What the PML-N got wrong
In the last eight months or so, the PML-N has done pretty much everything a party can do in an election year. They have dug up every road in Punjab, raised concerns about problems in other provinces and have even recruited avidly to beef up their party ranks. Effectively, they have prepared well for the upcoming elections. And even though the tsunami is coming for them, they are still focused on the real competitor. One would say that they are ready to go to the polls and seize power. However, all is not what it seems to be – my personal ...
Read Full PostParty campaigns: Where does their money come from?
Nearly all of us spend hours debating what our country needs, and almost every time we end up with the same list of priorities; education, eradication of corruption, job opportunities and other such basics. While I do agree that we require the above mentioned things, I also think that there is something else that we need on an urgent basis in our political system and which no one seems to be talking about it; campaign finance reforms. Even though it is the giant elephant in the room, I find it surprising that I have never come across a single discussion on it. For those ...
Read Full PostFor PTI trolls: A lesson on bashing
If you are using any social media platform, you have probably come across the PTI troll. In most cases they make emotional arguments, repeating the same things posted on the PTI website or (worse still) basing arguments on the statements of their great leader. Frankly, I am quite tired of listening to the same arguments over and over again. So to escape the same buzzwords, I decided to help them out by writing a playbook for those senselessly bashing the Sharifs. I am laying out three good arguments that can be made by anyone who hates PML-N and not look like a fool ...
Read Full Post5 steps to solving Pakistan’s energy crisis
Out of all the problems we face as a country, energy seems to be the one that annoys us the most. It’s not that other issues are not important or are somehow less annoying; it is just that every single person in Pakistan uses energy in one form or another and hence is directly affected by it at a very personal level. So when a few days back I was invited as an expert delegate to the PML-N’s energy conference , I was pleasantly surprised that our political parties are beginning to showing signs of maturity and started talking issues. The ...
Read Full PostThe fundofication of PTI
Three and a half months into the tsunami, things do not seem to be going in the direction many had hoped. What started out as a campaign to bring about positive and lasting change by bringing the youth and Pakistan’s moderate majority on board has now turned in to a lota/fundo-fest. But the believers still cling onto the words that were said on October 30, during that historic jalsa in Lahore. The idea was that Pakistan was for everyone – liberals, conservatives and moderates coming together under the banner of one party that promised to build an Islamic welfare state and ...
Read Full PostThe media made a mess of Memogate
In the last couple of months our country has been plunged into a self created crisis that our media has dubbed ‘Memogate’. Everyone who is anyone has an opinion on the issue, which has become the most discussed topic in the country. However, throughout this discussion on the memo issue, majority of the people have either failed to understand what it actually is, or have simply taken the media for its word without putting all the facts in perspective. In this blog, I am not going to give you an opinion on this issue. What I am going to do is ...
Read Full PostDon’t blame the gas crisis on the government
We may be dealing with multiple crises as a nation, but one incident in particular is simply being blown out of proportion – the issue of the CNG shortage. People are infuriated about the shortage of gas, and have every right to be. CNG is a cheaper fuel alternative to petrol, but the gas has been getting increasingly expensive for a while, and its very availability is becoming a growing issue. The shortage of compressed natural gas (CNG) has led to industries threatening shut downs and workers protesting, as they have no jobs. Industries keep printing ads in the papers about how ...
Read Full PostMFN doesn’t translate to BFF
Recently there has been a lot of debate on the issue of granting India the Most Favoured Nation status (MFN). The debate has primarily garnered negative responses from all sides and has actually put the government under a lot of pressure. Initially what was seen as a straightforward gesture has turned into a political hot potato, causing the prime minister and foreign minister to give statements periodically defending their stance. The reason this whole MFN status for India has become such a big deal is primarily due to the fact that most people debating it are immature and do not ...
Read Full PostFor Shah Mehmood Qureshi, it’s about logic, not emotion
Shah Mahmood Qureshi finally decided which party to join. He held a large rally, and in true political style announced that he was joining PTI. While Qureshi was making this announcement, I could imagine Marvi Memon smiling to herself, thinking she is likely to take a similar route. Now, here is the thing; firstly anyone who thought this was not going to happen was kidding themselves, and secondly what Qureshi has done and what Marvi Memon and many other are going to do is the smart thing to do — joining a party that ...
Read Full PostLessons in political rhetoric
For a while now a number of ‘issues’ are in the limelight in Pakistan. Every single politician talks about them, every analyst discusses them and the whole population chimes about them literally every single day. But the thing is at no point are those issues actually looked at and the truth behind them explained. Take power outages, every single person in the country discusses the issue, shows their anger about it and the media highlights it. But at no point does anyone explain exactly how and why it occurs. Now you may ask why is it important to understand why ...
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