The document summarizes the 2013 Pakistani general elections. It discusses:
1) The historic nature of the elections as the first democratic transition of power between civilian governments in Pakistan's history. Nawaz Sharif's party, PML(N), won the elections and he became Prime Minister for the third time.
2) The voter turnout exceeded expectations at 55% despite threats from the Taliban against voting.
3) Key issues Sharif will face as Prime Minister include corruption, the economy, security, and improving ties with countries like the US, India, and Canada while maintaining sovereignty.
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We mix up national / international politics, religion and the ongoing Great Game in and around Pakistan and across the globe. It is a common fashion to blame Zia-ul-Haq, Religion and Maulvis for everything from Russian invasion and defeat in Afghanistan to 9/11 and from acts of terrorism across the globe to target killing in different parts of the country. In Pakistan all the public movements demanding a change were very smartly hijacked by invisible manipulators. In different circumstances Bhutto, Zia-ul-Haque and Pervez Musharraf were used as popular political, religious and moderate TOOLS by INVISIBLE STRATEGIC PLANNERS who INDIRECTLY rule the country through the elected and unelected rulers as their FRONTMEN. When these front men create a mess a new front man comes forward with an agenda reflecting most popular demand of the day. Is it necessary to throw out a government to bring change? How many governments have we already thrown out and where do we stand? What is the guarantee that the results after getting rid of this government will not be the same?
First india jaipur edition-20 september 2020FIRST INDIA
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Haroon Ullah is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Broadcasting Board of Governors. He is a learned man with a great contribution towards digital media agency. He also wrote books that won awards and world-class fame. Visit the site and find more relevant information about him.
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We mix up national / international politics, religion and the ongoing Great Game in and around Pakistan and across the globe. It is a common fashion to blame Zia-ul-Haq, Religion and Maulvis for everything from Russian invasion and defeat in Afghanistan to 9/11 and from acts of terrorism across the globe to target killing in different parts of the country. In Pakistan all the public movements demanding a change were very smartly hijacked by invisible manipulators. In different circumstances Bhutto, Zia-ul-Haque and Pervez Musharraf were used as popular political, religious and moderate TOOLS by INVISIBLE STRATEGIC PLANNERS who INDIRECTLY rule the country through the elected and unelected rulers as their FRONTMEN. When these front men create a mess a new front man comes forward with an agenda reflecting most popular demand of the day. Is it necessary to throw out a government to bring change? How many governments have we already thrown out and where do we stand? What is the guarantee that the results after getting rid of this government will not be the same?
First india jaipur edition-20 september 2020FIRST INDIA
Welcome to the Official Website of First India E-Paper. We are the best ENGLISH NEWS PAPER in India with Special coverage of Rajasthan & Gujrat. Follow us for the LATEST NEWS & Top LIVE NEWS in India and around the world.
Visit:- https://firstindia.co.in/newspaper
Haroon Ullah is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Broadcasting Board of Governors. He is a learned man with a great contribution towards digital media agency. He also wrote books that won awards and world-class fame. Visit the site and find more relevant information about him.
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss.For real time update Visit our social media handle.Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace.Visit First India.
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#First_India_NewsPaper
The Myanmar Elections: Results and Implications MYO AUNG Myanmar
Crisis Group Asia Briefing N°147
Yangon/Brussels, 9 December 2015
I. Overview
The 8 November elections were a major waypoint in Myanmar’s transition from authoritarian
rule. Holding a peaceful, orderly vote in a context of little experience of
electoral democracy, deep political fissures and ongoing armed conflict in several
areas was a major achievement for all political actors, the election commission and
the country as a whole. The victorious National League for Democracy (NLD) needs
to use the four-month transitional period before it takes power at the end of March
2016 wisely, identifying key appointees early so that they have as much time as possible to prepare for the substantial challenges ahead.
Roy Morgan Research CEO, Michele Levine, has presented the latest State of the Nation report at NSW Parliament House in Sydney. The report includes a spotlight on the upcoming Federal Election: voting intentions and demographics, issues of importance, economic, social and government attitudes and analysis of key and marginal seats.
Pakistan elections for senate were scheduled on 5th of March 2015. The senate elections were held to select 52 retiring officers of the senate. In these elections we saw some veteran senators like Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and Sabir Ali Baluch.
For the past Senate, the leading party was of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who would drop 21 members, following by PML (N) i.e. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz who has loosed 9 members and ANP (Awami National Party) loosing 6 members.
Pakistan election information portal, where you can get precise knowledge about Election history of Pakistan, Voters training program and Citizen Rights in Pakistan
http://www.pakvoter.org/
The senate of Pakistan is a stable body that is not question to ending with the tenure of 6 years for every member. Elections for associates of Senate for half of the 104 seats are seized after each three years because of the progression of Senate elections is planned in such a way that tenure of half of the associates end after every three years. In Article 59 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, Senate has a total of 104 seats with 24 from each of the four provinces, 08 from FATA and 04 from Federal Capital. The composition of senate with respect to Baluchistan, KPK, Sindh and Punjab is 14 seats for each area general, 4 for women, 4 for technocrats and 1 for minority belonging to each area.
NMSBA is conducting elections for Countries' Chairs. Pakistani marketing professionals should become members of NMSBA so that elections could be held for Chair Pakistan.
EU 2013 Pakistan Election Observation Mission (report)fatanews
ISLAMABAD: The European Union’s Election Observer Mission, in its final report, has said the May 11 polls were much more free and fair than previous elections in the country. It cautioned, however, that not implementing certain legal provisions has left future elections vulnerable to malpractice.
Released at a news conference on Wednesday, the findings of the EU observer mission concluded that despite escalating militant attacks and procedural shortcomings, the May 11 electoral process progressed with a high level of competition, a marked increase in voter participation and overall acceptance of the outcome.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Observer Michael Gahler, however, noted that fundamental problems remain with the legal framework and the implementation of certain provisions.
“Now is the time for the new Parliament, the Election Commission and other stakeholders to demonstrate their commitment to a democratic Pakistan. Legislation can be further developed and every by-election as well as local election is an opportunity for implementing improved practices,” he added.
The 140-member EU observer mission formulated 50 recommendations to help ensure better transparency in future elections. Of these seven require constitutional changes and 17 require changes in the primary legislation, according to Gahler.
The EU observer mission suggested the formation of a special parliamentary committee on elections to review related legislation within a framework of international law commitments. Key issues to address in this regard include candidacy criteria, transparency requirements and mechanisms for effective remedy.
It also recommended that the Election Commission of Pakistan should take full responsibility for the administration of the elections. The commission must fully implement its five-year strategic plan as well, the EU mission noted in its report.
It proposed that ECP should establish a clear regulatory framework for all aspects of the election, including results management, observation and scrutiny, and complaints. The commission should also review and develop procedures to increase checks in the polling and results process, and develop practices to improve the quality of the completed results forms, the report maintained.
The EU observer mission also asked ECP to introduce strong transparency measures, including making all notifications, decisions and election related information immediately and easily available to the public.
“All polling and results information should swiftly be made available to the public on the ECP website.”
It also suggested that the legal framework for media be revised so that it fully supports editorial independence and eliminates opportunities for censorship.
The Myanmar Elections: Results and Implications MYO AUNG Myanmar
Crisis Group Asia Briefing N°147
Yangon/Brussels, 9 December 2015
I. Overview
The 8 November elections were a major waypoint in Myanmar’s transition from authoritarian
rule. Holding a peaceful, orderly vote in a context of little experience of
electoral democracy, deep political fissures and ongoing armed conflict in several
areas was a major achievement for all political actors, the election commission and
the country as a whole. The victorious National League for Democracy (NLD) needs
to use the four-month transitional period before it takes power at the end of March
2016 wisely, identifying key appointees early so that they have as much time as possible to prepare for the substantial challenges ahead.
Roy Morgan Research CEO, Michele Levine, has presented the latest State of the Nation report at NSW Parliament House in Sydney. The report includes a spotlight on the upcoming Federal Election: voting intentions and demographics, issues of importance, economic, social and government attitudes and analysis of key and marginal seats.
Pakistan elections for senate were scheduled on 5th of March 2015. The senate elections were held to select 52 retiring officers of the senate. In these elections we saw some veteran senators like Nayyar Hussain Bukhari and Sabir Ali Baluch.
For the past Senate, the leading party was of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who would drop 21 members, following by PML (N) i.e. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz who has loosed 9 members and ANP (Awami National Party) loosing 6 members.
Pakistan election information portal, where you can get precise knowledge about Election history of Pakistan, Voters training program and Citizen Rights in Pakistan
http://www.pakvoter.org/
The senate of Pakistan is a stable body that is not question to ending with the tenure of 6 years for every member. Elections for associates of Senate for half of the 104 seats are seized after each three years because of the progression of Senate elections is planned in such a way that tenure of half of the associates end after every three years. In Article 59 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, Senate has a total of 104 seats with 24 from each of the four provinces, 08 from FATA and 04 from Federal Capital. The composition of senate with respect to Baluchistan, KPK, Sindh and Punjab is 14 seats for each area general, 4 for women, 4 for technocrats and 1 for minority belonging to each area.
NMSBA is conducting elections for Countries' Chairs. Pakistani marketing professionals should become members of NMSBA so that elections could be held for Chair Pakistan.
EU 2013 Pakistan Election Observation Mission (report)fatanews
ISLAMABAD: The European Union’s Election Observer Mission, in its final report, has said the May 11 polls were much more free and fair than previous elections in the country. It cautioned, however, that not implementing certain legal provisions has left future elections vulnerable to malpractice.
Released at a news conference on Wednesday, the findings of the EU observer mission concluded that despite escalating militant attacks and procedural shortcomings, the May 11 electoral process progressed with a high level of competition, a marked increase in voter participation and overall acceptance of the outcome.
Speaking to reporters, Chief Observer Michael Gahler, however, noted that fundamental problems remain with the legal framework and the implementation of certain provisions.
“Now is the time for the new Parliament, the Election Commission and other stakeholders to demonstrate their commitment to a democratic Pakistan. Legislation can be further developed and every by-election as well as local election is an opportunity for implementing improved practices,” he added.
The 140-member EU observer mission formulated 50 recommendations to help ensure better transparency in future elections. Of these seven require constitutional changes and 17 require changes in the primary legislation, according to Gahler.
The EU observer mission suggested the formation of a special parliamentary committee on elections to review related legislation within a framework of international law commitments. Key issues to address in this regard include candidacy criteria, transparency requirements and mechanisms for effective remedy.
It also recommended that the Election Commission of Pakistan should take full responsibility for the administration of the elections. The commission must fully implement its five-year strategic plan as well, the EU mission noted in its report.
It proposed that ECP should establish a clear regulatory framework for all aspects of the election, including results management, observation and scrutiny, and complaints. The commission should also review and develop procedures to increase checks in the polling and results process, and develop practices to improve the quality of the completed results forms, the report maintained.
The EU observer mission also asked ECP to introduce strong transparency measures, including making all notifications, decisions and election related information immediately and easily available to the public.
“All polling and results information should swiftly be made available to the public on the ECP website.”
It also suggested that the legal framework for media be revised so that it fully supports editorial independence and eliminates opportunities for censorship.
ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN REPORT (Pakistan) gives the overall picture of political advertising campaign on TV during the Election period Mar’13 to May’13. It covers the trend analysis of 2008 and 2013 elections in terms of overall spend and total minutes of advertising along with comparison with 2008 Election campaign, share of each parties and their % share in total. The report also focuses on share of TV channels, share of each genre and ad-spend split over the regional channels.
Imran Khan as a Prime Minister of Pakistan, What could be the consequencesnawazish ali
Our great reverence and humble thanks to Almighty Allah who bestowed upon me enough dynamism and support to work and to finish task. Who through his divine book always motivates us to get his unlimited grace and who has bestowed us the most powerful thing in his world, the brain and enabled us to complete his project. All the respect and love to our beloved Holy Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H), who after a lot of hardship and difficulties made us able to recognize our Allah and to distinguish Virtue and evil.
It would be sacrilege not to acknowledge tremendously valuable effort of our teachers whom have passed on their knowledge, wisdom and experience through the past years which built us to the men we are today.
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First India provides exclusive Today's News Headlines from politics, technology, business news,sports, Bollywood news, life style and many more.For your morning update read First India English NewsPaper.Our special coverage are Rajasthan , Gujrat and power corridor of the country national capital Delhi and rest of India .
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हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
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role of women and girls in various terror groupssadiakorobi2
Women have three distinct types of involvement: direct involvement in terrorist acts; enabling of others to commit such acts; and facilitating the disengagement of others from violent or extremist groups.
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
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03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
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1. 58 DARPANTMJULY / AUGUST 2013
Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
P
akistan – a nation that has
experienced three military
coups, been ruled by generals
for half its life and frequent
political drama will mark 2013 as a
decisive year in its political history.
Three prominent leaders, of 2013,
took to the streets of Pakistan
propagating their ideas of conviction
and change, to a nation stricken
by USA drone attacks, Taliban – a
fundamental Islamic militia – and
political unrest. Yet, the significance
of elections amongst the electorate
was evident from the fact that the
voter turnout excelled by all means.
The Election Commission of Pakistan
(ECP) announced that overall voter
turnout in the 2013 general elections
was recorded at 55.02 per cent. This
was despite Taliban threats of suicide
bombings, sabotaging polling booths
and causing turbulence on election
day.
The 2013 nationwide vote marks
the first time a civilian government
transferred power to an elected
PakistanPakistan2013 GENERAL ELECTIONS
A POST-MORTEM
successor after completing a full five-year
term in Pakistan.
Micheal Kugelman, a senior program
associate for South and Southeast Asia, at
Woodrow Wilson International Center
for Scholars says that given the recent
historic transfer of political power, there
is much more to be hopeful about in
Pakistan. “This is just the start of a series
of transitions this year – within the
next few months, Pakistan will have a
new Supreme Court chief justice, a new
army chief and in all likelihood, a new
president,” adds Kugelman.
AS THE PAKISTAN ELECTORATE PARTICIPATED IN THE CRUCIAL 2013 GENERAL ELECTION, NATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE NOT ONLY
OBSERVED, BUT WERE GREATLY INTERESTED IN THIS NATION’S FIRST DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION OF POWER IN ITS 66-YEAR HISTORY.
BY GARIMA GOSWAMI
2. 59DARPANTM JULY / AUGUST 2013
Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
The significance of elections
amongst the electorate was
evident from the fact that
the voter turnout excelled
by all means. The Election
Commission of Pakistan
(ECP) announced that
overall voter turnout in the
2013 general elections was
recorded at 55.02 per cent.
This was despite Taliban
threats of suicide bombings,
sabotaging polling booths
and causing turbulence on
election day.
Pakistan and was killed in 2007 by a suicide
bomber, just before the last general election.
HISTORY IN THE
MAKING – MAY 11,
2013
Scores of individuals across Pakistan queued
to exercise their right to vote on May 11,
2013, despite threats of attacks by the
Taliban. Prior to election day, Taliban had
said they would carry out attacks, including
suicide bombings, as it considers the polls part
of an “infidel system” of democracy. Through
press releases and interviews, the Taliban
warned Pakistanis particularly women to
abstain from voting on the election day.
The Pakistani militant commanders said
they consider the concept of democratic
exercise of voting to be anti-Islamic. “We
do not accept the system of infidels which is
called democracy,” said Hakimullah Mehsud,
the head of the Pakistani Taliban, in a letter
dated May 1.
In light of the ongoing suicide bombings,
threats and attacks, Pakistan deployed tens of
thousands of security personnel to maintain
law and order during the polls. From April
until the time of election, the Taliban killed
more than 100 people, including candidates,
at election rallies and related events. An
important episode in this regard was the
kidnapping of Ali Haider Gilani, who is the
son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza
Gilani. Ali Haider’s secretary and guard were
shot dead in the attack and he was abducted
at gunpoint. Investigations are ongoing and
he remains missing at the time of publication.
However, the Taliban did not attack the
ruling PML(N) party of Pakistan during
their election campaign, in which Sharif had
suggested negotiations with the Taliban.
KEY PARTIES THAT RAN
IN THE ELECTION
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf – PTI:
The PTI party leader Imran
Khan was the most popular
amongst other candidates
and widely speculated
to win the election. This
cricket-luminary-turned
politician promised to put
the country on a fast-track development in
100 days and curb corruption in 90 days but
failed to gather the desired nationwide role,
post the 2013 general elections. Nevertheless,
PTI holds the chief position of the opposi-
tion party of Pakistan. Kugelman says, “Im-
ran Khan enjoys a high level of popularity in
Pakistan, but popularity won’t necessarily get
you elected in Pakistan-patronage. Khan and
his PTI party reject the patronage, which has
served Pakistan’s two largest and most estab-
lished parties – the PML(N) and PPP – very
well in recent decades.”
Pakistan Muslim League
(Nawaz) – PML(N): Ousted in a 1999
military coup, jailed and
exiled; steel magnate Nawaz
Sharif made a triumphant
comeback in the 2013
elections and now heads
his third term as Pakistan’s Prime Minister.
His party, the PML(N) was the main rival
of Pakistan’s People’s Party (PPP) to form
the next government. After holding office as
the 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sharif
promised a clean, efficient and corruption
free government for Pakistan.
Pakistan People’s Party - PPP:
Bilawal Zardari, son of Asif
Ali Zardari, former president
of Pakistan, was announced
PPP’s candidate for the next
prime minister despite being younger than
the prescribed age limit to contest in elec-
tions. The Pakistan constitution underlines a
candidate has to be at least 25 years of age
in order to run for the Prime Minister’s post,
and Bilawal will not attain that age until Sep-
tember. However, in early May it was revealed
that Bilawal had left Pakistan and was not
present on the election day. The party alluded
to a “threat to his life” as reason behind the
move. Senior PPP leader Taj Haider spoke
to media in May and said, “We have already
lost Benazir Bhutto and will not risk losing
Bilawal.” Bhutto served as Prime Minister of
3. 60 DARPANTMJULY / AUGUST 2013
Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
NAWAZ SHARIF – UNDER
THE LENS
In 1999, General Pervez Musharraf toppled
Sharif from his position of Prime Minister in
a bloodless military coup, accusing Sharif of
trying to assassinate him. However, Sharif was
later convicted of plane hijacking/terrorism and
sentenced to life imprisonment, although due
to an intercession of Saudi King Fahd, he was
allowed to go into voluntary exile. In 2009,
the Supreme Court of Pakistan cleared Sharif
of hijacking charges, and paved way for him to
legally run for office.
Despite his past history, Sharif campaigned
long and hard and as a result, his name will
forever be synonymous with the historic election
battle of 2013, which led to him being elected
as Prime Minister. As he came to power, Sharif
made an announcement forgiving all those
who had abused him and his family during the
election campaign and said his party would go
to any extent to make Pakistan a real progressive
Islamic welfare state.
High Commissioner of Pakistan to Canada,
Mian Gul Akbar Zeb spoke about the victory of
PML(N) saying the votes “expressed confidence
in the PML(N)’s agenda and programme, both
internal and external to place Pakistan firmly on
a path of reforms and overall progress.”
WHAT TO EXPECT OF US-
PAKISTAN TIES?
Being center stage in the Pakistan politics,
Sharif confronts major challenges. In fact it
was these challenges that Sharif addressed with
much conviction in his election manifesto that
the Pakistan electorate confided in him over
other candidates. In his first Prime Ministerial
speech to parliament, Sharif pledged to tackle
plaguing concerns such as corruption, a
crippled economy, unemployment and power
cuts across Pakistan. He briefly touched base in
terms of the ongoing rift concerning the United
States drone strikes. “These drone strikes that
rain in every day have to stop,” said Sharif.
“We respect the sovereignty of others and
they should respect our sovereignty and
independence. This must come to an end.”
His first interjection as Prime Minister not
only made headlines in the US, but around
the world portraying a sturdy leader, who
will take stand on issues pertaining to his
nation. “We must learn others’ [American]
concerns about us, and express our concerns
about them, and find a way to resolve this
issue.” Opposition party PTI reiterated
Sharif’s stand here, and Javed Hashmi of
PTI said PML(N) will have their support if
it makes serious plans to restore Pakistan’s
sovereignty and halt the drone attacks.
But the question again comes down
to what can we expect from US-Pak ties?
Kugelman throws light on this and explains
that US-Pak ties will not be significantly
affected, for the better or for the worse, by
Sharif coming to power. “Pakistan’s foreign
relations and especially with key players like
Washington, continue to be controlled by
the Pakistan military. For this reason, there’s
another power transition that will have
much more impact on US-Pak relations,”
and this will be observed later this year,
when Pakistan’s army chief is replaced.
For ties with the rest of the Western
world, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to
Canada, tells me the new government has
drawn up a comprehensive foreign policy
agenda aimed at enhancing Pakistan’s
prestige abroad, which can “be basically
brought about by strengthening the
domestic agenda.” Zeb says, “The effort at
the international level would not only be to
Michael Kugelman, Senior Program
Associate for South and Southeast Asia at
Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars in the United States.
High Commissioner of Pakistan to Canada
Mr. Mian Gul Akbar Zeb
SPECIAL FEATURE
4. 62 DARPANTMJULY / AUGUST 2013
Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
augment political relations but also economic and
commercial ties and establish true partnerships
abroad based on mutual respect.”
WHAT TO EXPECT OF
INDIA-PAKISTAN TIES?
In terms of foreign ties, Sharif’s policies
with India would also be taking a major turn
considering the recent tensions between the two
bordering nations. This year, the two nations
witnessed murder of two inmates in the foreign
jails of India and Pakistan. But that is only a
fragment of the long history of rift between these
two nations. “There is no doubt that Sharif wants
to improve relations with India,” says Kugelman.
“It’s very likely he’ll push forward to normalize
trade with Delhi.” But the political expert
says Sharif could run into trouble if he tries to
normalize in ways beyond trade. “Firstly, the
military has given no indication that it’s ready for
rapprochement…Secondly, India’s government
will likely resist diplomatic normalization until
Sharif’s government does more about the anti-
India extremist groups that live and operate
in many parts of Punjab province – the main
bastion of power for Sharif’s PML(N) party.”
Currently PM Sharif is holding the defence
portfolio with him. In terms of defence, the
move is understandable considering his previous
encounter with the army. Kugelman elaborates
on this saying, “By taking on these portfolios
himself, Sharif minimizes the prospect for
civil-military tensions, and ensures that the
government has a unified position on foreign
affairs security matters. This will make the job of
seeking agreement with the military much easier.”
However, on the flip side, Kugelman delineates
another unnoticed angle. “One should argue
that by holding so many portfolios historically
controlled by the army, Sharif is also increasing
Our diaspora in Canada has
close linkages with the country
of its origin. It also plays a
significant role in Pakistan’s
economic development and has
over the years contributed
enormously to humanitarian
and charitable causes there.
They would like to see a stable
and progressive Pakistan and I
can tell you that they are not
disappointed with the election
results.” - Mian Gul Akbar Zeb
8247 130 St,
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Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
the possibility for tensions, especially because of the
volatile history Sharif has had with the military.”
WHAT’S IN IT FOR
CANADA?
The entire globe closely observed this momentous
election in the history of Pakistan. For individuals
of Pakistani origin in Canada, what does Sharif’s
win translate into? Zeb answers this with much
confidence saying “Our diaspora in Canada has
close linkages with the country of its origin. It
also plays a significant role in Pakistan’s economic
development and has over the years contributed
enormously to humanitarian and charitable
causes there. They would like to see a stable and
progressive Pakistan and I can tell you that they are
not disappointed with the election results.”
The Pakistan High Commissioner to Canada
tells me that Pakistan has a special relationship with
Canada and it is a long standing and traditional
relationship that has grown “from strength to
strength.” Zeb lauds the Pak-Canada ties saying
Canada has always stood “by us and has done much
to promote stability and economic well-being in
Pakistan. Our recent election and the coming into
power of the new government auger extremely well
for strengthening Pakistan-Canada ties, especially
on account of the smooth democratic transition
and the promise of a better future that the present
government brings.”
CONCLUSION
Pakistan is currently at the top of political analysts’
watch list, who are deeply observing changing trends
in its political landscape, and it will even be more
scrutinized as it progresses to incorporate policies
and leaders ahead. A significant change would
surely have to be the role of Pakistan’s military,
particularly on how Pakistanis now perceive it.
“Since Osama Bin Laden was discovered in the city
of Abbottabad, not far from a military facility – the
military has lost it veneer of invincibility. This has
convinced many, though not all Pakistanis that it
would be a terrible idea to have military back in
power,” states Kugelman.
Perhaps these transforming drifts in Pakistan
are signs of a mature and informed electorate, who
realizes the importance and power of his/her right to
vote in a democratic society, especially considering
the previous unrest caused by extremists groups and
recent US drone strikes. Kugelman sums it best
delineating the future prospects of politics saying,
“When key institutions are led by new people, we
should have a somewhat better idea of Pakistan’s
future trajectory.”
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