NewsRack: newstrust/Pakistan/Democracy-Matters

Pakistan's Political Future Questioned After the Flood - Truthout - All Articles

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Islamabad, Pakistan - Will the fallout from the worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history result in the downfall of its fragile civilian government?

That question is front and center as the perception grows among Pakistanis that the government response to flooding has been lackluster and insufficient.

Pakistan: the bogey of Army rule - Hindu: Home

Anita Joshua — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Frustration has evoked some apologist arguments for change, no matter if it comes from the ballot or the bullet.

Altafs statement mistaken, says Ghouri - A Pakistan News

Gulraiz Akram — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

MQM senior leader Babar Ghori has said that MQM is a democratic party and it never endorsed martial law.Talking to media in Islamabad on Thursday, Babar wondered that why Nawaz Sharif got angry over Altaf Hussains statement that, he added has been misperceived. He said his party leader always upheld democracy in the country.

Pakistan - BBC South Asia

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Key facts, figures and dates.

Bangladesh - BBC South Asia

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Key facts, figures and dates

PPP and PML-N leaders flay Altafs statement - A Pakistan News

A K — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Peoples Party leaders have strongly condemned the statement of Altaf Hussain regarding the imposition of martial law. Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that Altaf Hussains statement is against the constitution of the country.

Cursed by the Bhuttos | Peter Preston - Guardian: Comment is Free

Peter Preston — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The whole subcontinent is in thrall to dynasties, but it's Pakistan's that really takes the biscuit Why is a country with disaster on its hands stuck with a disaster of a leader, too? It seems almost absurd to take Pakistan's 20 million uprooted by flood and measure their plight against the political skills of President Asif Ali Zardari. Can one man's ineptitude make so much of a difference? And yet – in response to profound crisis, in winning more than 20% of the aid the UN says it needs – Zardari has found a defining moment and come up short again. How on earth did he tramp round Britain, trading terrorism talk with David Cameron, making party speeches in Birmingham , when the depth of the tragedy was already clear? Why on earth is he ...

Pakistan's leaders should heed the lesson of Bangladesh | Delwar Hussain - Guardian: Comment is Free

Delwar Hussain — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

With flooding and social unrest, conditions in Pakistan are eerily similar to 40 years ago when East and West Pakistan went to war We have been here before: a natural event on a catastrophic scale that devastates communities in a remote part of the world, and the indifference of a national government more concerned with parochial political survival than its responsibility to help its own people. As Pakistan lurches from one disaster to another and survivors of the floods continue to search for loved ones , lessons from a similar moment 40 years ago need to be heeded. In 1970, Cyclone Bhola roared up and battered the densely populated coastline of the then eastern wing of Pakistan. The ferocious tidal surge that accompanied it drowned many ...

Why silence over Kashmir speaks volumes - The Guardian -- World Latest

Pankaj Mishra — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Bloody protests against military rule get little coverage, while India maintains its reputation Once known for its extraordinary beauty, the valley of Kashmir now hosts the biggest, bloodiest and also the most obscure military occupation in the world. With more than 80,000 people dead in an anti-India insurgency backed by Pakistan, the killings fields of Kashmir dwarf those of Palestine and Tibet. In addition to the everyday regime of arbitrary arrests, curfews, raids, and checkpoints enforced by nearly 700,000 Indian soldiers, the valley's 4 million Muslims are exposed to extra-judicial execution, rape and torture, with such barbaric variations as live electric wires inserted into penises. Why then does the immense human suffering of ...

ANALYSIS: Pakistan in peril ahead of 63rd birthday - Earth Times

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

ANALYSIS: Pakistan in peril ahead of 63rd birthday

A Benchmark of Progress, Electrical Grid Fails Iraqis - International Herald Tribune: Front Page

By STEVEN LEE MYERS — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT

As the American combat mission officially ends this month, Iraq’s government is still struggling to provide one of the most basic services, generating disillusionment and dissent.

Philippines remembers late democracy icon Corazon Aquino who led 1986 'people power' revolt - Star Tribune: World

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Pakistan - BBC South Asia

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Key facts, figures and dates.

Bangladesh - BBC South Asia

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Key facts, figures and dates

Musharraf?s trial imperative - The Frontier Post --- Top Stories

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

LAHORE (NNI): The doors for dictatorship can be closed only through trial of Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution and not by ...

Pakistan Army Chief Granted 3-Year Extension - International Herald Tribune Asia Pacific

By SALMAN MASOOD — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Pakistan Army Chief Granted 3-Year Extension

Shahbaz denies point-scoring on water issue - The Frontier Post --- Top Stories

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

LAHORE (NNI): Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said Pakistan cannot afford confrontation, therefore, there should be no point-scoring ...

Pakistan - BBC South Asia

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Key facts, figures and dates.

Bangladesh - BBC South Asia

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Key facts, figures and dates

Parliament protected martial laws: Ramday Fazal-ur-Rahman - The Frontier Post --- Top Stories

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

ISLAMABAD: Hearing petitions challenging 18th constitutional amendment, Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday on Tuesday observed that the courts accorded temporary ...

Probe finds 29 lawmakers faked degrees - DAWN

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The Supreme Court ordered the investigation after more than a dozen lawmakers were found in possession of fake degrees. “We received 936 degrees, out of which verification of 511 degrees has been completed and 29 invalid degrees have been found,” Mehmood Raza, an adviser for the higher education commission, told a news conference. Raza refused to name the MPs who submitted fake certificates in order to present themselves as eligible to contest elections. The commission will present its full report to lawmakers on July 16. Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf introduced rules for 2008 polls that required elected officials to hold a bachelor's degree. The condition was later waived by President Asif Ali Zardari's government. But the ...

Hashmi flays PA resolution against media F.P. Report - The Frontier Post --- Top Stories

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

MULTAN: PML-N senior vice president MNA Makhdoom Javed Hashmi Friday appealed to the Punjab Assembly to withdraw the resolution it adopted against media. While ...

Unity must to fight terrorism: Nawaz F.P. Report - The Frontier Post --- Top Stories

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Chief Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that unity is necessary for fighting terrorism as it could not ...

Govt should respect people’s mandate, judiciary: Nawaz - DAWN

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's chief Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said that some measures taken by the government have been damaging to democracy. He said the government should be respectful of the courts and their verdicts and should not assume the role of the superior courts itself. He said the government was trying to drag the judiciary into politics and that NAB's letter to the Supreme Court was evidence to the effect. Nawaz was speaking to media representatives before departing for London. He said the judiciary's restoration was the result of the people's struggle which was why everyone should cooperate with the courts. "The government has the mandate of the people which it should respect and therefore respect the judiciary," ...

Stop Burma's Ticking Bomb - Truthout.com

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Is Burma going to be the ninth nuclear-weapon state after the P5 and the India, Pakistan and Israel trio? Does today's most notorious military dictatorship pose a third potential nuclear threat after North Korea and Iran? The questions are intriguing. Even more intriguing, however, is the fact that they are not being asked. The South East Asian country, notorious for its military junta that refuses to allow citizens the least civil or political liberty, did not figure as a "rogue state" at the May nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York. read ...