A futile debate
According to recent media reports, opinions in the Planning Commission (PC) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are poles apart over how to sort out the current fiscal and…
Dual nationality
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is engaged in drafting and seeking approval where required, of a set of rules for prospective candidates, some based on court decisions, for the…
Why break the relationship?
The US agenda with Pakistan pre-9/11 was, in order of priority viz (1) nuclear non-proliferation (2) terrorism and (3) drugs, with the Taliban government in Afghanistan figuring prominently in the…
Pakistani democracy and idealism
Pakistan is a security state – something that has led to many an ill in the country. It would have been acceptable if in the last 60-plus-years we had transformed…
Karzai’s latest charges
In what was termed a routine meeting of the Afghan National Security Council on Sunday President Hamid Karzai instructed his ministers of defence, interior and foreign affairs to take “immediate…
A careless caretaker government
There was no dearth of warnings about the impending economic crisis prior to the induction of the interim government. The PPP-led government had followed policies that led to a dire…
View Point: Clueless in Islamabad?
The Supreme Court bench hearing the case of Quetta Hazaras' killings asked the government the simple but important question: What're you doing to stop the killing of Hazara people? Irrespective…
Wrong again
Imran Khan got it wrong again – for the umpteenth time. The PTI manifesto unveiled recently proposes to pull Pakistan out of the US’ war and everyone lives happily ever…
Crumbling tax system
Taxes play a vital role for establishing an egalitarian society, the true fruit of social democracy. Under a representative and responsible government, citizens are taxed according to their ability (at…
Global offshore money maze
All responsible governments in recent years have shown commitment to retrieving looted money by their citizens, but in Pakistan the PPP-led government during its five-year-tenure (2008-2013) acted as the main…
