The electoral college
As millions of Americans desperately seek an alternative to Donald Trump, the 2016 presidential election now faces the volatile possibility of a “December Surprise”. Here are some Constitutional realities: The…
Electoral meddling
“THE American people,” the US attorney general Merrick Garland declared recently, “are entitled to know when a foreign power engages in political activities or seeks to influence public discourse.” He…
Electoral dangers
IN 2019, at least three nations justifiably praised for their strong democratic records have also become dangerous democracies. India, Israel and the US are dissimilar in several respects, yet all…
Nasty outcomes
WHAT a difference 20 years make. I am thinking of Richard Holbrooke. Before he became familiar to us as the diplomatic face of the Af-Pak operation during the American intervention…
Who is in, who is out
IN a country where the Constitution and the rule of law have often amounted to nought, it’s the individuals, and tragically not institutions, who rule the roost and shape the…
Don’t disrupt democracy
SPECULATION and discussions regarding a technocratic government, with an extended tenure of two to three years to extricate the economy from its woes, are rife. The proposal is flawed on several grounds…
Post-poll Karachi
AFTER a long wait, local government elections were finally held last month in Karachi and other locations in Sindh. The PPP, Jamaat-i-Islami and PTI emerged as the three largest parties.…
The ever-elusive stability
THE two concurrent sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate called over the weekend suggest that the government feels confident of reaching the two-thirds majority required in each House…
Battle with ‘alternative facts’
ECONOMIC stabilisation through tough, unpopular measures such as withdrawal of the fuel subsidy or a cut in development expenditure, against the backdrop of public mobilisation by the Imran Khan-led PTI, seems a…
Running a city
Ever since the establishment of Islamabad, it has been governed by the bureaucracy via the Capital Development Authority. Only once in its entire history has the federal capital had an…
