Showing posts with label pakistan failed political parties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pakistan failed political parties. Show all posts
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Pakistan's Biggest Enemy Is Its Failed Political Parties
Our failed political parties will destroy our country while we keep focusing on 'saving' democracy instead of 'reforming' it. Three parties have turned Karachi into Beirut in their fight for control over extortion money. Yet we still have people claiming things will be better with repeated elections. The only thing that will happen with repeated elections is these failed parties getting stronger to take over the country.
Today I've published a piece in The News International arguing that Pakistan's political parties are destroying the country and need to be fixed.
My solution is to have a strong civilian federal govt clipping the wings of these parties with the help of the armed forces. Naturally, such a strong civilian federal government can't come through elections. Our judiciary and the military can find other means to bring quality Pakistanis to the top.
Here's a quote:
"Where in Britain or Europe can parties do what we have allowed our parties to do here? Our parties can block major roads at will and forcibly shut down entire cities. Their ugly flags and graffiti blot the face of our cities and towns. They can brandish lethal weapons in public, confiscate and burn newspapers in Karachi, cut television cables and isolate Quetta from the rest of the country. Last year, one or two parties killed my colleague Wali Khan Babur, a young television reporter, in a sad attempt to ignite linguistic riots because that’s the only way these parties can flourish."
Read the full op-ed here.
UPDATE: Just to prove my point, reports are coming in that the leadership of MQM fled to Dubai as the city was brought to a standstill thanks to the gang wars between the armed wings of MQM, ANP and PPPP. The PKKH website reported that top leaders including Sindh governor Ishrat ul Ibad, Dr. Farooq Sattar, Babar Ghouri , Kamal Mustafa and others were spotted relaxing in the executive lounge of Avari Hotel in Dubai Tuesday night.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
How Pakistan Protects Treason
We released a traitor back in 1969 despite strong evidence. Two years later he led an insurgency in support of an Indian invasion of Pakistan. Today we have released another traitor with a proven track record of working to blackmail Pakistan. I'd like every patriotic Pakistani to remember three things:
1. How our political parties, politicians and judiciary have worked together, passively, to protect and free a traitor. It’s as if the country’s security is the concern of ISI or the military and not the collective responsibility of politicians and others.
2. How the US worked overtime to get Husain Haqqani released, an American asset beyond a shadow of doubt. The way the US government issued a statement welcoming his escape from Pakistan is a telltale sign.
3. How a sitting Member of Parliament, Farahnaz Isphahani, and Haqqani’s spouse, landed in Washington to lobby against Pakistan, its military and its intelligence community. She privately told a British newspaper she escaped Pakistan because she was afraid the country’s military would kidnap her. Bad for her, the British journalist published this off-the-record comment, forcing her to issue a clarification. The statement shows deep malice against the country’s national security institutions. It proves how Haqqani and his boss, President Zardari, is every bit guilty of the contents of The Memo. [If you haven’t seen this brief, point-by-point reading into The Memo, please do. It is not every day that one sees a first-class evidence of what treason looks like. For Urdu version, click here.]
Last, the reluctance of our military establishment to take a decisive stand on this case and preferring instead to avoid a confrontation with the pro-US government is understandable but disturbing.
This attitude is part of the general ailment that afflicts our failed political system. It is not difficult to see how this country will get out of anyone’s control down the road. A big and drastic change is required. [Wait for new ideas in this regard, expected to be floated next month in a special ceremony in Islamabad. The event will use the platform of Project For Pakistan In 21st Century, an independent Islamabad-based think tank.]
Regarding The Memo, I will spare our military harsher criticism because I understand that it is busy trying to limit the damage of the 2002-2011 years. Good luck guys doing that. But remember: our homeland is beyond correction through installments. The state can be restructured top down. It requires good Pakistanis, civilians and uniformed, men and women of will more than anything else.
1. How our political parties, politicians and judiciary have worked together, passively, to protect and free a traitor. It’s as if the country’s security is the concern of ISI or the military and not the collective responsibility of politicians and others.
2. How the US worked overtime to get Husain Haqqani released, an American asset beyond a shadow of doubt. The way the US government issued a statement welcoming his escape from Pakistan is a telltale sign.
3. How a sitting Member of Parliament, Farahnaz Isphahani, and Haqqani’s spouse, landed in Washington to lobby against Pakistan, its military and its intelligence community. She privately told a British newspaper she escaped Pakistan because she was afraid the country’s military would kidnap her. Bad for her, the British journalist published this off-the-record comment, forcing her to issue a clarification. The statement shows deep malice against the country’s national security institutions. It proves how Haqqani and his boss, President Zardari, is every bit guilty of the contents of The Memo. [If you haven’t seen this brief, point-by-point reading into The Memo, please do. It is not every day that one sees a first-class evidence of what treason looks like. For Urdu version, click here.]
Last, the reluctance of our military establishment to take a decisive stand on this case and preferring instead to avoid a confrontation with the pro-US government is understandable but disturbing.
This attitude is part of the general ailment that afflicts our failed political system. It is not difficult to see how this country will get out of anyone’s control down the road. A big and drastic change is required. [Wait for new ideas in this regard, expected to be floated next month in a special ceremony in Islamabad. The event will use the platform of Project For Pakistan In 21st Century, an independent Islamabad-based think tank.]
Regarding The Memo, I will spare our military harsher criticism because I understand that it is busy trying to limit the damage of the 2002-2011 years. Good luck guys doing that. But remember: our homeland is beyond correction through installments. The state can be restructured top down. It requires good Pakistanis, civilians and uniformed, men and women of will more than anything else.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Something We Can Learn From The Saudis
Yesterday, when the news poured of the death of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Sultan bin Abdulaziz, 80, who died of cancer in a New York City hospital, a question came to my mind: Why NYC when I heard the Saudis have some of the best healthcare facilities in the Middle East?
My question was answered on the same day, when I read that his brother, King Abdullah, 85, was receiving critical medial care at the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. The king was discharged from hospital on the same day his half-brother died and was shifted to his palace to continue medical treatment at home.
The king has been to foreign hospitals for critical surgery but has used Saudi hospitals for all other types of surgeries. Generally, senior Saudi officials do not travel abroad for minor medical treatment. Their own hospitals and doctors are good enough. A large number of Saudi and foreign doctors run these hospitals.
There are two huge medical complexes in Saudi Arabia: the King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, the capital, and the King Abdulaziz Medica City in Jeddah on the Red Sea.
The Saudis have also developed world-class hospitals in the private sector that attract much of Middle East's 'medical tourism.'
Education is another area where the Saudis have done well. Up to 50 modern universities exist in a country of almost 25 million people. Almost half of the students are girls. In some Saudi regions the girls surpass boys in college admissions. The illiteracy rate in 2009 was 13%, which is not bad.
Saudi Arabia was a very backward place in 1932 when it was declared a kingdom.
Its first modern university was launched in 1957. The latest one opened doors in 2010.
Much of Saudi Arabia's achievements are buried under unwarranted and politically motivated criticism in the English-language American and US media that dominate internationally. But there is a lot to the kingdom behind the smokescreen.
P.S. In Pakistan, almost the entire Pakistani political elite, which is a closed-circle mafia in many ways, lives abroad, banks abroad, resides abroad, and receives all medical treatment abroad. It comes to Pakistan only when it is its turn to rule. The alleged dictatorships of the Gulf are far better than our fractious, violent and fake democracy.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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