Lessons from Cyprus
A few years down memory lane, who would’ve thought that Cyprus – the Russian tax haven and the hub of a massive banking bubble – would bear such a mammoth…
On tax amnesty
Amnesty is a one-time sovereign pardon of punitive legal proceedings offered to a specific class of lawbreakers. Unlike punishment, which is often retributive-cum-reformative, amnesty is reformative in nature, establishing the…
Institutional pillage
`Fiscal Neanderthals`. This is how a friend used to describe the finance and FBR bureaucracy and their parliamentary `handlers` after each bout of resistance to tax reform and the introduction…
The right to asylum
In December 2012 a group of some 45, mostly Pakistani, refugees took shelter in one of Vienna`s biggest churches. Because they feared immediate deportation the church seemed a safe place…
The Zardari legacy
For the past four decades the PPP has thrived on the enduring Bhutto legacy. But it is the Zardari legacy on which the party is likely to be judged in…
Good on intentions…
Part of being a concerned citizen is to be well informed and, as I belong to the 18-35 age demographic that is going to cast its vote for the first…
Is land reform off the menu – I?
In a recent TV interview, Imran Khan, Chairman TI, has revealed that a great debate has been going on in his party regarding land reforms. However, the arguments and proponents…
The legacy of the PPP government
The Pakistan People’s Party got a monumental mansion built in Lahore for its supreme leader towards the close of its tenure (2008-2013), which, if doesn’t outdo, by all accounts matches…
Politics and the pipeline
The ground-breaking ceremony for the Pakistan section of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline last Monday was an event of high symbolic importance. It was designed to seal Pakistan’s commitment to finally…
To the barricades once more
Normal, everyday politics involving, more often than not, jockeying for position, transfers and postings, everyone desperate to make a fast buck can be as dull as ditchwater, and about as…
