Who will watch the watchmen? on March 12, 2019It's a constitutional paradox, used over a plethora of events and circumstances.The phrase simply begs the question where accountability would stop? Socrates used it in relation to a guardian class of society, in modern terms it may mean the police. An institution to restrain crime, but who holds them accountable if they engage in criminal acts? Would the creation of another institution help? What … [Read more...] about Who will watch the watchmen?
Can India really stop Pakistan’s water? on February 26, 2019The Modi government has once again started threatening Pakistan, and is simultaneously building up domestic political support by announcing that it will divert the water from the Eastern Rivers from following into Pakistan. This announcement is a façade. Under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), these three rivers, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi already belong to India and they can be used exclusively by India. … [Read more...] about Can India really stop Pakistan’s water?
Imran’s first constitutional amendment on February 22, 2019For the past couple of months, the ambivalent debate on the effects of the eighteenth amendment has grasped the attention of the media, fueled in part by allegations from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) cadre that the amendment is in danger of repeal and the diatribes of members of the treasury benches against the damage caused to the federation by the eighteenth amendment. Whatever the merits … [Read more...] about Imran’s first constitutional amendment
How IMF is breaching human rights on January 29, 2019Recently, talks between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan broke down. The real reason behind the breakdown in talks, at a stage where Pakistan is suffering from a balance of payments crisis, was the attempt of Imran Khan's newly elected government to avoid the unpopular economic decisions that the IMF put up as a condition of lending funds to the country. While many commentators … [Read more...] about How IMF is breaching human rights
The impeachment of Siddiqui on October 24, 2018Themis was the Greek God of fairness, law and custom. Carrying a sword in one hand and the ‘Scales of Justice’ in the other, for her there was no middle way. The sword would help her sever fiction from fact, and the scales would allow her to evaluate the strength of arguments. Themis would never die, for she was a phenomenon; the giver of divine laws, an abstract concept that the Greeks placed … [Read more...] about The impeachment of Siddiqui
The switch in time on August 30, 2018There's an old English saying, a stitch in time saves nine. Franklin D. Roosevelt rose to power in the United States in 1933, before the end of the great depression. He promised a 'new deal', to reform and recover the severely strained American economy. In a political battle of wills, the Supreme Court passed legislation after legislation, which regulated the economy that was in violation … [Read more...] about The switch in time
GB: governance, dams and the SC on August 12, 2018The Supreme Court started its own dam fund when the apex court of the country was hearing a suo motu notice of the State Bank of Pakistan, whereby a scheme to allow several companies to write off loans worth Rs54 billion was being discussed. The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) remarked that two dams could be built from the money that was to be recovered from these bad debts. However, about four … [Read more...] about GB: governance, dams and the SC
Need to revisit electoral legislation to ensure transparent elections in Pakistan on August 5, 2018After the July 25 elections, the major political parties of Pakistan rejected the results of elections and alleged that the elections were rigged across the country. Only Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) termed elections free and fair. Moreover, this is not the first time though, in established democracies such as the United States, and even developing democracies like India, where the losers … [Read more...] about Need to revisit electoral legislation to ensure transparent elections in Pakistan
The Yadav jurisprudence on July 27, 2018International law has no uniform coercive force, it only has amoral force. Some critics have called international law nothing more than positive morality due to its lack of law enforcing institutions, the powerful can go scot-free while the weak are grilled. Even those who insist that international law is indeed true law, agree with critics and call it ‘soft law’. When the United States … [Read more...] about The Yadav jurisprudence
Killing the World Trade Organisation on June 22, 2018The Made in China 2025 (MC2025) initiative is aimed at making China self-sufficient in a wide array of products, military infrastructure and technology. Beating the United States at technology would mean becoming the most imperious economy in the world, and trade regulations wouldn’t really be a priority for Xi Jinping. If flouting those regulations gets China to the top, then the priorities … [Read more...] about Killing the World Trade Organisation
