The date debate
Mark Tushnet in his book ‘Why the constitution matters’ argues that the constitution matters because it provides a structure for a civil government that assures liberties. In developing democracies, constitutions…
Fed doublespeak
Traders with long US equity and long dollar positions that laughed all the way to the bank after the Fed’s latest rate hike might have missed another important headline that…
The next electoral exercise
Now that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has categorically announced the federal government’s departure upon the completion of the five-year term of the 15th National Assembly, the rumour mill on the…
Should the ECP punish contempt?
The Election Commission of Pakistan has been given the power to punish someone for contempt under Section 10 the Election Act, 2017. A similar power was conferred upon it under…
Will Pakistan get a bailout?
In the aftermath of the Shehbaz Sharif government’s widely criticized budget, which was met with disdain by independent economists and also drew veiled criticism from the IMF, a last-minute attempt…
A red carpet for India
It was ironic for the White House to condemn cross-border terrorism in the context of Pakistan-India relations while playing host to the man who as chief minister masterminded the 2004…
Bodyguard of lies
“In wartime”, Churchill famously told Stalin at Tehran in 1943, “truth is so precious that she must always be attended by a bodyguard of lies”. These words also describe the…
The evolving faces of fascism
The dawn of the age of enlightenment helped Western civilization separate politics from religion and shifted the process of wealth creation away from land owners towards industrialists. The social consequence…
IMF versus vote politics
In political science, economic voting is a theoretical perspective which argues that voter behavior is heavily influenced by the economic conditions in the country at the time of the election. According to this perspective, voters tend to vote…
What is the lot of citizens?
The storm blowing up in Pakistan after the May 9 violence has not broken just yet. If anything, its severity has gathered speed. Instead of weathering the storm, the ‘most…
