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Party dictatorship?

AS the marathon television transmissions continue to report remark after remark of the Supreme Court matched only by the running commentary of a cricket match on the edge, one thing…

India’s descent into dictatorship

General elections will be held in India from April 19, 2024 to June 1, 2024 to elect the 543 members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The BJP is on Mission…

Deepening the Zia dictatorship

In my last article, ‘Remembering 1977’ (Aug 29), I highlighted how the year 1977 became a turning point in Pakistan’s history. Within 40 days after his military coup on July…

Crisis of dictatorship – Part II

It is noteworthy that in 1922 Belarus was one of the four units that formed the Soviet Union. And in 1991 three of the four units – Russia, Belarus and…

Crisis of dictatorship: Part – I

Exactly 30 years ago, towards the end of 1990, one of the two superpowers of that time – the Soviet Union – was facing an existential crisis. Though the Soviet…

Military dictatorship vs civilian rule

In a recent interview, former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf claimed that the country made progress only under military rule and civilian governments mostly "let the nation down." These of…

On The Path To Dictatorship

On the path to dictatorship

Dictators always need to justify the concentration of power within themselves. Josef Stalin, for example, argued that because political power belonged to the Soviet proletariat and that the Communist Party…

No Country For Old Dictators

No country for old dictators

BETWEEN the prime minister of Pakistan, which 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai wants to become some day, and a Nobel winner for peace, which she might have become this week, the former…