Pakistan’s elite capture — Part 2 — political discord — the early years on May 9, 2020Last week I ended my commentary with several questions: * How did this state of elite capture happen in Pakistan? vIs PM Imran a continuation of the same flow of state capture? * Can he successfully remove this stranglehold? * If yes, then how? For this it’s important to review our political journey to date. […]
Pakistan’s elite capture — Part 1 — context and background on May 2, 2020On 25th April, 2020 PM Imran tweeted “….24 years ago today, PTI embarked on our mission of achieving our Quaid Jinnah’s vision for Pakistan as a modern Islamic welfare state. 1. To achieve this we had to achieve the following: Rule of Law where all are equal before the law & the powerful are brought […]
“Yes, Prime Minister!”— Part 3 — The Prime Minister, Sugar and Reform? on April 25, 2020Last week I’d promised three things! To write in more detail about the sugar issue (with a word or two about IPP’s). To offer a perspective on PM Imran coming into his own skin. Finally, to determine whether the sugar and now IPP reports are the start of a major effort to eliminate Pakistan’s elite […]
“Yes Prime Minister!” — Part 2 — The Politician on April 18, 2020Last week in Part 1 I had posed a few questions. Is JKT an innocent victim of palace intrigues or a powerful, manipulative political power broker using his political access to the PM and other power centres to gain an unfair financial advantage? Or both? Will Jehangir Tareen commit political suicide by aligning with anti-Imran […]
“Yes Prime Minister!” – Part 1 – The Bureaucrat on April 12, 2020In the current byzantine palace intrigue, Azam Khan has clearly won this round against Jehangir Tareen. While I don’t know the two well, I have had a few interactions with both. Before sharing my perspective on Jehangir Tareen’s apparent “Sugargate” or “Sugarloo”, here’s a personal insight into the PM’s Principal Secretary. In the PM’s early […]
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto — The Man and the Myth on April 7, 2020On April 4th, 1979, 41 years ago, ZAB was hanged. Like all controversial figures in history who generate intense emotions, for and against, Bhutto’s reality and legacy is also distorted by the lens through which we view him. To many he is still Pakistan’s greatest leader to others, an evil destructive megalomaniac! In my opinion, […]
Never Give In.. on April 4, 2020To paraphrase Churchill. We shall fight this virus till we win.. we shall fight it in our homes, in our factories, in our shops and in our hospitals. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength. We shall provide for all our people, young and old, poor and rich, whatever the cost may be. […]
The Century after Tomorrow! on March 28, 2020The Crystal Balls are out. The pundits are churning out their post Corona apocalypse predictions. Foreign Policy magazine talked to a dozen of these minds. The New Yorker dissects the next decades. So perhaps this is an opportunity to dwell on the impact it’ll leave on the world. On society.On our social, political, cultural norms.On […]
The PM’s Press Conference! on March 26, 2020PM Imran has come under severe criticism by many, including yours truly, for being indecisive in the delayed manner he and his administration have responded to the Corona pandemic. Partly this criticism was the result of an incoherent and patchy communication strategy, accentuated by press conferences being addressed by motley crews, giving the impression of […]
Our Corona options? on March 24, 2020There’s a battle raging in Pakistan over the Corona crisis, especially on the strategy. Whether we should go for a soft mitigation strategy of self-imposed social distancing or through a harsh state mandated suppression strategy of forced lockdown. While there’s limited data on eventual outcomes, so far we know that harsh suppression is far more […]