By demonstrating the importance of functioning and accountable institutions, Pakistan’s lawyers may well have paved the road upon which the long road from its present hell may be charted, writes Mustafa Qadri.
Pervez musharraf
Pakistan’s Sharif an unlikely poster boy for democracy
Pakistan’s elected leaders have a habit of descending into the kind of authoritarianism that makes it hard to be too upset when the military takes over — yet again, writes Shakira Hussein.
Making the Pakistani Taliban
Why would insurgents sit idle watching US Army commandoes take advantage of this holy month of fasting for cross-border operations, writes Benjamin Gilmour.
Musharraf stands down: a Crikey wrap
What will a new president mean for Kashmir, terrorism and international relations?
Independence day Pakistani style: Blood, Bush and Musharraf
Today is Independence Day, and there has been speculation in the Pakistani media that President Musharraf might choose this grand occasion to finally announce his resignation, writes Shakira Hussein
America still holding out against Pakistani democracy
This week’s visit to Pakistan of two high-ranking US policymakers raised some expectations that they might be carrying the message to General Musharraf that it was time to quit, writes Charles Richardson.
Dictatorship to kleptocracy: What next for Pakistan?
Benazir Bhutto was allowed out of house arrest, almost as soon as she was put in it, which the west has taken credit for, but which may simply be part of a shadow game, writes Guy Rundle.
Pakistan: it’s every country for itself
“The first thing we do let’s kill all the lawyers” quoth the Bard, through Dick the Butcher, and General Pervez Musharraf is nothing if not a creature of the West. A quarter of the country’s 12,000 lawyers are now behind bars, and most judges are under house arrest, writes Guy Rundle.
Musharraf would enjoy Janet Albrechtsen’s writings
While one wouldn’t make a comparison between Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf and John Howard or Philip Ruddock, or even the UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, they all have one thing in common – they each think that the judiciary and lawyers get in the way of the fight against terrorism, writes Greg Barns.
A dictator is the bet of the day
I read somewhere once a learned article by an academic who asserted that people normally were far too optimistic in believing that dictators would soon get their comeuppance and be removed by the good forces of democracy. Which means those of you with any punting money left this afternoon should hop in and back Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.
Pakistan is the place to watch (this is not good)
Pakistan has been shoved in the too-hard basket for years now, simply because it was a bit too real to fit into the “war on terror” framework. It has nukes, and any fair electoral process is bound to put Islamic fundamentalists into power sooner or later, writes Guy Rundle.
