A sad affair
The present government presented its fifth and final budget in a politically charged environment on June 1, 2012. The budgetary session of parliament is on and everything is being debated…
The NRO deciphered
The PPP government has finally laid the loathsome National Reconciliation Ordinance before parliament for approval. Representatives and cronies of the ruling regime have now taken upon themselves to justify the…
IRO 2011
On July 18, 2011, the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs promulgated the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2011. This Law in terms of Section 1 (2) extends to the whole of…
Early spring
The last few weeks of 2012 weren’t that bad, given how most of 2011 had played out, especially recovering from the exogenous shocks of a failing US-Pakistan relationship – and…
Return of Qadri
Few would have taken notice of 'Sheikhul Islam' Allama Tahirul Qadri's public meeting at the Minar-i-Pakistan had he not managed to put on as impressive a show as he did.…
The Senate for sale?
A senator’s job is one of the best jobs for which a politician can aspire in Pakistan. It gives him or her an uninterrupted six-year term as member of the…
An open letter to the finance minister
Mr Finance Minister! You presented your maiden federal budget for 2010-11 in parliament in June 2010. Unfortunately, the same budget could not see the light of the new fiscal year…
On Reformed GST and against flood tax
The government has tabled the Reformed GST (RGST) bill in parliament along with some additional taxation measures including the one-time flood tax. The major political parties within and outside the…
Finance Bill 2012
In the Finance Bill 2012, a number of changes have been proposed that can cripple the already ineffective tax justice system-amendments if approved by Parliament would render office of Commissioner…
Corporate power
Economic inequalities within countries have increased significantly in most states that have seen decent growth over the last few decades. But this is usually seen by policymakers as an unavoidable…
