Pakistan’s governing coalition is apparently safe for now, as Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari have hammered out an agreement on reinstating Pakistani judgesremoved by Musharraf, as promised during the election campaign. It doesseem to say a lot about the state of Pakistani democracy, though, thatthe deadlock-breaking meeting took place in a hotel in Dubai, where thePPP is still headquartered. Update: After posting this, I ran across this Arif Rafiq post on the potential obstacles for the agreement. And if you haven’t already, bookmark Rafiq’s site, the Pakistan Policy Blog.
This Hindustan Times story about how Pakistan’s governing coalition is already on the brink of collapse (due to the PPP’s refusal to reinstate the Supreme Court justices sacked by Pervez Musharraf) reminded me to link to Arif Rafiq’s very smart piece on how America should reconfigure its strategic partnership with Pakistan: Historically, ties between the United States and Pakistan have been strongest with a Republican in the White House and an army general in power in Islamabad. In this scenario, Congress generally plays an antagonistic, if not wholly hostile role. The goodwill usually ends when Democrats in Washington and democrats [...]
KATMANDU, Nepal — After two weeks of counting, Nepal’s election results are official: a solid win for the former rebel Maoists and a humiliating slap in the face for the country’s traditional political parties. Almost nobody predicted the landslide victory, and now Nepal’s political elite and the international community are scrambling to deal with the world’s first ever elected Maoist government. The Maoists, for their part, have been sure to make the right noises on economic and diplomatic issues. They say they will use capitalism and multiparty democracy as stepping stones to achieve their socialist vision. But first they must [...]
