Supremacy versus obligations
The economic challenges the post-election regime will face are massive, but no politician talks about how his/her party will address them. All they do is to label those who ask…
A frank assessment
While briefing a select group of economic journalists on the eve of their precipitate departure from Pakistan, the visiting mission chief of the IMF shared frank assessments of Pakistan’s economy.…
The real threat to democracy
It is time to celebrate. The current democratic order, which appeared to be wobbling and on the brink in the wake of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s long march and four-day protest…
ECP: a case of acquired helplessness
For any system to survive, it must fulfil at least two minimum requirements. Meet the needs of its customers and have the capacity to improve itself. The first requirement relates…
Save the system
We must save the system. So agree Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazalur Rehman, Asif Zardari and Munawar Hassan, the Skipper, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat and the Khans of Charsadda. The…
A controversial scheme
The government might not be able to push it through parliament, but for now our rulers are lending support to a controversial tax amnesty bill. For a government about to…
Economic instability
Increasing government expenditure, basic economic theory maintains, is a powerful policy tool useful during times of recession, with low output and low inflation, as it provides the necessary fuel to…
The fulminations of Tahirul Qadri
The politicians of Pakistan are incapable of saying anything without indulging in coloured phrases of rhetorical exaggeration. The pathetic grandiloquence of their speeches is invariably laced with barbs against their…
IMF mission in town
At the request of the government, an IMF mission is visiting Pakistan to initiate discussion for a three-year bailout programme. As reported in the press, during their two-week stay in…
Running scared
With parliamentary elections only a few months away, Pakistan’s political landscape has been shaken up by an unlikely player. Tahirul Qadri has upset the calculations of most political parties by…
