The PTI’s second mini-budget
The writer has served as federal minister for finance, revenue and economic affairs. Shortly after coming into power, Imran Khan’s government presented a ‘mini-budget’, which was essentially a bill that…
Civil service reforms that work
The newly-installed PTI government has constituted a task force on civil-service reforms. Over the years our governments have tried a number of times to reform the civil service but for…
A vision for progress and prosperity
As we complete the first year of the PML-N government, it is an opportune moment to reflect on our achievements and reaffirm our commitment to a prosperous future. Under the…
Shattered ideals vs bitter pragmatism
Stricken by democratic ideals for decades, one is faced with harsh, unbeatable realities in Pakistan. Our heroes shatter ideals, and bitter pragmatism haunts us. If pragmatism is to be believed,…
Seniority sacrificed: again
Now that Justice Yahya Afridi has been nominated as the next chief justice of Pakistan, and with the recent appointment of the third most senior judge as chief justice of…
Year of polycrisis
2022 was a tumultuous year in Pakistan even by the standards of its turbulent political history. It confronted a polycrisis — several crises that converged to reinforce each other and…
The lone ranger
IT took our solitary Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem to remind us of the old adage: Success has many fathers but Failure is an orphan. No matter how many awards,…
Resizing the bureaucracy
The Ministry of Health faces abolition since the Cabinet Committee on Rightsizing recently recommended it. It all started with the abolition of Pak-PWD some weeks ago when a federal cabinet…
Heal the land
The theme of World Environment Day this year, ‘Land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience’, reminds us of certain critical dynamics that are badly impacting the planet’s landscapes and calls upon…
Against the tide
In Pakistan, change occurs at a snail’s pace, a stark contrast to Facebook’s (now Meta) ethos of ‘move fast and break things’. Instead, the prevailing approach could be described as…
