Our rooms and their streets
Use your brain before May 11 – this meme, one of many that are doing the rounds on the Pakistani blogosphere in the run-up to the general elections, comes as…
Get agrarian
Land reforms and the imposition of tax on income derived from agriculture, which is presently exempt in the majority of countries like Pakistan, are two issues that attract a lot…
The post-US order
The US loomed large during Pakistan’s election campaign season as leaders pounded their fists, promising an end to American meddling in Pakistan, a return to sovereignty and a refusal of…
New policy on drones
President Obama’s speech at the American National Defense University last Thursday attracted a great deal of attention and analysis. It is particularly important for us in Pakistan to understand exactly…
Will is all
The new government likely to take office in the coming days will face enormous economic challenges. How it will balance its income with expenditures will be the first challenge it…
Dialogue with the Taliban
The incoming prime minister has extended an olive branch to the terrorists who are responsible for the unprecedented electoral violence in the run-up to the May 11 polls. May 11…
Tehran’s change of guard
Post-revolutionary Iran’s 11th presidential election, scheduled for June 14, will be watched around the world for a variety of reasons. Among these is the fact that Iran is one of…
Fiscal indiscipline: the ruinous surge
Five years of misgovernance by the previous regime have not only destroyed the economy of Pakistan and damaged its institutions but also drowned the country under a deluge of debt,…
The IMF dilemma
One of the challenges the new government will face immediately is to make a decision on whether or not to approach the IMF for financial relief. Pakistan borrowed nearly $8…
The honeymoon agenda
PM-elect Nawaz Sharif will have to distinguish between popular politics and the ‘right’ politics this time around. The possibility to deceive an electorate is almost nonexistent. The drubbing received by…
