The Daily Pakistan Politics Feb 1-15, 2018

• Feb15-2018--Pakistan cancels ADP funded program to install automatic advanced meters on 30% of connections in two discos...The program to eventually cost $5 billion would have taken a decade to complete...ADP threatens to cancel future loans to Discos...!
  
• Feb15-2018--Four FC men patrolling the railway line near Sariab Road, Quetta shot dead by probably militants.
  
• Feb15-2018--In a further demonstration of the governments subjugation to the USA/indian interests the punjab government has begun taking over all the assets of the JUD ie Muridke markaz and other schools, charities and dispensaries...This is after the army chief announced that they would work according to US interests...The afghan taleban however announced that they would participate in talks but would not renounce violence as the US and afghan government are continuing to bomb their areas...The government should realize that the US is not a cooperative or even a friendly state and is following interests of pakistan's main enemies....others have suggested that the ISI also claims the JUD properties as belonging to them
  
• Feb15-2018--The Nawaz Sharif refusal to bow out of politics after being disqualified has reached an interesting point in time...NAB seeks a ban on foreign travel for Nawaz and his family...!The case on the length of disqualification has been reserved in which the court seems to be in favor of a lifelong disqualification...if the national assembly later on reduces the disqualification than the court will probably look into the matter again...However an interesting juncture has been reached on the national assembly amendment which allows a disqualified person under article 621f to become the head of a major political party...!the PMLn has presented its view that even a criminal can become the head of the PMLn if the members so desire...!The court does not like that attitude and suggests that it might either strike down the amendment or declare that a person with a 621f disqualification cannot participate in politics in any way...In that case the court says that the senate elections and nominations might have to be made again...!The PMLn argument that the parliamentary head or party mna's do not follow the party heads instructions seems untrue and incorrect
  
• Feb11-2018--NAB runs into Sanaullah the terorising model town errand boy and punjab law minister who has refused to hand over records of over 50 punjab government companies...NAB says Punjab not cooperating...Chaudhry Nisar says he cannot work under the sharifs children which he terms insulting...planning a jump into PTI or go the independent route? Though not an imran khan problem sanaullah says that 20 companies are non existent...Imran Khan entertaining thoughts of returning to play PSL where he muses he was at least successful...!
  
• Feb11-2018--there is no convincing afghanistan says foreign office...the only choice for Pakistan is to play dumb or invade afghanistan provinces like Paktika...!US generals who have never even visited pakistan or afghanistan continue to insist that pakistan is behind the problems in afghanistan...Bilawal Bhutto says most of afghanistan under Taleban control...
  
• Feb11-2018--PMLn swindles 55 lakhs from senate aspirants while naming the leaders favorite 12...
  
• Feb10-2018--US drone kills four TTP men in Afghanistan..among them deputy TTP leader Said Sajna...could be another sop in duping the pakistan army...
  
• Feb10-2018-- IHC in a five year old case tells NAB to investigate Pervez Musharaf for graft...Musharaf is alleged tobe corrupt as are most pakistani rulers...
  
• Feb10-2018--The SC seems reluctant to strike down the amendment in election laws that allows a disqualified person to become a parties president...The court also suggested that islamic laws are not under its preview...Others suggest that court however could remove Nawaz Sharif as president of PMLn under article 62 and 63...one lawyer suggested that the court disqualify the National Assembly for passing such a frivolous law...or it could just suggest ' parliament pe laanat bhejain...'!
  
• Feb10-2018--Dawn suggests that 3363 pakistanis have properties in Dubai...If London goes after corrupt pakistani land/property owners and the pakistani institutions go after the Dubai's pakistani property owners there could be a substantial reduction corruption...!
  
• Feb9-2018--NAB chief says Punjab government not handing over records for investigation of Punjabs 56 companies..
  
• Feb8-2018-- The pro american army chief says they are ready to cooperate with the US for peace in the region...pakistans one sided cooperation has brought this upon us many say...The general at a corp commanders meeting says tongue in cheek that pakistan's interests will be kept in mind...most analysts say that this is "beghariti ki inteha"...The interior minister says that they want a structured dialogue which has already taken place several times in the same context...adding the US must learn some manners as well...!beggars donot get any respect...! the PMLn and pakistan army must know at least that...
  
• Feb8-2018-In the Mashal case: a university lyching for blasphemy...gets the shooter a death sentence while 31 others get various terms...
  
• Feb8-2018-The SC has been taking virtual insults from Nawaz Sharif and Co. lying down to the surprise of many SC affionada's...The SC has not even gone for a contempt of court suomoto...!However the SC is now mounting a muted counterattack saying that they can publicly respond to criticism and explain their actions...Another judge says that attacks on the SC come under article 5 which deals with loyalty to the state...scandalising and ridiculing the SC therefore could be treated as treason...The normal sentence of six months for contempt could they say also be extended in such cases...!
  
• Feb07-2018--Washington is attempting to dupe the Pakistan army by suggesting that it would lift aid restrictions if Islamabad met key demands...The US has suggested that Pakistani generals fall for the carrot and stick attitude even though all those things demanded by the USA have already been accomplished...Pakistan would be in danger of suggesting that it was actually lying to the USA...!if it started attacking purported safe havens...mostly many think that the US wants Pakistan to allay Indian and afghan concerns irrespective of Pakistani interests...The US, India and Afghanistan are in general not cooperative with Pakistan and Pakistan feels that it has done enough and now India should move on a Kashmir solution and Afghanistan should sit down and solve matters with the Taliban...!
  
• Feb07-2018--Four international carriers increase their flights to 230 from 130 per week from pakistani locations...PIA found wanting in understanding basic passenger requirements and flight loading and availibilty...!
  
• Feb07-2018--The PMLn has surprisingly given Ishaq Dar a senate seat and also offered one to Pir Sialvi who recently suggested that they donot support political parties leaving the field open for a not sadiq conviction...!
  
• Feb07-2018-- Nawaz Sharif refuses to attend SC hearing on article 621f disqualification period...however he presented his point of view that the disqualification can only be election based and not period based...since even the political parties act provides a five year disqualification on various issues the 621f disqualifiation is considered more serious as it declares a particular individual not sadiq...a habitual liar which Nawaz Sharif has been portrayed as in the Panama case the disqualification has tobe for more than five years although others consider it tobe a lifelong matter...The SC was moving towards a reduction however its position has hardened in recent days...It is therefore also considered by many that despite his prolonged protestations Nawaz Sharif deems his disqualification as correct...and he would not like to give the SC another opportunity to question his attitude and explain his 'Kyun nikala' protest...however the SC could many suggest provide a way out for some by checking with the court after five or ten years...!
  
• Feb05-2018--The PMLn-33 seats, PPP-17, PTI-12, Pkmap-6, NP-6, JUIf-4 or 5, JI-1 or2 MQm,4+4?,ANP2,IND 5+2? with the rest of the senate divided amongst small groups...is the expected new lineup of the senate...The Baluchistan PA, the Mqm seats in Sindh and an unexpected upset on probably one seat in Punjab which could be up for grabs give the precarious situations...PMLq, PMLf and BNP-a expected tobe wiped out...PMLq hoping for a seat or two from balochistan while PMLf hoping for one in sindh...unless the entire senate gangs up on the PMLn one supposes that Pervez Rashid/Raja zafarul haq will be the new senate chairman...
  
• Feb05-2018--Alarmed at a senator being disqualified for almost criminal contempt Nawaz Sharif seemed worried in a Peshawar speech at his two ministers being charged with contempt...seemed to be a gunah to the paranoid Nawaz Sharif...many doubt that the PMLn can replace or remove the disqualification clause in the constitution...elevating the primeminister to a position above the SC seems impossible at his stage...!he however has broken off a PTI mpa as well as a PMLq senator who is being referred to as the biggest lota or 'lota sharif'...Mushahid Hussein...!The PMLq senator was bought for a senate seat...one doubts that such dirty tactics will get him any support...!
  
• Feb04-2018--The SC has uncovered a cardiac stent making plant lying unused at NUST imported by the famed Samar Mubarakmand...The plant apparently cost just Rs30 million and was to make 10000 stents at Rs15000 a piece...The pakistani private sector can easily buy such plants to make stents as well...
  
• Feb04-2018--the overconfident style of the Pakistan army can only be compared to the pigeon that falls into the cats trap preferring only to close its eyes to trouble...The army chief was again away on a foreign tour a day after as a suicide bomber struck in Swat after almost five years killing 11 mostly security men...the soldiers were apparently playing vollyball outside their army unit...!
  
• Feb04-2018--As Nawaz Sharif takes pot shots at the SC the CJ replies that they have improved quite a lot and the doctrine of necessity is buried unless the primeminister is visibly corrupt and dishonest...and it was a dictator who was now in exile...the CJ also said that decisions can be taken in the public interest ...Nawaz Sharif only started to oppose the judiciary after one case was decided against him...he might again be taken to task in matters of contempt of court...another two PMLn ministers have fallen into the contempt trap...!
  
• Feb03-2018--around 32 pakistanis drown of a migrant boat off libya
  
• Feb03-2018--The chinese envoy seems to have learned how to deal with local politics...he says that the baloch militants will no longer trouble us...reasons..that they are not really good pakistanis...!He also says that they are satisfied with security and that 10000 chinese are working in pakistan...some chinese are visible in islamabad and lahore however most seem tobe restricted to construction sites...!
  
• Feb02-2018--The CEO's of four government run Disco's Lesco, Pesco, Qesco and Sesco have been removed and replaced by senior officers
  
• Feb02-2018--The Mehsuds hold a fairly large protest in front of the Islamabad Press Club...they are protesting the killing of Naqeebullah in karachi in a police encounter and the escape of karachi police SSP Rao Anwar...Rao has been instrumental in bringing karachi to a forcible peace thru over 400 police encounters...Rao Anwar came to fame when he was photographed pushing the dead body of Bhutto's son...Murtaza Bhutto...probably his first encounter...The mehsuds have suffered under a military and police campaign to rid karachi of pukhtun militants which was initiated by the MQM's former czar Altaf Hussain...the militant violence in Fata has forced the mehsuds to move out and live in pakistans other provinces...!Rao claimed that Naqeebullah aka Naseemullah had been the driver of a former Taleban chief...while others have claimed he was the current Taleban chief himself...!
  
• Feb02-2018--while Pakistan said that they had productive talks with the afghan interior minister the visiting duo repeated afghan charges the moment they got home and said pakistan had promised action against the taleban...The pakistan embassy in afghanistan however also denied this...!!pakistani army chief, ministers and secretary foreign affairs perception about afghan views contrast totally with afghan media utterances...!
  
• Feb02-2018--In a new development in Sindh the Sindh planning minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani a longtime PPP tribal leader murdered his wife Fareeha Haroon a media personality and than shot himself...
  
• Feb02-2018--Nehal Hashmi a PMLn senator was disqualified for five years, fined 50000 and jailed for a month for contempt of court...he had threatened to kill the SC judges children....!
  
• Feb02-2018--Nawaz Sharif protests the Baluchistan chief minister meeting the Asif Zardari...!he also said that the PPP had turned interior Sindh into a "Khandar" and Karachi into a big rubbish heap...!
  
• Feb01-2018--some argue before the SC that the five years disqualification set in article 63 should be the generalized limit...suggesting also that there are some lifelong bars on being elected..usually the articles to the constitution are considered independently and that top leaders specifically primeministers should have a higher standard than ordinary criminals or fraudsters...!
  
• Feb01-2018--US suggests that its commanders can deal with safe havens on both sides of the border...upto now most of the drone attacks have been on individuals rather than sort of safe haven...