The Daily PakistanPolitics May 16-30, 2013

• May 31-2013--while teh PMln may have no problem with Asif Zardari staying put until september many say he might not have teh freedoms that he enjoyed under teh PPP ie flying of to sindh every day...others say however teh PMln could bring in sartaj aziz if asif zardari quit early...by september nawaz sharif could elevate himself to teh presidency and bring in shahbaz sharif as primeminister or even ishaq dar many say
  
• May 31-2013--nawaz sharif has a net worth of Rs261.6 million and shahbaz sharif Rs336.9 million and paid taxes of Rs2.4 million and Rs 2.6 million...nawaz sharif, shahbaz sharif and imran khan earned Rs 12.4, Rs 14.9 and Rs 16.1 million in 2012...the three own 1707, 677 and 931 canals of land each and pay agricultural taxes too..imran khan's net worth is 30 million
  
• May 31-2013--two TTP men gunned down in karachi encounter as 17 militants killed in Kurram airstrike
  
• May 31-2013--taleban withdraw talks offer after killing of deputy chief waliur rehman...many feel that this has weakened teh taleban and they may increasingly have to work harder to hide their remaining leader...nawaz sharif could counter teh attack by ordering drones be shot down but he has yet to come to power and is usually quite soft on hard nosed decisions...new deputy chief Khan Said known to have planned at least two major bravura attacks of which one was on a navy airbase in karachi
  
• May 30-2013--balochistan PMLn mpa's seemingly upset over shabaz sharif choice of balochistan chief minister...PMLn will thus keep control of the national assembly...fears were expressed that teh balochistan PMLn could part ways with nawaz sharif if he went for a chief minister of the PKmap or NP...!
  
• May 30-2013--two mqm workers amongst five shot dead in karachi
  
• May 30-2013--Nawaz Sharif only to tinker with power system and not make a major government investment...many say he will like teh previous regime only try to keep teh system up and running...many say that neelum jhelum tobe completed in 2016 and nawaz sharif could fast track power plants kept on hold by PPP in teh punjab...he many say is trying to bring online plants shutdown due to financial, technical and fuel constraints...whether he goes for big projects bhasha and bungi is questionable...however international aid could be more easily available for the controversial but more achievable kalabagh...as nawaz sharif and imran khan are both supposedly pro kalabagh...many say donors have refused to fund bhasha...!
  
• May 30-2013--In a major drone strike taleban deputy chief waliur rehman killed in a remote village alongwith five others...seen in the light of recent events it could be a hit to end attempted peaceful overtures by teh new governments in pakistans KP and center...many had assumed that there seemed a tacit understanding that the leadership would not be targeted...however many feel that the army chief's meeting with nawaz sharif may have caused the caretakers to quickly accomplish a few more attacks before teh supposed era of peace dawns...!army known tobe averse to negotiations and they like teh americans have no remorse in destroying the political decision makers attitudes...
  
• May 30-2013--In what maybe considered a continuation of pre election attempts to distance themselves from the PPP teh ANP and mqm to sit in teh sindh opposition...PPP has teh support of 86 members in teh sindh assembly and a forward block could easily topple them if the hardnosed interior minister tobe wants it that way...
  
• May 29-2013--LI declares islamic rule in Baz Garha which is surrounded by security forces nearr darra adamkhel...army kills 14 militants in Kurram agency as a khyber rifles truck ambushed
  
• May 29-2013--KP assemblly completed with PTI--55, PMln--17, JUIf--17, JWP--10, JI--8, ANP--5, AJIP--5, PPP-4, APML--1 with two independents
  
• May 29-2013--Qaim Ali Shah who was not able to handle the mqm or control karachi nominated by teh PPP tobe sindh's chief minister...khuhro fired as assembly speaker and replaced by agha siraj durrani a zardari loyalist...when talking to teh mqm shah usually sat silent and listen dumbly...many thought that the PPP would bring in a new more active chief minister but teh PPP continued its lethargical status quo approach
  
• May 29-2013--women polio vaccinater shot dead in peshawar village...shiite punjabi lawyer and his two kids shot dead in karachi..six killed at a mango farm near khairpur by ten armed gunmen...mqm alleges torture in killing of its usually terrorist sector incharge in karachi
  
• May 29-2013--hazar khan khoso convenes national assembly on June 1 which could see Nawaz Sharif emerge as teh third time primemimnister on june 5
  
• May 29-2013--three killed in motorcycle blast in peshawars immamia colony
  
• May 29-2013--SC removes Asif Zardari relative Fasih Bokhari as NAB chairman...This could relieve Nawaz Sharif of court cases and if he moves a new NAB bill immediately he could test the PPP senate early on...
  
• May 29-2013--Nawaz Sharif backing out of committment to solve electricity problems...now says it will continue for five years......Nepra which is a useless organisation and which should oversee reduction in prices during teh summer months when hydel electricity maximizes has in fact already increased prices for teh next six months...Nawaz Sharif should study teh filling of teh dams early to maximize hydel production in teh summer...a solution could be to give china the contract to build and operate ten to fifteen coal fired power stations over teh the next five years
  
• May 27-2013--Najam Sethi generally considered a PPP supporter says punjab chief minister will be installed on teh 6th...Asif Zardari is however refusing to convene teh national assembly quickly...In balochistan teh chief minister likely from the PMLn...In sindh teh PPP mafiosi gathered at teh home of teh juniormost contender Owais Muzaffer Tappi...many suggest that with qaim ali shah bearly maintaining teh status quo a senior leader could be inducted with some development credentials since at the center they will just be a meaningless opposition
  
• May 27-2013--Altaf Hussein facing a party revolt against his cowardice tainted london residence hides his killers and terrorists in side positions removing a few that had become too uncontrollable...he suggests that they were getting involved in land grabbing and corruption...mohajirs are generally known for petty corruption and occupying sindhi homes in hyderabad...mostly he has sidelined challenges to his exiled leadership...he apparently has not mentioned teh main crimes that mqm is accused of these days ie bhatta , robbery, murders, terrorism...mostly land grabbing is a crime committed by pukhtuns and mohajirs would probably be frightened of doing such a thing...and many say that altaf hussein is literally insulting teh supposedly peaceful mohajirs...many feel that teh ethnic divide and rule policy of teh mqm has failed country wide...he also seems tobe against cable operators another mafia activity that mqm is involved in...
  
• May 27-2013--PMLn says that it will use JUIf expertise to drag teh reluctant taleban to a grand jirga...The taleban are generally fanatic mindless terrorists and these days seem to be involved in political terrorism as well as teh assassin variety... and making them stop for even five years will take a lot of jirgaing...which is a generally failed process...where everyones approval is theoretically needed...
  
• May 26-2013--14 children and their teacher die in a school van gas cylinder blast in gujerat
  
• May 25-2013--a detailed dawn analysis suggests that the PPP voter support has dipped drastically to as low as 7% in north punjab with a high of 14% in south punjab...however teh PTI could not effectively utilize its support in north and central punjab...doing well only in a few pockets like lahore, taxila, rawalpindi, multan, lodhran and mianwali...PMLn has maintained its high support in north punjab and increased its support base by 20% in all other regions with a high of 57% in central punjab...PTI has a high of 26% in north punjab and 21% in south punjab...some suggest that most PPP and PMlq support might have shifted to teh PMLn rather than the PTI as most consider teh PTI support tobe based on newcomers to politics
  
• May 25-2013--The caretakers tell SC that they made removals of 20 top officers from state institutions under compelling reasons based on government reports...many say timing of removals seems suspicious...
  
• May 25-2013--In KP PTI support rises to 44 while a PMLn mpa in balochistan is disqualified...
  
• May 25-2013--Afghan seminary leader's car blownup in peshawar...driver and security guard killed...In balochistan seven die in violence...In mattani near dara adamkhel rockets hit a police vehicle six killed
  
• May 25-2013--caretaker regime also adopting PPP methods of "on and off" as it refuses to apply CNg stoppage to bigger vehicles...Nawaz Sharif to follow generalized budgetary parameters of increasing budget by around Rs600 billion which will hike prices...while other reports suggest that teh PMLn might go for increasing electricity production and not increase taxes that cause price hikes...a hands on approach is the only way to limit problems in pakistan as they donot solve themselves...PMLn advisor designate says they may go for IMF credit if they can increase revenues quickly a technique that has no end and is going on since teh 1960's...there is no change in pakistan's budget making despite revenues in teh trillions...PMLn must end useless budget draining allocations and prioritize spending and let teh provinces do the rest...a substantial decrease in the useless military allocations and ending perks such as cheap plots to the military and beaurocracy can save billions...shifting power stations to local coal is said tobe one avenue however no one seems to like teh local coal with even the karachi steel mills using imported coal......teh country could also revize it power policy allowing only one fuel since gas is unavailable and allowing everyone to setup power stations if they have the money and fuel...PMLn expected to encourage sugarcane waste, rice husks as well as wheat and rice stalks as power station fuel...many suggest that teh government prepare a standard power station based on coal that can be changed to bagass or furnace oil if required that everyone can setup if they want without paperwork...they could also use heavy mechanical complex and other military run complexes to design and build a power station since tanks are really not needed nowadays...
  
• May 24-2013--A dawn report suggests that Asif Zardari and some of his leaders think that his children who have no political idealism/standing's presence in punjab could have changed things...one doubts it when teh top leadership only understands sindhi or at times mohajir concerns and attempts at dynasty rule are prepetuated...almost every leader wanted his son or sister or brother elected...with no punjab policy teh PPP can effectively forget winning in that province...opposing nawaz sharif day in and day out is just not a policy that is effective...The PPP will have to change its top order and bring political leaders who are not corrupt and who do not represent just one family...Many feel that they should allow for a strong punjabi based leadership that is independent in handling punjab...aitezaz ahsan many feel is also of teh old brigade and has little or no political initiative or punjabi sense...young leaders should be selected for each constituency and allowed to develop over teh next five years and the losing or lost brigade should be retired as they are not in tune with punjabis on any issue...
  
• May 24-2013--twenty militants and four security officials killed in a central kurram clash...three militants killed in darra adamkhel bombardment
  
• May 24-2013--413 children died of measles last year after teh PPP regime negligently devolved procurement of EPI vaccines from UNICEF...some provinces simply refused to order vaccines and now say that it should be centralized and handled by the federal government...
  
• May 24-2013--A PTI lawyer moves teh LHC to try altaf hussein for treason for suggesting violence and secession of karachi and making a mockery of elections by suggesting that 18 seats was somehow a mandate to secede...
  
• May 24-2013--SC says that the law ministry would have tobe directed to setup a high treason court to try musharaf
  
• May 24-2013--Altaf Hussein kicks out known land grabbers and terrorists from his adhoc coordination committee as he sees support falling in karachi for his ethnic terrorist bhatta gathering organisation that is popular amongst karachis indian mohajirs
  
• May 24-2013--a police van was destroyed by a rickshaw blast near quetta's eastern bypass...12 policemen and their driver were killed
  
• May 24-2013--19 hour outages across the country as teh controversial musaddik malik says that the finance ministry had not disbursed teh 22.5 billion approved by the primeminister...obviously four days is not too long to arrange 22.5 billion...the country cant be run like that...two hours of loadshedding is really too much for most UPS's...one hour off and one on is probably more feasible
  
• May 23-2013--while teh chinese want tobe friendlier with india they say they are still stuck with pakistan..nawaz sharif who will need international support to solve pakistans probblems expected many say to depend on china and teh saudi's...The PPP had been forced into subjugation by teh indians and teh americans...USaid was so trickling that as usual many said it had no effect as it solved no problems at all...one report suggests that teh PPP-ANP used USaid to build a park in peshawar which too has not been completed...!..nawaz sharif met teh chinese premier who looks a bit inexperienced and asif zardari..while Bilawal Zardari refused to talk to Nawaz Sharif despite sitting next to him...the caretakers in what seems another policy decision seem tobe introducing 125 billion in taxes which they theoretically are not supposed to do...in what many see as teh zardari brand of sindhi extremism a bomb failed to detonate yeterday near chinese workers in karachi...the mobile phones were apparently suspended in rawalpindi...the caretakers are ruling in a style worse than teh PPP with probably teh worst loadshedding in living memory
  
• May 22-2013--Bomb attack fails which targeted chinese workers in clifton, karachi...two security officials killed as a power pylon is blown up in south waziristan
  
• May 22-2013--PMLn yet to announce balochistan chief minister...Changez Khan Marri moving towards acceptance by teh sharifs while Sanaullah Zehri said tobe the favorite amongst teh thirteen PMLn legislators...The PKmap opposed to dragging in teh JUIf into balochistan coalition but they seem to think that teh JUIf could be helpful to the PMLn at teh center to deal with teh Fata rebellion
  
• May 22-2013--Imran Khan back on his feet with spinal support...expected to recover after four to six weeks of therapy
  
• May 22-2013--new district of lehri created in nasirabad division..
  
• May 22-2013--CNG banned for vehicles over 1000cc..gas supply stopped to transport sector in punjab for week
  
• May 21-2013--many point to the growing problems left behind by teh PPP regime which teh sharifs would probably be trying to grapple with...the biggest might be whether they are ready to fund electricity generation or not...talks with the taleban and changing teh fighting only attitude of teh army and its known attitude of using all terrorist incidents to point to teh talebans refusal to listen to reason...politics should not be played by teh army and security/intelligence community...The army should go back to their manuals and study teh sri lankan, nepalese and phillipine rebellions/insurrections/insurgencies which were solved with a combination of talks and war...In teh end all rebellions have to reach the point of negotiations and the problems of teh rebellious community have tobe dealt with...retaliatory drone attacks and military operations off and on donot seem to be a solution...most rebellions worldwide are usually by a downtrodden community against teh attitudes of teh government...here the mixture and reasonings of rebellion are not clear but the military should understand that political organisations countrywide know bomb making techniques and one must deal with the individuals who are doing such things...everything cannot be handled politically..our example is probably more like somalia and economically we seem tobe headed in the direction of zimbabwe...so i would suggest no price hikes and appointing a guerrilla leader to run Fata and deal with the violence...peacemeal solutions of lashkars, jirga's, this tribe and that...partial development initiatives... have all failed over the long run
  
• May 21-2013--there seems to have been a sudden turnaround in teh caretakers attitude after teh FIA said they had no problem with a musharaf bail in teh Benazir case..musharaf granted a 2 million rupee bail as he is expected to make another run to leave teh country many say
  
• May 21-2013--the PPP apparently has refused to accept reality, its anti punjab stance, its negative attitudes on terrorism, the iran gas pipeline(negotiating it took them five years)...three years of winter gas shortages in teh north and its refusal to share gas with punjab on a population basis...obviously teh indians blamed them for teh bombay attacks...nobody really understands why they cant run teh gwadar port where only a few ships dock every year...even an ordinary grade 17 official would be enough to run teh port...slowdown on all punjab projects such as teh islamabad airport...they also forgot their answers when told to solve teh electricity crisis...PPP wala's used to say "jaldi kiya he aap ko..."...the reality is that with only 10% of the votes... pictures of Benazir and Zab were no longer enough for punjab and teh scaredy cat attitude of Bilawal Zardari...with even ordinary PPP candidates not willing to contact teh people for votes...the two seats from punjab that they got are said tobe literally an exaggeration of their support in teh region...unless the PPP understands that they are a failure in teh punjab and replace their failed candidates with more popular ones it might be a permanent good bye to the PPP from punjab...as they say zardari supporters are not very popular here anyway...and they way they kicked out popular candidates like dasti and gabol showed that they were not in tune with the people at any level...maybe faryal talpur cannot immitate a benazir with her 'zardari's/benazir ko maaf keejiye""or zardari ki behn aap ki dehleez peh bheeg mangne aai he..." and obviously unable to understand teh falling popularity of teh PPP especially in teh punjab...many also point to the inability of teh zardari's to explain why they are implicated in benazirs elimination and their friendship with her foe musharaf...!the oft repeated zardari comment to benazir..."i will come to power after your death" starts ringing bells...many had already talked about a seperate PPP for punjab with a new name after teh failure was imminent to PPP's zardari jiyala's if u can call them that...Asif Zardari should many say start packing his bag's and not wait for september...!
  
• May 20-2013--The caretaker regime is taking strange decisions...replacing people across teh board and increasing electricity and gas prices...at the moment electricity shortfalls are around 50%
  
• May 20-2013--In what may be a declaration of war PTI's Zahrah Shahid Hussein was killed outside her defence house in karachi...Imran khan immediately blamed Altaf Hussein who is known tobe behind terror acts thruout teh country...and for teh first time mqm workers on altaf orders thrashed coordination committee members and journalists who hid inside nine zero for safety...many say that teh mqm attitude of terrorizing opponents has a long history and 25-30 mqm gunmen attacked various PTI homes in hyderabad and set fire to their vehicles...the mqm which usually retaliates rather than ivestigates said imran khan accused us without investigations and they would protest...however many see it as an attempt to stop voters in NA250...however voters did come out after teh army protection was ensured however mqm/PPP/MWM boycotted...PTI's Arif Alvi was a clear winner after teh confusion on May11...mqm voters in areas like delhi colony stayed away...armed protection in polling stations in karachi and interior sindh is necessary for voters to vote without fear
  
• May 18-2013--The caretaker government harshly increase's electricity prices for eight months from August 2012...KESC prices not increased
  
• May 18-2013--The countries rich industrialists say they have over 5000 MW of captive power and should be allowed to run their own distribution companies...The election days showed that teh country has just enough power for teh domestic sector and cannot sustain teh commercial, industrial, government and VIP sectors...industrialists as a first stage should start using their own power plants and at a second stage could be given area distribution's by dividing Disco's into smaller units...given teh constant price hikes by government Disco's the private sector KESC looks better as it keeps prices steady
  
• May 18-2013--JUD leader shot dead in sheikhupura showing teh trend of things to come under teh indian leaning nawaz sharif
  
• May 18-2013--lawyers who have been threatened many say by the ISI or armies goons withdraw one petition against musharaf for incarcerating 60 judges...one government prosecutor was also shot dead showing the musharaf complicity in harassment and criminal activities...
  
• May 18-2013--seventeen independents join PMLn and NPP amalgamates into the PMLn...That gives PMln a majority of around 145-150 in the national assembly...The PMLn critisizes the sudden attempt by caretakers to replace numerous government organization heads and also points to teh suspicious appointment prior to elections of Fazal Pechuho a zardari brother in law as sindh additional chief secretary...many say that teh SNGPL and SSGC heads were replaced after they wanted the iranian gas pipeline connected to multan rather than nawabshah since sindh is suggesting that they have first use of even teh iranian gas...sindh apprently does not need iranian gas and connecting it to nawabshah could become an ordeal for the future for punjab...!!others say that teh gas companies were refusing to do large scale new area pipline/connections according to PPP orders
  
• May 18-2013--PMLn politicians blame Chaudhry Nisar for an almost crushing defeat in Rawalpindi where teh PTI won two NA and six provincial seats...many also blame teh drug smuggling Hanif Abbasi and teh failure of teh chandni chowk overhead which failed to solve traffic problems and is very badly designed...Chaudhry Nisar was attempting to become teh sole PMln supremo in teh area and failed losing several seats personally...Hanif Abbasi also did not pay heed to rawalpindi's problems and many said he was involved in payments to teh Gilani's...This is one area in which the PMln selections were rejected by the voters...many also blame the PMLn in trying to force murree "abbasis" on rawalpindi's simpler people while some note teh increasing influence in rawalpindi of teh pukhtuns who theoretically should have voted for the PTI...others note the PMLn's big project nature and refusal to study teh area's overall problems...they also spent more on teh cantonement area's roads which is still considered better managed and cleaner...
  
• May 18-2013--The PMLn to lead coalition with PKmap and NP in balochistan relatively new claimants to power in balochistan..both parties are relatively more mature and a good opposition from the JUIf could keep them on teh right path despite the conservatism of the PMLn who only believe in big projects
  
• May 18-2013--two blasts in mosques in malakand kill 13...nobody claims blasts and many believe that it could emanate from teh secular or conflicting sunni brands, sectarianism and those who lost out in teh elections there...blasts in remote areas
  
• May 18-2013--In a reflection of its defeatist arrogant nature mqm refuses to accept repolling on select NA 250 polling stations, PS112 and PS113 seats in karachi...The mqm which seems to have lost seven NA seats in sindh is the butt of jokes after teh mandate independence speech by altaf hussein in which he threatened further violence...many suggest that with the PPP and PMln having solid majorities teh mqm is just a sore loser with just a mere 18 seats at teh national and even at the provincial levels the PPP would just be giving them a handout by including them in teh government...many suggest that teh zia built mqm now has no real value left to any other governing party...many suggest that they should amalgamate with the PTI or even teh PMLn and play a more mature brand of politics rather than the student leader ethnic violence politics that they espouse both in and out of government...On television they usually show a lack of maturity and rarely are in agreement with anyone
  
• May 17-2013--Maulana Ludhianwi an influential figure on teh extreme right(ASWJ) loses Jhang seat by a small margin...his tally of over 72000 votes was however quite high for a mullah in punjab...Sheikh waqas akram his nemesis was in teh PMLq and ran over to teh PMln...
  
• May 17-2013--Raza Rabbani says they will see how the PMln will deal with terrorism which has somehow kept its relations with teh taleban and other terrorist organisations on a cooler level...he says they will continue to force restrictions on gas supplies to punjab...for teh first time in history gas supplies dwindled in teh north for three winters under teh PPP rule without any attempt to ease teh problem...many hope that the PMln will at least attempt to solve problems like low gas supplies in winter, electricity load shedding and terrorism which teh PPP could not handle...many regarded teh PPP policies tobe based on ethnic animosity to teh punjab...
  
• May 17-2013--The Dawn has quickly brought up 2013 election statistics saying that both MQM and PPPP lost around 5% of votes in sindh as compared to 2008...On the national level PPPP votes plummeted to 15.7% from around 34%...In punjab PPPP votes plummeted to 10.6% from 29%...In punjab PMLn votes climbed by 20% to 49%...On the national front the PMLn votes climbed to 35% and PPP fell to 15.7%...PTI 17.8% and mqm a mere 5.6%...a lot of PMLn votes went to independents...In Punjab the PTI had 19% of teh vote,31% in KP, 8% in sindh and 2% in balochistan...In Balochistan PKmap voted 25%and JUI-f 22% with PMLn at 6%...In sindh mqm votes were down to 26% and PPP to 38% while the the PMlf polled 10%...PMLn votes in sindh were 5%...many feel that teh Benazir sympathy vote could have been as high as 15% in 2008...In KP PMLn and JUIf had 16% and 18% votes respectively with PPP falling to 6% and ANP to 5%
  
• May 16-2013--The IHC was told by a man detained by intelligence agencies in Lakki Marwat since 2011 that over 500 people have been detained without records by teh military...Rana Amir a dairy farmer from Rahimyar Khan says he was picked up from his farm while the intelligence agencies says that he was arrested with arms and a suicide vest from Khajuri, north waziristan and was involved in teh killing of a security official...
  
• May 16-2013--The PMLn leaders seem tobe jostling for the easy prestigious position of Foreign Minister while shying away from teh difficult job of MOWP, MOP, MOF...they have nominated Sardar Sanaullah Zehri teh coalminer as teh next balochistan chief minister as teh PMLn gets teh support of one Bugti and One Hazara...and now claims tobe teh largest party with 10 seats...In KP PTI's Pervez Khattak is set to form a coalition...while MQM told to enjoy its mandate on teh street...PMLn not expected to fall for the mqm gambit and many expect them to appoint there own governor in Sindh...
  
• May 16-2013--The mqm wants a relection in NA 250 which many now regard as the PTI constituency in karachi...Imran Khan also wants recounts on four constituencies with checks on thumb prints...BNP-M also wants reelections on a couple of seats...Yasmeen Rashid of teh PTI dismissed Nawaz Sharifs friendship offer and said there opposition was political
  
• May 16-2013--The LHC overturns removal of SNGPL chief...The caretaker regime in a surprise move had replaced several heads of state institutions including SNGPL, SSGC, NHA, NIT, PMDC, OGDCL, PTV etc. while advertising for other positions such as teh head of PTV...many say that the heads were refusing to obey orders while others say the caretaker Khoso is trying to bring in a few balochis...