The Daily PakistanPolitics Feb14-28, 2013

• Feb28-2013--As is usual for the mqm another volte face or about turn is on teh cards...mqm unable to tolerate its total rejection and might want to be in teh opposition and teh governors house ar teh same time
• Feb28-2013-Raja Ashraf writes to Chaudhry Nisar to reccomend his probable caretakers...there seems to be a stalemate as noone likes each others reccomendations with teh PPP thinking of asma jehangir and hafeez pasha while teh PMLn wants one of two well known judges with some suggestions as to Mahmud khan achakzai...many say that hafeez pasha could easily become a shaukat aziz... a possible caretaker as well as a possible interim coalition leader in the face of a hung parliament..many put mahmud khan achakzai and one of teh PMLn judges as a possible consensus choice...or it could easily be some unknown beaurocrat...!
• Feb28-2013-with teh government ending Asif Zardari can easily play upto iran as teh next government will have to deal with sanctions/US although turkey too imports iranian gas and turkmenistan sells gas to iran...however one fails to understand why they did not take this decision five years ago...
• Feb28-2013-Secretary Defence says military wont interfere in elections...one wonders what huge corp formations in twenty areas will do as they can easily effect some election resuls...while most participants are cool enough to handle minor problems one would like to see what happens if mqm/PPP rig elections in sindh and PMln also does so in punjab...if election results are terribly skewered and people are on teh streets in karachi, peshawar, lahore and islamabad one can easily imagine what could happen...with teh caretakers, ECP and army in control the options will be limited...unless a coalition is quickly formed and put in place...methinks teh army than might not tolerate Kiani generally considered as anti sunni for too long given his just onlooking status during teh past five years with a do nothing government unable to deal with terrorism, economics and power/gas shortages...Kiani has survived despite some serious fiascos and one would have hoped that the PPP had teh sense to replace him before teh elections...anyway teh new governments first decision could be to find a new army chief...!
• Feb27-2013-PTI internal elections bring up usual political problems of firing and opponent tussles with administration and judiciary interference
• Feb27-2013-an ASWJ and ST worker shot dead in karachi
• Feb27-2013-power supply problems continue with teh main reason being falling hydel generation which is lowest in winter...with oil supply and payment problems and teh governments inability to cover for falling hydel power thru thermal or other means the power supply organizations would theoretically have to shut down half of pakistan to as they say strike even...maintain a balance between supplies and demand...
• Feb27-2013-pakistan has to stop dealing with people thru military operations based on information from questionable sources or u might say sectarian/ethnic opponents...teh situation wherever military operations have been conducted never stabilizes and killings continue whether it be karachi, fata or balochistan...basic police work in nabbing culprits without the political, ethnic or sectarian angles have to be developed...propagating sectarianism and ethnicism of any sort also is counter productive...no sect is based on realistic interpretations since teh early days of islam
• Feb27-2013-Mandivalla the new finance minister says falling foreign exchange reserves wont stop him spending whether teh country goes bust or not
• Feb27-2013-policeman protecting polio team shot dead near mardan
• Feb27-2013-Chuck Hagel who is fighting for senate confirmation is no douche...he is quite aware that teh indians finance trouble in pakistan whether it be killings in karachi or terrorism from teh tribal areas or afghan border...as far as pakistan is concerned india is just trouble...they never stop trying to destabilize pakistan one way or teh other
• Feb27-2013-PPP policies which they say are for teh next five years have as usual nothing for the people...it is teh end of the year and their government but they continue announcing policies for the next government...?Nawaz Sharif moves into an NPP-PMLf alliance in sindh...earlier he had announced cooperation with sindhi nationalists
• Feb26-2013-another maulvi shot dead in karachi...this one from teh JUI-f...maulvis or religious clergy have suffered under teh dual militant nature of qaim al shah, altaf hussein and rehman malik...who are all accused of running death squads in karachi against political or religious opponents...
• Feb26-2013-one killed in a blast in bara fort...ANP loses an mna and an mpa to the PPP and JUIf from kohat and karak
• Feb26-2013-ECP says tahirul qadri cant hold party position due to dual nationality...what about altaf hussein many ask who apparently is only an english national...and still runs teh mqm and karachi...?
• Feb26-2013-PPP allows the US to build an army base near karachi to monitor teh countries coastline for smuggling...big joke or PPP unwary of strategic consequences...!earlier they handed over Gwadar to a chinese company...!!
• Feb26-2013-with the ANP trying to cling to the PPP the JUI-f fell back upon teh PMLn as teh situation gets complicated with the nasty shiite-sunni and ethnic rivalries...The shiite dominated PPP and the sort of JI supported PTI wary of AWSJ and MWM's rising sectarian support across teh country....many feel that teh PPP's shiite base in sindh is a basic cause of their doing nothing about attacks on teh AWSJ in karachi and probably teh reverse is true in balochistan..Imran Khan accuses Nawaz Sharif of being supported by teh sunni ASWJ...ASWJ not accused of terrorism but inits previous incarnation as teh SSP was involved in a sunni-shiite war ...The MWM is now apparenly teh PPP's shiite front...it says it will support 100 candidates in shiite areas...shiites dominate many areas by playing both sides
• Feb26-2013-another blast at another dargah in larkana-shikarpur area...one dies
• Feb26-2013-Repeated cascading faults in the power system show that area faults cannot be contained manually despite knowledge and technology...many feel that teh countries power system needs tobe broken down into segments that are more easily manageable...power station faults should entail that their area of distribution also be isolated automatically... Power breakdown sorted out by monday evening with 30% of the country still without power in sindh and balochistan...In rawalpindi teh disenfranchised areas remained without power allday...power restored at around 4am on monday with frequent shutdowns into teh night..many feel that frequent changes in management and operations personnel at load despatch centers might be teh culprit...
• Feb25-2013--At least seven militants killed in miltary bombing of kukikhel areas of Tirah
• Feb25-2013--two men shot dead by FC in qillla abdullah area shootout
• Feb25-2013--six labourers shot dead near Pasni by motor cycle riding gunmen
• Feb25-2013--countrywide power breakdown caused by Uchh power station going down...
• Feb24-2013--PPP mpa in sindh resigns and joins PMLf...ASWJ man shot dead in karachi..as ANP ready to rejoin government in sindh while ANP's student leader is shot dead in karachi
• Feb24-2013--50 LJ men detained in punjab..ASWJ strike observed in quetta as ASWJ rally fired upon by possible shiite gunmen...
• Feb23-2013--Syed Pervez musharafuddin teh runaway former army chief refuses to appear before teh Lal Masjid commission which theoretically has to determine how many died in the army assault on teh mosque...
• Feb23-2013--In sindh mqm nominates sardar ahmed for opposition leader as ANP and JUI-f inch closer in nwfp as usual...!
• Feb23-2013--Another seven shot dead in karachi including two associated with the ASWJ...as sectarian tension mounted in interior sindh...In quetta ASWJ ended a sitin after FC personnel were nominated in the killing of two ASWJ men...In punjab LJ leader malik ishaq arrested who was supposedly behind the sri lankan cricket team attack..he has been in jail for 14 years and is from rahimyar khan..
• Feb22-2013--my islam(semi shiite) is more appropriate says asif zardari opposing teh terrorists's islam...as sindh governor again runs away...!
• Feb22-2013--bomb blast in peshawar phone market kills one
• Feb22-2013--In a freak accident teh ASF chief of nawabshah airport dies at sukkur airport after being hit by a PIA training planes propellers...which he was using illegally for personal transportation
• Feb22-2013--The Sindh assembly controversially cancelled their own LG bill as teh mqm walked out...
• Feb22-2013--Pakistan Army in an unnecessary statement says that it has no links with teh LJ...reports suggest that they have links to Malik Ishaq and Usman Saifullah Kurd...while they started the problem by hanging its first leader...Riaz Basra also reportedly was able to easily get in and out of police stations...all this after teh quetta police reportly arrested numerous ASWJ workers who are reportedly opposed by shiite groups...The ASWJ's present leader says teh LJ has nothing todo with Jhang which is a peaceful area...lashkar e jhangvi derives its name not from jhang but its first leader who was hanged for killing an iranian consul...The ASWJ says that they vote for all political parties as it was reported that they vote for PPP leaders like kaira and dasti...The report suggests that teh army consulted malik ishaq during the attack on teh GHQ and Usman Kurd escaped from quetta cantonement....!
• Feb22-2013--Intelligence reports suggest that teh CJ is just a blabber mouth unable to admit that he, teh government or the police and army cant provide security for teh pakistani populace...many would probably be happy if he is appointed teh quetta chief of police...since he thinks he can handle everything...!many say teh army , judiciary and government are unable to understand their main roles and are inadequate as real solution providers of teh state
• Feb22-2013--A US report says that teh CIA runs a 3000 man paramilitary force in teh pakistani state of Fata...which many say is something close to a mix of teh ANP, mqm with the ISI thrown in as pepper and salt.....And... teh pakistani military is so frightened of drones that whenever they want to flyover teh pakistanis run like hell or as teh report says that the pakistan army clears the airspace for the drones...apart from a few al qaeda men most of those killed by teh US drones are said tobe ordinary tribals
• Feb21-2013--remote controlled landmine blasts kill dargah hussain abad custodian's son near jacobabad
• Feb21-2013--Chaudhry Nisar blows up in national assembly at ECP letter asking for his F.Sc./matric documents saying he did his A and O levels...present set of politicians known for their "by hook or crook" attitude worried as Election Commission getting serious in implementing conditions for electoral candidacies...!
• Feb21-2013--mass burial of quetta blasts hazara and afghan refugees takes place...kaira says operation launched against LJ...military option available to provincial government...rehman malik and ISI say it is not our fault...ISI says it reported movement of explosives but no exact information was supplied...PPP and military governments fighting against anti shiite LJ since zia ul haq times...altaf hussein critisizes MWM as he fears fragmentation of his shiite mohajirs...wants fiqha jafria alliance of top shiite leaders in karachi...MWM has generally been able to establish a countrywide presence but karachi based shiite leaders who are also in a fight with the ASWJ seem worried at teh upstarts who also seem to have trained in subersive activities in afghanistan..many say ISO also terrorism inclined...many feel that blocking key road junctions thus paralysing cities like karachi and lahore is worse than other terrorist activities...
• Feb20-2013--The Election commission makes it tougher for candidates for the national assembly and provincial assemblies by making tax returns for three years mandatory...details of children studying abroad...details of agricultural property, houses and locations and tax records as well as citizenship matters and details of their spouses...teh law states that even if a candidate or spouse has had a loan written off the candidate stands disqualified...In a general sense politicians all over teh country have been getting extremely rich and have been unable to understand teh problems of teh people...
• Feb20-2013--The countries failed finance minister abdul hafeez shaikh resigns...his IMF regimen was of no use at all as teh country despite record revenues and remmittances was unable to solve even basic issues...a military stooge and former privatisation minister he was unable to create or manage any realistic economic program in any area and teh country is at teh same stage as it was five years ago with falling reserves, load sheddings in electricity and gas and an aura of bad management and poor economic sense pervades the PPP...dawn suggests that he is teh joint candidate of teh mqm and PPP being obviously a sindhi for caretaker primeminister...many regard it as difficult for teh PMLn to accept a person whose policies have been so anti punjab...PPP appoints another sindhi Saleem H. Mandlivala as stop gap finance minister...
• Feb20-2013--the shiites who have been creating traffic problems rather than demonstrating in lahore,karachi and rawalpindi seem more amenable to a solution(burying teh dead) in quetta as FC carried out a raid to kill four supposed perpretrators of teh Alamdar blast in Killi qambrani and arresting seven a quetta suburb...kaira says army and FC to continue target operations which are generally opposed by teh baloch...however army and PPP regime say teh situation is not so bad that teh army should be called out...army usually provides security for shiite processions in major cities but government and army unable to stop sectarian killings from both sides...police arrested many workers of teh ASWJ and a provincial leader from another locality Killi badini..The Sc and the national assembly seemingly blame teh hapless intelligence agencies who are usually following politicians around rather than collecting information on terrroists or troublemakers...
• Feb19-2013--a PTI man...Jehanzaib Khichki won the by elections in PP_239 vehari-8...the result shows that the PTI can win in a three way race...
• Feb19-2013--a shiite eye surgeon and his son were shot dead near Fc college while going to aitcheson college in lahore...in karachi four ASWJ men were shot dead...two target killers shot dead in Hub...while teh bodies of two baloch from turbat found in surjani town, karachi
• Feb19-2013--government continuously telling people they are getting subsidy on electricity when there is no such thing...domestic users payup to Rs15 per unit which is used to subsidize other sectors when distribution company costs are Rs8...there are no direct subsidies to teh distribution companies...which have concentrated on improving distribution infrastructure...however teh high costs force even government deptts not to pay teh bills, with teh domestic users being solely targeted as they are denied gas and have to suffer load sheddings as well..In 1982 teh cost of electricity was Rs1 and there was no load shedding...Than the military took over wapda and stopped setting up new power stations...as usage increased load shedding began and lasted for a decade before the high cost IPP's solved the supply problems...however after another military takeover the setting up of power plants again suffered and load shedding has been going on for the last seven years with no letup...government kept increasing prices abut demand did not drop...governments attempts at reducing production to meet costs as well as load shedding and price hikes did not solve the problem...after five years of PPP rule the problem is still there with no hopes of resolution until supposedly 2020...government kept urging saving electricity but that is not possible as electricity is a basic need...high costs, riots, load shedding and mismanagement persisted...the supply side problem has not been alleviated in any way...coal was touted as a savior but no coal power plants were setup...RPP's did not help...The government did not heed the priorities...the government will have to reduce military, debt servicing and provincial allocations substantially and allocate all possible resources to overcome the supply problem and than find a way to keep electricity costs and distribution problems in check...people have to suffer electricity load shedding even in winter now as the government pampers the rich ,agricultural, industrial and commercial consumers...with the duplication of industries in provinces the government can reduce load shedding by shutting down unnecessary industries and stopping development of plaza's, residential housing and new industries unless there is surplus power...setting up of new power plants in the solar, wind and coal domain have tobe rushed as hydel power stations take too long to complete...at the moment there is no major hydel scheme in the offing barring one in AJK and smaller ones in KP which are not expected to fill the gap but could reduce some of the costs...With wapda out of the equation the government must create a new organization that attempts to fill the supply gaps urgently...the government has a lack of understanding about hydel..ie..it is almost useless in winter...shifting of focus to organizations in the political and bureaucratic mess at the center furthers problems rather than solves any..reforms have only worsened the situation...one organization should be given the task of building, pricing and allocating supplies to different sectors...cities, plaza's,commercial offices,provinces, industries and residential estates should be encouraged to setup their own power plants and use them...if coal is desirable and usable than increase coal production first...there is no point in saying that there are large reserves of coal in the ground...even the steel mills despite being in sindh still imports coal...!
• Feb19-2013--two suicide bombers blew up at the Khyber agencies political agents office killing four security persons and two others
• Feb19-2013--In what literally amounts to a pathetic loss of ability and courage the government literally handed over the Gwadar port considered an element to raise pride amongst balochis to a Chinese concern...The Chinese to build a road to ratodero in sindh and increase the berths to twenty...the port has not been used much and the Chinese could increase traffic even though it is a long way to the Chinese border...earlier it was supposed to bring in afghan traffic but they have stayed put at Karachi...Easing of the situation in Afghanistan and developing transportation could increase utilization...
• Feb19-2013--Shiite protests left cities like Rawalpindi stuck as they caused traffic jams between Rawalpindi and Islamabad..in Karachi protests took place at four places but were later reduced to three in a city wide closure...two IED blasts went off harmlessly as train and air services were stopped...In quetta Shiites refused to bury their dead according to religious traditions forcing the government to consider military rule for quetta...the hazaras argued for target killings which have not solved problems in Karachi although it is generally considered that they reduce large attacks to the tit for tat variety...The Baluchistan government seemed uncertain on what to do as they could very easily bring in troops to guard the hazara areas until there is a resolution of the problem...The LJ came in for all the criticism as Imran khan added his voice to teh fray...many feel that the feeble governance in Baluchistan already dominated by the corp commander and the FC needs a major change in attitude...which could be solved by the arrest of the known LJ leaders which are not regarded as a very large number...troops and tanks could be easily called out as that is usually done in times of extreme strife...many think that more money could probably be a help in reaching a solution...the government in pakistan known to use monetary compensation to aid in problematic situations...Shiites should also be urged to live with the area ethnic and religious groups which can reduce animosities...obviously there is no way to approach teh LJ and TTP to stop such activities until the tribal war ends...government should deemphasis sectarianism which was foisted on us by the zia ul haq government in the early eighties by measures such as teh discriminatory zakat bill...ever since teh extremists amongst shiites and sunnis have been going at each other...the shiites believe in mourning for teh victims of karbala on the streets, majalis and television which is generally/forcibly tolerated by teh sunnis who believe that death is ordained by allah and humans can do nothing about it and that we can only pray for teh dead and departed...teh conflicts generated by teh zakat bill and anti shiite activities by the SSP, LJ and teh hanging of teh LJ leader have persevered in teh violent sphere...earlier sunni and shiite organizations such as the SSP, TNFP and SM which were fighting it out were banned although they have reemerged under other names...The government could consider banning all sectarian outfits shiite and sunni...!
• Feb18-2013--as political violence continues to plague teh country a strike was observed in quetta with another planned in karachi today...eight people shot dead in karachi as several buses were set on fire
• Feb18-2013--PMLf which too had stepped down from teh PPP coalition in sindh challenges teh mqm to really join the opposition and ask their governor to quit and support nusrat sehar abbasi as the opposition leader..The mqm known for changing their mind on even mild urging on a day to day basis and are generally regarded as the ISI's karachi card although their troublemaking power has been reduced/made ineffective by teh other ISI kingmakers teh PMlq...
• Feb18-2013--Deaths in quetta blast rise to 84 with 20 more unidentified or in bad shape...
• Feb18-2013--The PPP has alienated almost everybody at this stage and apparently only invited mahmud achakzai to a mahmood abbas dinner...The dawn suggests that the PPP might be wooing him for the caretaker position...however others see the PPP turning turtle in balochistan after having lost the Sarwan chieftain and could be attempting to siphon off teh pukhtun vote in balochistan which is generally pro JUI-f...The PPP support base of the hazara's and teh raisani tribe in balochistan have been battered into submission...mahmud achakzai should be wary of teh PPP...his father had been killed during teh ZAB rule and ZAB had blamed zia ul haq...
• Feb17-2013--Lt General shahid aziz(R) who alongwith a few other generals who were regarded as teh strongmen of teh musharaf coup regards military coverups as teh main cause of teh militaries weaknesses...at teh launching of his book...however given his key appointments which he held in the musharaf era alongwith teh position of NAB chairman after retirement he can be regarded as one of the blue eyed and thus his observations can be considered more or less duplicity...many regard the pakistan armed forces as living on extensive propaganda without regard to the reality that they are a military force so weak that they can hardly takeon anyone in teh region...in fact they have never used their F-16's against anyone but their own people...their lack of ability to attack and takeover even a region inside pakistan shows that they are weak mentally and not tough even strategically...many feel that they should have taken over a slice of afghanistan which would have brought the fight in afghanistan to a close much earlier...While they were able to build up a military warlord presence in afghanistan during teh Russian occupation that ability has been run down during US occupation...they have also been unable to create a local fighting force capable of taking on teh indian's in occupied kashmir...
• Feb17-2013--Kaira attacks PMLn again but who listens...if teh PPP cannot explain what it did with 15 trillion than what does 97 billion matter...teh PPP does not understand that the PMLn has more stature than them in punjab despite their overpriced MBS and even the failing chinese volvo buses...if teh MBS was so bad or unnecessary than why did they suddenly announce a train shuttle from shahdara to kot lakhpat...or gas to 1000 of Kaira's village's when there is no gas available...i dont think even shahbaz sharif can think of distributing free plots of land at teh cost of billions given teh high cost of land...in sindh and karachi?...nobody in punjab is against sasti roti's or even distribution of laptops and UPS's amongst some students...promoting teh cream amongst students is necessary to keep up teh morale of hardworking students although danish schools donot ring many bells due to teh multitude of educational opportunities...in fact universities should encourage the acquisition of laptops by all students by making available low priced or second hand computers...why did kaira and company not focus on teh issues for five years and just kept hiking prices...!
• Feb17-2013--In another attempt to confuse teh situation and secure PPP's votebank in sindh or neutralize teh Pir Pagaro factor the mqm as it has done before in all past elections again dropped out of government but did not ask its governor to resign...This leaves the way open for them tobe appointed leader of the opposition and in theory get their own man as a caretaker in sindh...In sindh which is reknowned for its political skullduggery being in government is still important to win elections...
• Feb17-2013--In what could be termed another PPP failure a huge suicide blast levelled an area in hazara town, Quetta killing 67...LJ claimed responsibility...while they are supposedly a small baloch group the LJ which originally was a seraiki group has a few high profile members who have not been located or arrested by teh police...police inefficiencies have been a hallmark of PPP rule and many point to the PPP's refusal to give up government at teh appropriate time as one of teh causes...some political parties can be expected to reduce terrorism due to their attitudes and deeper political involvement in teh country...The PPP has adopted a facile approach to teh countries problems and has been unable to resolve them...many point to teh lack of understanding of democracy among teh PPP's wadera's...u can also almost be certain that rehman malik will issue an anti LJ statement and than forget all about doing anything else...In a police/military state such as pakistan it should not be extremely difficult to find at least teh organisers of teh group which can lead to a direct reduction in such incidents... The PPP has become intertwined with such groups that are theoretically extremist but have a popular following which has been teh cause of PPP's indeterminate attitude in handling issues related to terrorism...meaning that teh PPP shifts from sect to sect and is thus unable to handle anyone giving such freedoms to terrorists that are considered otherwise unimaginable...
• Feb16-2013--In an incident which has uncertain political overtones elite force commandos raided a house in New Town police area, Rawalpindi and killed two brothers while a police commando was also shot dead..a third brother is an ex nazim
• Feb16-2013--The balochistan counsel tells teh SC that teh media does not recogize teh militaries righteousness in handling teh balochistan situation...many aspects of military and paramilitary activities in balochistan are not considered praiseworthy...teh counsel said that there were over a 100 militant camps in balochistan that the military had been unable to clear due to in house rivalry...The Bugti political camp said that nogo areas must be dismantled...displaced persons allowed to return and electoral rolls upgraded..
• Feb16-2013--The LHC which is running a friendly contempt case against Asif Zardari for running political activities of one political grouping when he should be acting only as a president which is generally an apolitical position in governance...The LHC now thinks that partisan politics even outside teh presidency is condemnable...The governments lawyer is attempting to fool teh LHC by suggesting that he is not acting as the head of one political party...
• Feb16-2013--TTP terms teh APC an ANP election stunt...many feel that a number of terrorist incidents might involve political parties which do such things to gain sympathy especially when they stumble...KP like punjab has major political groups who can challenge each other
• Feb16-2013--In a major defection nine PPP legislators joined teh PMLn as also two PMLq mna's...Nawaz Sharif addresses big political rally in teh ppp's hometown of Naudero in sindh...many feel that sindh should be getting tired of teh directionless pro mqm PPP and a coalition which is supposedly in teh offing could make inroads into teh PPP areas of influence as could teh mqm...The mqm protested the disposal of charges against the PPP's lyari aman committee which it regaeds as a rival...The mqm has had no problem with the cold storage of its own cases of criminal political activities...
• Feb15-2013--mutton prices surge to Rs600 a kilo with beef keeping pace at Rs380
• Feb15-2013--while teh politicians tried to move towards negotiations in dealing with terrorism which they have rejected as a possible mechanism for five years... 21 were killed in the bannu, hangu and orakzai areas in several suicide attacks...11 killed in hangu as a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a security post...a number of people still buried under the rubble...five suicide bombers and one civilian were killed in an attack on a bannu police post while a karak police post was damaged in another attack...four tribesmen killed in roadside explosions in orakzai...
• Feb15-2013--The APC on terrorism failed to produce any good result while teh ruling politicians succeeded in blaming teh entire country for it...many regard terrorism as teh pathetic inability of teh government and army to handle such situations.. The obviously bad policies of the government in teh foreign/economic arena make it even harder for teh public to accept such atrocious failures of governance...many regard most of teh terrorism tobe reactions to drone attacks, military operations and the lal masjid invasion...many also point to the intransigence of teh army, ISI and government to deal with drone attacks and implement agreements...The governments pathetic appointments in key areas such as teh interior ministry and refusal to replace teh army chief are also listed by many as the causes...contributing factors are listed as the literally death squads running amuck around teh country mostly attributed to ethnic and sectarian warfare with many regarding teh government and its party as one of many participants apart from karachi's ethnic desperados...
• Feb14-2013--In one of teh biggest scandals to hit the country teh corruption tainted PPP president of pakistan Asif Zardari accused by Transparency International of accepting a 200 canal house from Bahria town in Lahore earlier implicated in underhand payments to arsalan iftikhar teh supreme court chief justices son...rumours initiated by imran khan had earlier suggested that teh army chief general kiani had been teh expected recipient from bahria town however payments made by arsalan iftikhar apparently got the supposed bullet proof gift shifted to asif zardari/bilawal zardari..It places literally teh countries entire establishment in teh corruption spotlight...Transparency International suggested that since such gifts are illegal it be handed over to teh state...many suggest that given asif zardaris poor intellect he might think that like politics corruption is also acceptable outside teh presidency...!!
• Feb14-2013--KP's controversial governor Shaukatulah jokes that his performance as minister of state probably got him the governorship...he suggests that whether he is enrolled in KP as a voter does not make any difference as a Fata resident also must have a right to the position
• Feb14-2013--The Sc rejects qadri petition to reform teh election commission...Qadri blew up at Sc allegations that he was a servant or owed allegiance to teh british queen...showing a picture in which teh chief justice is shown taking an oath from teh martial law coup plotter syed pervez musharafuddin which he regarded as a more heinous and criminal act...The SC warned him that he could face contempt for such allegations...Qadri retaliated that such questions asked by teh SC are a mockery of teh judiciary and saying that there is no bar on a dual national coming to teh court......The decision has impaired teh courts known attempt to appear altruistic and a simple judgement that teh ECP was properly formed would have sufficed...