The Daily PakistanPolitics Apr11-22, 2013

• Apr22-2013--Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who is from rawalpindi and taxila is also running as an independent on PP6 a seat that surrounds teh rawalpindi airport area...shah mahmood qureshi also running as an independent in sindh's thar area...with numerous politicians running on multiple seats a second round would be inevitable...Mqm is set to retake its position as the popular coalition partner with teh PMLq only contesting on 34 seats and just 20 with PPP support...unless teh PTI or PMLn sweep punjab teh smaller parties could form a major group of 30-50 seats in teh national assembly and would be attractive to all three bigger parties if they come out about even...some see teh situation as teh PPP ending up like teh mqm with just a sindh option...ie if teh PTi and pMLn endup as the two major parties...
• Apr22-2013--a strong contest is expected in kasur NA140 where assef ahmed ali(ind) and khurshid kasuri(pti) are up against Azeemuddin Lakhvi(pmlQ) and Malik Rasheed(PMLn) the incumbent who won as an independent
• Apr22-2013--four soldiers die in a roadside blast in Bannu region
  
• Apr22-2013--The Balochi election scene hots up as a grenade is thrown at teh National Party chief's house...while two are killed at an ANP rally in Pishin...PMLn's Sanaullah Zehri meanwhile registered an FIR against Mir Amanullah Zargzai and other nationalist leaders for an attack in which his son, brother nephew and two others were killed...BLA and BRA are teh main terrorist culprits
  
• Apr21-2013--while teh PPP left power with unfathomable less power in teh national grid and almost endless loadsheddings it is now trying to prove that they are not teh problem and all the projects approved by teh coup plotter in 2006 are actually their projects...teh PPP did not implement even one of the hydel projects and stopped all projects in punjab--nandipur and chichiko maliana and azad kashmir...neelum-jhelum...neelum jhelum which was tobe completed in 2009 and is only 48% complete and only teh bhasha housing colony has been initiated...actual work on bhasha would probably be started in two years or later as teh World Bank has refused to fund it any longer...wapda too wants to shift to just a single purpose larger electricity output project before bhasha ...The PPP are are focusing on nawaz sharif statements who castigated them on selling the countries best projects hubco and kot addu to foreign buyers for a pittance and that the PMLn will solve the loadshedding problem in two years...Hubco is now owned by teh Dawoods...one just wonders what teh PPP were doing for five years as most of teh projects they are saying that they have completed were initiated in teh shaukat aziz era...one wonders how after 3000 MW of more power there is less power in teh grid than 2008 and why Raghib Shah the man they appointed as wapda chairman says that load shedding will end in 2020...? many ask what is teh PPP's own prediction on that...? many now regard that they will only find out when it happens given their pathetic prioritisation of four trillion rupee budgets...
  
• Apr21-2013--given teh general understanding that altaf hussain is hand in glove with teh taleban to the extent of terrorizing his opponents he now suggests that they should lay down arms and join teh mainstream...
  
• Apr21-2013--given teh literal division amongst muslims along sectarian and other lines teh army chief still thinks that religion or islam should serve as a unifying force...The country has seen severe divisions amongst teh populace on regional, ethnic and sectarian lines with governments moving from strict interpretations to liberal ones without any effect on teh thinking of teh populace..
  
• Apr21-2013--a women suicide bomber blew herself up at the gates of a government hospitalin bajaur killing four
  
• Apr21-2013--Musharaf went to a highly upscale adyala jail(farmhouse) as teh police were apparently reluctant to send him to teh real jail...he has been remanded for two weeks to be interrogated by the JIT in teh SC judges incarceration case which teh IHC says comes under terrorism...On teh heels of that the Shezado commission report says he should also be charged in teh lal masjid killings case...as shaukat aziz said he was not the decision maker...musharaf apparently also said that he was not teh decision maker and teh army commandos apparently made teh decision to invade teh mosque and kill teh inmates without his authorization...theoretically parliamentary approval is required for going to war against teh people...The shehzado commission said that teh army commandos had behaved with teh required restraint but what appeared in teh press suggests that teh commandos went berserk killing old women and other girl students just sitting in a room or running in the courtyard...many suggest that musharaf visited teh lal masjid and gave teh order to eliminate everyone inside...!on the other hand a much more serious case has teh CJ appointing a three judge bench to hear a case of treason against musharaf...musharaf's lawyers had asked for a full bench...The treason case requires the approval of teh federal government to initiate article six procedings...
  
• Apr20-2013--The caretakers like teh PPP also unable to handle the countries electricity power system as supply fell further as a gas supply line was bombed on teh sindh punjab border causing further problems in fuel provisions to power stations...for teh frst time newspapers suggesting that teh lack of a central control mechanism a major concern in running the power system...with nine distribution companies, seperate military feeders and VIP systems causing abrasions apart from fuel resource constraints and monetary problems...The petroleum business and teh power system are almost a 2-3 trillion rupee bussiness and if they function inadequately teh economy cannot function...
  
• Apr20-2013--as voter lists for teh first time with photos were despatched political parties continued to move around for candidates and teh LHC gave a another reprieve to chaudhry wajahat hussein a gujerati chaudhry for conditional participation...another four mqm men shot dead in karachi as a poll rally in ladha, north waziristan(na-41) was hit by rockets killing two
  
• Apr20-2013--The coup plotter pervez musharaf who migrated from a small flat in district central karachi to a military protected farmhouse in islamabad and who many regard now as a mohajir joker(ie. unless he causes a military coup)has ended up in jail...at the moment in police lines islamabad...many think for a start he should be incarcerated in adhyala jail and than given a life sentence for his kartoot...!his bail was cancelled as he could not even deposit a couple of million rupee sureties...
  
• Apr19-2013--50 platoons of teh FC out of 172 which are deployed all over pakistan are being sent back to KP under PHC orders...after teh KP security situation continues to detriorate
  
• Apr19-2013--In karachi five were shot dead in varying political natured attacks
  
• Apr19-2013--Miranshah which is usually teh target of drones was hit by helicopter bombings killing four after a series of bomb attacks in KP...north waziristan put under curfew...militants killed in darra adamkhel helicopter bombings as well
  
• Apr19-2013--On the election scene the PPP won a reprieve from teh LHC when Pervez Ashraf was allowed to conditionally contest elections...Pervez Ashraf is accused in the Rental Scam and a recently discovered CDA plot scam
  
• Apr19-2013--The judges finally got tired of musharaf and teh IHC odered his arrest for terrorism in teh judges incarceration case a relatively straight forward case...apparently he escaped from teh court but was finally arrested late in teh day...teh first time that a four star general has been arrested says teh Dawn ..earlier general ayub khan and yahya khan were put under house arrest...
  
• Apr18-2013--In a return of teh lal masjid saga at least 25 women students of jamia hafsa tore posters and banners in front of teh masjid of musharaf supporters saying they were intolerable...In rawalpindi teh PMln might be in for a contest on at least two city seats as in Na55 sheikh rashid picking up limpers from PMLn and PPP and challenging incumbent shakeel awan...while in NA56 the epehedrine tainted hanif abbasi to come up against imran khan ...in both seats teh PPP support apparently said to have dried up while many say they would probably vote for the PTI candidates...the abbasis in teh area have always refused to vote for teh PPP despite having PPP banners on their clothes...hanif abbasi a JI candidate initially probably hopes to pick up teh religious vote due to nawaz sharif although there has been a campaign against him in teh area
  
• Apr18-2013--In Bani Gala imran khan home attacked by possibly a 100 irritated PTI workers breaking teh gate and injuring his brother in law
  
• Apr18-2013--former interior minister not entitled to any perks says teh SC as teh SC studies to what level former primeministers, chief ministers should be entitled to staff,pay and security...given teh situation politicians should best work thru advertisments rather than rallies or jalsa's in sensitive areas ...The ANP should be restricted many say for encouraging or taunting terrorists...getting people killed unnecessarily is something that teh IG KP should advise teh ANP to avoid
  
• Apr18-2013--In what can be termed sheer ignorance, innocence or incompetence the ECP says even transporting voters is an offence..?...and that no one can seek/propagate a vote in teh name of religion,ethnicity,province, race,community,caste,sect or tribe...an impossibility as shiites are identified by their names as are protagonists of ethnic parties, religious groups, provincial parties etc...in such cases teh mqm leadership as well as those of teh BNP and sectarian groups sunni and shiite and ANP should be stopped from participating in elections...an individual asking for support seems tobe teh target of teh ECP...however the ECP seems oblivious to groups specifically organized for this purpose...!
  
• Apr18-2013--mashkel a mud built village 20 kilometers from teh iran border destroyed in quake...people there grow dates and smuggle petroleum from iran and some live on both sides of teh border
  
• Apr18-2013--The ANP runs into another roadside bomb in charsadda without losses...as ANP leader Ghulam Bilour calls for declaring terrorists non believers...it will hardly make any difference what the terrorist believes as unless teh state stops such activities there can be no end...it shows teh abject failure of teh former ANP led government in KP
  
• Apr17-2013--Ayaz Amir dropped as PMLn candidate in NA60 for a major tahir iqbal..!
  
• Apr17-2013--a policeman gunned down in karachi as two sisters survive an atatck on a polio team
  
• Apr17-2013--one soldier and and seventeen militants killed in clashes in khyber and orakzai tribal regions
  
• Apr17-2013--FWO truck struck by bomb blast in north waziristan killing seven soldiers...
  
• Apr17-2013--musharaf also disqualified in Chitral NA32 by an election tribunal
  
• Apr17-2013--two terrorist attacks in balochistan and peshawar...in balochistan PMLn's sanaullah zehri's 30 car motorcade attacked in zehri tehsil, khuzdar...son, brother of teh zehri sardar among four killed...In peshawar a suicide attack on a Ghulam Ahmed Bilour rally kills fifteen
  
• Apr17-2013--massive earthquake on teh border of Kharan in iran causes damage to border towns and villages...40 killed...felt all over teh region
  
• Apr16-2013--On top of the disqualification of raja ashraf... musa gilani son of yusuf gilani received Rs11 million from BerliX pharmaceuticals for allocation of 6000 kg's of ephedrine which can be used to make ecstacy drugs..this was said in court by an approver
  
• Apr16-2013--The caretaker shows another musharaf characteristic and brings back musharaf era planning commission member shahid amjad chaudhry as financial advisor and minister and former finance secretary waqar masood as finance secretary...former punjab chief secretary Khoso was fired from his second posting as finance secretary..earlier he had been posted as sindh chief secretary...caretakers seem bent upon another IMF package although it serves no particular purpose...The only way is to reduce imports substantially...and spend on essential items such as oil and food items...shops are filled with imported items for the top bracket of rich people which drains government resources...or u can say which poor person can afford imported apples and banana's
  
• Apr16-2013--Raja Ashraf disqualified for fraud as he buys a plot from CDA...does not make full payment...plots is cancelled but still builds shops and apartments...Hanif Abbasi teh controversial pharmaceutical company owner survives despite being involved in illegal drugs and will go up against imran khan in Rawalpindi NA56...pleas against teh sharifs do not carry weight with the judiciary...Nawaz Sharif who is related to the pehlwans of lahore(imran khan is a cricketer) was even accused of occupying a womens property in shah aalmi...!
  
• Apr15-2013--drone attack in north waziristan four killed
  
• Apr15-2013--two small attacks in charsadda and swat one ANP supporter killed in swat
  
• Apr14-2013--blast at badabher police station destroys portion of police station, surrounding buildings and 15 cars...captured explosives stored at police station
  
• Apr14-2013--nine die in peshawar van blast..school destroyed in bara...seven militants killed in tirah..two bodies found in kharan...two shot dead in karachi
  
• Apr14-2013--The SC to consider legality of perks announced by pervez ashraf, rehman malik and qaim ali shah recently...eg Qaim ali shah and teh sindh assembly speaker and deputy speaker got perks like a lifetime salary, six lifetime official servants, a lifetime telephone subsidy and police protection as well...?
  
• Apr14-2013--Caretaker interior minister says he made teh comments about nawaz sharif with best of intentions however hazar khan khoso told him that they have to remain as above board as possible
  
• Apr14-2013--election office of independent candidate blown up in miranshah
  
• Apr13-2013--four shot dead in karachi on political and sectarian grounds
  
• Apr13-2013--Yusuf Raza Gilani who is responsible for the absymal PPP governance rewarded for his inept rule with three tickets in teh multan area...!If that were to happen everywhere teh PPP would only have the relatives of 20 to thirty bigwigs...Gilani lead a do nothing governement and was involved in cases of corruption and drug making...and refused to follow SC decisions and was finally disqualified
  
• Apr13-2013--The ECP has ordered the withdrawal of the excessive security given to Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif which consists of over 30 vehicles and 750 men...It has also sought teh removal of KP's IG Akber Hoti whose six cousins are participating in elections
  
• Apr13-2013--In what can be called killing teh goose after eating it the commission eating PTV managing director was fired by teh IHC as well as teh heads of the SECP and USC...the PTV MD was on a salary of 1.25 million plus 3% of advertisement revenues which looks like corruption any way you look at it...
  
• Apr12-2013--The ECP orders the transfer of 65 beaurocrats in sindh which is almost completely a pro PPP group
  
• Apr12-2013--The army allowed teh taleban to seize control in Tirah and now is finding it difficult to deal with them...nine soldiers and and seven militants killed in fighting
  
• Apr12-2013--the tribunals shoot down appeals against establishment candidates chaudhry nisar ali khan, imran khan, zammurad khan but keep raja ashraf, musharaf and alam midhyana on hold...how people appointed to administrative positions are being allowed to participate is unclear..Chaudry nisar seems to have developed a faulty memory they say... as he mentions a one canal plot but than says it was actually a two canal plot but was actually not even allotted...?..its like imran khan saying i really donot gamble...i just bet on cricket...politicians should get out of teh money making bussiness many say including plots, jobs, loans and corruption...one cannot be honest if he is seeking some sort of extra personal benefit of one kind or another...
  
• Apr12-2013--political/ethnic/religious warfare continues in sindh as rivals in sindh shoot dead mqm candidate in hyderabad NA221/PS47...another 12 shot dead in karachi including three city wardens..taleban say they shot dead teh mqm candidate although their reasons for doing so are not clear as in that case they would have to kill all mqm candidates...many believe that either the candidate was killed on altaf's orders or he was shot dead by sindhi rivals
  
• Apr11-2013--The election tribunals reinstate some establishment candidates knocked out by teh RO's including Ayaz Amir, Faisal saleh hayat and abid imam...shockingly ayaz amir contended that he changes ideologies every few years...The LHC also quickly sets aside teh jamshed dasti conviction on a fake degree and he gets a chance to go to an election tribunal
  
• Apr11-2013--In mardan a gunman shoots dead a policeman in an attack on a polio team
  
• Apr11-2013--two more policemen killed in karachi...while apparently the PPP heirarchy has a lawyer thrashed and bloodied for filing an appeal against the pathetic assets declaration of the uneducated qaim ali shah
  
• Apr11-2013--nine militants killed in Orakzai attack on security checpost