pakistan: Shock therapy, ‘dual-track’ price system, and input-output model
Lack of allocative and productive expenditure efficiency has led to under-utilization of revenue and aid, which in turn has not significantly contributed to lack of sustained, high economic growth, which…
