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Saturday,
May 11, 2013
Pakistan
votes today in turning-point elections
  Sharif, Imran &
Zardari’s parties in 3-way fight
Poll pundits predict a hung
National Assembly
Raj
Chengappa in lahore
Pakistan
has rarely witnessed an orderly transition of power of its civilian
government in its independent history. But with its 86 million
electorate, just one-seventh the size of India’s, voting on Saturday
for the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies, Pakistan
is all set to usher in a new era for democracy that may prove to be a
turning point for this troubled nation. An estimated 4,600 candidates
are in the fray for the 272 directly elected seats in the 342-member
lower house of the Majlis-e-Shura (Parliament).
Balle
balle! People power on Pak doorstep
 The
Pakistan General Election is turning out to be a test of the country’s
political maturity and democracy. Raj Chengappa,
Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune Group of Newspapers, captures the heat,
dust and flavour as the historic elections reach the climax
Entry by foot, mix masala & 'Urdinglish'
“Entry by air or by foot” was the cryptic stamp on the visa issued
to me by the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to cover the last mile of
the 2013 General Election for which voting happens on Saturday. From
Chandigarh it made more sense for me to drive to Amritsar and then enter
“by foot” via the Wagah border late Thursday afternoon.
Sunday,
May 12, 2013
on record
‘Big
challenge ahead for Pakistan’
 —
Nawaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and former Prime
Minister
Raj Chengappa
Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune Group of Newspapers,
talks to Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on the day of polling
On
Saturday, while the rest of Pakistan was in a whirl, Nawaz Sharif
was a study in calm. The former Pakistan Prime Minister, who heads the
Pakistan Muslim League-N, chose to spend a relaxed morning at his
sprawling farm house in Raiwind. He showed no anxiety on the outcome of
the polls and appeared confident of his party emerging as the single
largest in terms of seats and of him forming the government. Excerpts
from an exclusive interview over endless rounds of kahva:
Monday,
May 13, 2013
Pakistan’s
new dance of democracy
The successful completion of the 2013
General Election is a major turning point for Pakistan. Raj Chengappa,
Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune Group of Newspapers, captures some of the
highlights of its new dance of democracy
Super-cool Nawaz, smartphones and Amritsar
callings
By Raj
Chengappa
Like all good batsmen, Nawaz Sharif, who fancied himself as
a cricketer of some standing when he was young, always seems to have
enough time to play his political shots. When the voting began on
Saturday, he spent his time relaxing at his Raiwind farmhouse rarely
enquiring about the turnout at various booths.
Tuesday,
May 14, 2013
TURNING
POINT: reviving THE flagging economy
As Nawaz Sharif gets ready
to form the government, economy emerges as the most important factor
for the country to rise above its challenges. In an exclusive series,
The Tribune puts you in touch with the ground situation and the
aspirations of the country and its polity, beginning with interviews
by Raj Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief, with
two personalities in the forefront of the economy. Excerpts:
‘Institutions, not
whims, to run the country’
— Sartaj Aziz, former
Pakistan Finance Minister
Sartaj Aziz has twice
served as Pakistan’s Finance Minister during Nawaz Sharif’s first
and second terms as Prime Minister. The veteran Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz ( PML-N) leader was a professor of economics and during
his stints as finance minister is acknowledged to have driven
Pakistan’s liberalisation and privatisation programme in the 1990s.
He is considered a key PML-N ideologue on both economics and foreign
affairs.
‘Indo-Pak
business can provide cushion to relations’
— Mian Mohammad Mansha,
chairman, Nishat Group
Mian Mohammad Mansha owns
and runs Pakistan’s biggest conglomerate, the Nishat Group, widely
regarded as the ‘Tatas’ of Pakistan for the way it conducts its
business. With annual revenues of Rs 9,000 crore, Mansha holds diverse
and major business interests in textile, banking, insurance, cement,
power and aviation. The Nishat Group has operations across the globe,
mainly in Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, the UAE, USA, Hong Kong and Bahrain.
Wednesday,
May 15, 2013
TURNING
POINT: Foreign policy overhaul
Pakistan is a country bedevilled by internal strife, a lot of
which has roots in its relations with the neighbours. Raj
Chengappa,
Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune Group of Newspapers, speaks to two
foreign policy experts in Pakistan to find out what to expect from the
new government regarding its approach to the US, Afghanistan and, more
particularly, India. Excerpts:
‘Cross-border
interference against Sharif’s policy’"
— Tariq Fatemi, former
Pakistan diplomat and PML-N adviser
Tariq Fatemi, 69, is a former Pakistani career diplomat,
currently working as a political analyst. He is a foreign policy
ideologue of the PML-N and has helped draft the party manifesto.
‘National
strategy needed to deal with militancy’
— Ahmed Rashid,
foreign policy expert
Ahmed Rashid, 65, is a journalist and best-selling
foreign policy author of several books on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Central Asia. Rashid’s 2000 book, "Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil
and Fundamentalism in Central Asia," was translated into 22
languages and sold 1.5 million copies after the 9/11 attacks. His
latest book, "Pakistan on the Brink: The Future of America,
Pakistan, and Afghanistan," was published in 2012.
Thursday,
May 16, 2013
TURNING
POINT: defining the army’s role
Even with the advent of a democratically elected government with
a clear mandate, the fear of military intervention at some stage
continues to linger in Pakistan. In Lahore, Raj
Chengappa, Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune Group of Newspapers,
speaks to General Jehangir Karamat, who preceded Gen Pervez Musharraf as
army chief, to read the temperature within the barracks as well as
outside.
‘With democracy maturing,
coup not likely’
— General Jehangir Karamat (retd), former Pakistan Chief of
Army Staff
Gen Jehangir Karamat (retd), 72, remained Chief of Staff
of the Pakistan Army from January 1996 to October 1998. He resigned as
army chief following differences with then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Having served as a professor of political science at the National
Defence University in Islamabad, General Karamat is also an expert on
defence and security matters, especially with his career in the
military. In 2004, he was appointed Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US,
where he served from November 2004 to June 2006.
Friday,
May 17, 2013
Imran has a foot in, now to push the door open
By Raj Chengappa
EVER since Imran Khan was admitted to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre after he fell off a forklift during an election rally on May 7, it is guarded like a fortress. The Punjab police’s elite counter-terror forces wearing black T-shirts with ‘No Fear’ emblazoned on them guard the hospital entrance and the wards that house him. It’s the hospital Imran built in memory of his mother who died of cancer.
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