The Daily PakistanPolitics Aug16-31, 2018

• Aug29-2018--It seems that the punjab chief minister was the choice of the Pirni as they call her ie. Imran Khans wife...it is also being suggested that the Pirni and punjab chief minister are against police reforms...the punjab chief minister had a police officer called up to his office for stopping some influentials car...the police officer said that they had done nothing wrong but he was still transferred...Imran Khan and Usman Buzdar strangely both have the name 'Ahmed' in their names...probably they belong to the same afghan tribe the ahmedzai's...
  
  
• Aug29-2018--Imran Khan likes to get to Banigala fast ie in a few minutes...now he does that by helicopter...today a military spotting helicopter was seen flying over his route...!His party says it saves the hassles of a 10 car motorcade...On the other hand the punjab chief minister has been flying by helicopter to private events and flying from home to 7Club by private airplane...!he also flew by helicopter to islamabad, baba farid shrine and mian chunnu to attend a funeral...! austerity montrosity...!
  
  
• Aug29-2018--FIA propposes six member JIT on money laundering accounts cases
  
  
• Aug29-2018--PTI tries to jumpstart a slow moving government...intentions alone are not usually enough...New Nacta and IB chiefs appointed as well as a new FBR chief who is also secretary Revenues...Shah mahmud and Khusto bakhtiar appointed to initiate talks on South punjab sooba, task forces formed on NAB, austerity measures, reforms in civil sevices , civil laws and health sector...
  
  
• Aug29-2018--two opposition candidates to challenge PTI nominee for president on Sept4
  
  
• Aug26-2018--Navjot Singh Sidhu says the Pakistan army chief offered to open a route to Kartarpura from the indian border for sikhs on Guru Nanaks birthday just standing at the Imran Khan oath taking...!Army chief also said that he had a similar culture to the sikhs...
  
  
• Aug26-2018--Dr. Ameer Muhammed Khan Jogezai tobe PTI's governor in Balochistan as Shibli Faraz appointed leader of the house in the Senate...Zardari, Faryal summoned to FIA Hq in money laundering case with possible corruption overtones...controversy over Imran Ismails only having completed 12 years of schooling while a NAB enquiry underway against balochistan governor designate...PTI has denied that they had notified teh balochistan governor
  
  
• Aug26-2018--while the PPP maintains it support of Aitezaz Ahsan a gujerati the PMLn says they are willing to support any other candidate from the PPP if announced jointly by Shahbaz Sharif...methinks the main opposition parties trying to subjugate each other...
  
  
• Aug25-2018--The PMLn wants Aitezaz Ahsan to apologize for previous negative remarks...so that he can be the oppositions joint presidential candidate...The PPP and PMLn dont want to vote for each other...however Aitezaz Ahsan being a more mature person should apologize just to check if they are joking or real. Anyway doing it for a good cause for the opposition should improve the oppositions image...
  
  
• Aug25-2018--Like many previous era's the government has decided to end all discretionary funds...that leaves MNA's nothing to do but watch films...all the national assembly cars and other 2000 cc cars were seen parked at the various cinemax places around islamabad...now no one will be allowed to travel first /bussiness class...Imran Khan will however travel bussiness class on foreign trips and use the official plane on domestic trips...
  
  
• Aug25-2018--The railways continues to have losses of 40 billion which was the same in 2011...supposedly it has also earned 40 billion? it should payoff its previous losses or have them written off...Sheikh rashid says he will develop as well as earn..he will start two more freight trains...at the moment passenger income is 55%...he wants to selloff land as well as tracks and dualize the track from peshawar to lahore..he wants to straighten the track between lahore and jhelum...he says the dubious overseas pakistani have offered to build a bullet train...!The media enjoying the end of censorship has suggested that imran keep a stern eye on the controversial politician...
  
  
• Aug25-2018--The CJP coming back from his election holidays says he is concerned about the slow work on The Orange line...The contractor says that 98% work on package 1, 65% on package 2, and 98% on package 3&4 is completed...the remaining work they say is tobe completed by the chinese and that the government has withheld payments
  
  
• Aug25-2018--while a congratulatory call does not include many issues apparently Pompei says he told Imran Khan that he has to fight all terrorists and do something about afghanistan...the foreign minister says nothing like that was mentioned and the US state deptt was factually incorrect/contrary to reality and that the US is mistaken about its objectives and relationship with pakistan...he however stressed that they would engage and cooperate for stability...we will understand their expectations and they will have to know what we require...the US relationship is at a standstill and pakistan is working onits own in the fields of terrorism and in afghanistan and expects the US to talk to the taliban to normalize the situation...Shah mahmood had earlier created controversy when he suggested talks would soon be underway but the indians said that they had not suggested an initiation of diplomacy as is their usual one step forward and two steps back approach
  
  
• Aug25-2018--Army reshuffle...major reshuffle takes place...Nadeem Raza becomes CGS and Bilal Akber moves to 10 corp rawalpindi...both are probably in contention for top military assignments come November 2019...obviously in that case transfers will have been shown or approved by the primeminister...Army chief apparently on Hajj...Shahid Baig karachi corp and Humayun Aziz communications and information technology change positions...while Naeem Ashraf moves to multan corp and abdullah dogar to Chairman Wah industries...earlier sher afghan moved to Inspectorate general of Arms and Javed bukhari took over bahawalpur corp...some transfers might have political connections...14 lieutenant generals to retire by Sept 2019...ISI chief, alongwith corp commander peshawar important ones retiring on OCT 1 among five...that puts nadeem raza, humayun aziz, naeem ashraf, mohd afzal, sher afghan and Bilal akber in line for the armies top two positions come November 2019...probably newly promoted Lt generals will replace the Oct 1 retirees...
  
  
• Aug22-2018--The Durrani clan is very efficient..they have already caught eight terrorists near Banigala...Imran Khan to stay in the military secretaries house during Eid holidays...safest place on earth he says...!military secretary downgraded to a D-type house...!
  
  
• Aug21-2018--most of the taxes are paid by the people but Imran Khan talked only about a few percent of the taxes...the only way he can increase taxes is by increasing sales taxes or announcing more extreme taxation measures or taxing his rich friends...! All the development in this country has occurred thru foreign aid...The countries revenues are only enough to meet some basic needs like the armed forces, provincial needs and federal government expenses...while he has talked about reducing foreign loans the reality seems quite different...the speech was said tobe generally quite good although meaningless for most of soceity...he did not tell people where his sherwani came from or whether the people would get one each(thats what happened in hazrat umar's time)...there were no specifics for the welfare state( free atta...?)...he vowed to convert government elite housing into useful places...he had earlier wanted to convert the lahore governor house into a cricket stadium after bulldozing it on day one...The presidency too will be empty as Arif Alvi says he will stay in the MNA lodges...he said they would build four tourist resorts a year...tourism is now a provincial subject...he seemed concerned about stunted children and child nutrition--difficult problems--need aid for.!(health a provincial subject too) he seemed interested in police reforms only in punjab...apparently a durrani ex IGP of KP will handle punjab police..he has already appointed several durrani's...! also a provincial subject..he wanted the CJP to quickly decide land grab cases for widows...he wanted to meet the CJP and NAB chairman for judicial and accountability reforms...NAB them..!...he said he would personally practice austerity(for austerity to work need to reduce government and army expenditures...!) said he would improve quality of education in government schools and seminaries...will sell Oxford publication children education books to them...! he wanted seminarians to become generals too...!(no no by army generals...!) he showed interest in various topics such as water conservation, FIA, money laundering, NAP(implementation), Rangers deployment in karachi(not for ever), build 5 million low cost houses...the poor, unemployed, uneducated, homeless dancing in the streets.. employment opportunities(will create)(army chief to provide one million jobs) upto now army chief and ISPR have announced giving one job each...dam building(will build bhasha), going after the corrupt and bringing foreign money home...improve FBR...we thought foreign debt was $84 billion but he said it was $270 billion...how he can reduce the debt trap seems an insurmountable problem or create a welfare state or increase revenues to 8 trillion. Methinks bulldozing the governor house lahore would be the easiest...!
  
  
  
• Aug21-2018--It seems there are more beggars already on the streets...Imran Khan should immediately appoint a BISP chief and try to bring the governments charity processes to street level access both in the punjab and center...there seem tobe more PTI beggars than normal...Buzdar should also see to it that his backward areas get access to BISP...
  
  
• Aug19-2018--Usman Buzdar knocks out Hamza Shabaz 186-159...an ex PMLn he won in PB-286 DGkhan as a PTI candidate without any major opposition candidate...most of his opponents were independent candidates...The controversial PTI chief minister supposedly will try to woo the south punjab and also could face a disqualification case if the PMLn files one...he supposedly has not been able to get electricity to his region and despite being moneyed and a sardar does not even have a solar solution to the lack of electricity...somebody with almost no ability it seems to get things done...he had better start by talking to his area Disco to set up an electricity line to his area...
  
  
• Aug19-2018--Imran Khan announces cabinet of 21...seems tobe overwhelmed by his coalition partners of various hues and types...many have suggested that musharaf era types and ex PMLq walas dominate although there are a few PTI walas in the mix...who also look like ex PPP types at times...many however suggest that Imran Khan will have to dominate for anything of the PTI type to emerge from this cabinet..!while the BAP did not vote for Imran Khan they still have a minister...!there are six ex PPP types who have probably burnt their boats...many point to Sadaqat Abbasi apparently an old PTI worker who is the only one not to make it to the cabinet from Rawalpindi...Imran Khan keeps the interior ministry for himself...as some of his electables had started beating up even car honkers...
  
  
• Aug19-2018--Imran Khan has decided to continue to support Usman Buzdar saying he spent two weeks thinking about it...? many think that Imran should have questioned the candidate about any court cases and financial problems...Theoretically the candidate could be disqualified by the courts if the SC finds that diyat is tantamount to admitting to murder...!there are also said tobe several other court cases..many think that Imran Khan might be appointing chief ministers depending on the concept of the largest donation..we might be looking at another frankenstein of the shahbaz sharif type...!while most politicians are involved in court cases one feels as does Imran Khan that starting out a chief minister should have a clear reputation...!anyway most of us believe that politicians are devious semi crooks at best...!
  
  
• Aug18-2018--apparently Imran Khan has only two friends in india who participated in his oath taking...His oath showed a scowling president with Imran wearing probably a newly tailored charcoal shirwani...the armed forces chiefs participated with Imran's wife in a completely white hijab...his wife talked to the army chiefs wife across an empty chair...most of his personal friends seem tobe cricketers...imran khan has claimed that his relatives(uncles in the mothers family) participated in pre independence british conferences...his father was a superintending engineer in the punjab irrigation dept so he should know something about canals, irrigation, resthouses and barrages(and probably corruption and free vegetables) while one of his four sisters has worked in the UN...One of his uncles a general was a coup plotter in the Ayub khan era...he has two cousins who have captained pakistan cricket teams before him...according to foreign news reports he got a privileged elite education and could bowl very fast in his teens...
  
  
• Aug19-2018--a controversy has erupted over Usman Buzdars involvement in a 1998 murder of six people in which Usman and his father were accused...they got off after paying diyat to the victims...appointing a tribal obviously will cause such problems...while the acusation is of involvement and not outright murder the PTI could be in a fix over Imrans statement that a clean person would be made chief minister whom nobody could accuse of anything...while that was supposed to mean corrupt practices this surely raises a lot of dust...The PTI had better be prepared for a backup candidate tobe nominated as well...having found a candidate with such difficulty Imran had better look for a simpler more well known politician tobe ready to fill the boots if required...!
  
  
• Aug18-2018--Imran Khans speech was based on the dharna and how it took him a dharna, two and a half years and court cases to have four constituencies checked plus a commission...Shahbaz wailed, cried and shouted at how the election was rigged...listening to him i have four suggestions...The primeminister should ask the speaker to write to the ECP 1.start a campaign to educate people on why ballots get rejected...2. please ensure forms 47/48 in future at all polling stations...3..never in the future throw out polling agents before counting is completed...5.get the RTS working all day and night...why it upsets the PMLn is unknown as the PTI was leading from start to finish...6...Try to issue results on day one...although as far as i know results can take as long as needed tobe announced...6.check the ballots found at two places in sindh..two results were announced just yesterday...if the PMLn wants to check any constituencies further they have to apply to election tribunals...no parliamentary commission is required...!!some people said that Bilawal Zardari's speech was good..although i only listened to the primeminister...
  
  
• Aug18-2018--Imran Khan becomes primeminister with 176 votes suggesting that the BAP and BNPm abstained...Shahbaz won 96 votes while the PPP said they did not have to participate in the process...PPP has a habit of living in the past...an arrest order for Asif Zardari has been ordered...
  
  
• Aug18-2018--PMLn has been flailing away at causes of its defeat...a PTI women leader said that they lost because they were too involved on lahore and not in the rest of the country...electricity failures that gripped the country during the last six months also said tobe the cause...initially the PMLn workers were blaming even the army with naara's like "ye terrorism waghaira sab wardi ka qasur he..." than there were the khalai makhlook many thought also a blame on the armies martians or imran khan...he now also blames the caretaker regimes and the pathetic responses from the ECP...foreign observers however said that the PMLn was not given a level playing field due to Panama and Avenfield cases...The PMLn thought that it would play into their hands but the PTI had been building up their vote strengths and selecting who they considered better qualified tobe elected or to win...many also point to the PMLn failures in the foreign affairs field with india and saudi arabia especially...others saw the numerous visits to england and disappearing for a three months heart operation...that left the army supported CPEC which really did not amount to a vote gain...many others saw the aggressive unrelenting judiciary pushing them over the edge...many however also point to their election strategy which played up their weaknesses rather than their strengths...making fun of the PTI strategies also might have boomeranged...The people heard more about Imran Khan from the PMLn information minister rather than anybody else...
  
  
• Aug18-2018--The PPP and the PMLn seem to have fallen out over Shahbaz Sharif being their candidate for the primeministers post...The PPP seems to have strange ideas about democracy and coalitions...maybe they donot see eye to eye on the rigging of elections...others suggest that Bakhtawar may have toppled Bilawal Zardari's politics..others see an attempt to join the government at the center at a later stage...!the opposition has been rubbed the wrong way in public opinion...others suggest that the PMLn might have carried out behind the scene negotiations with the PTI...!The PMLn's views about the sanctity of the vote have been rejected as their views donot show respect for the 2018 voters...The PPP obviously has got what it wanted out of the elections as has the PMLn in my opinion...the PMLn must learn to respect the 2018 vote as it is no longer 2013...!political parties must learn that going to jail and being involved in corrupt/criminal practices does not increase respect in any way and it causes the vote bank to decrease...!
  
  
  
• Aug18-2018--breaking News... Imran Khan has brought in Usman Buzdar from DGkhan-1 or PP-286 as the chief minister designate punjab ...a relative unknown from South Punjab who previously has been tehseel nazim Taunsa Sharif...after considering others from south punjab who were a bit extremist on the formation of the seraiki province...given the responsibility of running the punjab security wise the chief ministers main responsibility would be to handle the PMLn dominated LG system and huge finances...if they start out by trying for the south punjab province they could fall at the first hurdle given the PPP and PMLn attitudes...otherwise punjab is generally a prosperous and satisfied province barring the south punjab politicians...Usman Buzdar lost the 2013 election as a PMLn candidate..he could also be a sop to the PMLn...! and a baloch who are less interested in the south punjab province...while Imran said he was not interested in provincial regions or group bazi that sems tobe exactly what he has done...!many suggest that he maybe another khalai makhlook or a front for behind the scene PTI decision makers...
  
  
• Aug18-2018--Hamza Sharif who is probably behind the PMLn tantrums in the punjab assembly seems too young to remember " Changa Manga" when Nawaz Sharif ran off with the mpas to create a majority behind the scenes.. they had remained hidden in Changa Manga for several days and created an obstacle for the opposition to contact them...PTI has played quite/so openly that it is even displayed on truck paintings how jehangir tareen wooed the independents...It is not illegal to airlift independents to Banigala...anyway most of the independents seem to have been PTI plants or PMLn dissidents whose sole aim was to shift the majorities...Hamza Shahbaz should study the role of independents who definitely dont seem like PMLn supporters and got over 6 million votes and thus were quite seperate characters
  
  
• Aug17-2018--the only way i see the PTI losing the punjab central+north government is if they form the Seraiki sooba by mistake and thus lose the majority...since they have more support in south punjab than central punjab... it would be touch and go on who gets the majority in punjab than...The PMLn and the PPP i think should actively support the south punjab province than topple the PTI in the central punjab and try to win the south punjab elections...!
  
  
• Aug17-2018--despite the PMLn tantrums the PTI got 201 votes for their speaker punjab assembly...The PMLn than ran from the assembly protesting that the PTi is forming a forward block...theoretically the PTI does not need a forward block and if one is formed it would have tobe done on a PMLn basis...running the Punjab is quite easy as it's population is submissive and follows the government in general...Imran should appoint any politician who can command the PTI rank and file in the punjab...At the moment the chief ministers major job is mostly approving LG projects and allocating them funds...since he will allow the police to function independently there is no fear left in the punjab chief ministership...many suggest that Imran Khan consult a child phsychologist to handle the PPP/PMLn tantrums...
  
  
• Aug16-2018--Many think that the PMLn problem is physcological or physchiatric...they are still hung up on 2013...they will have to realize that this is 2018 and the vote bank has shifted dramatically and they are the losers in this election...!maybe Shahbaz Sharif does not know what happens to terrorists...!they are not even given a proper trial in pakistan...!and they end up on the gallows or blow themselves up as suicide bombers or die in encounters...!