Shambolic Governance And The Doctrine Of Necessity
After three days of intense drama, the Supreme Court of Pakistan conditionally allowed the incumbent Army Chief to continue in his office for six…
Supreme Court’s Unexpected Intervention In Gen Bajwa’s Appointment Has Created A New Crisis
Institutional wrangling, botched up decision making of the federal government have thrown the country into another phase of political uncertainty. Supreme Court’s decision to suspend notification…
Martial law won’t help. Imran must talk to Fazal
According to Raza Rumi, there are three possible outcomes of Maulana’s march 1- The march is successful, mainstream parties also join him and the…
Interview: The Post-colonial Garrison State Is Not Going Anywhere. But It’s Becoming Increasingly Untenable
Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed is a leading Pakistani political scientist and commentator. His important work Pakistan: The Garrison State—Origins, Evolution, Consequences (1947-2011) traces the role and influence…
An Intractable Challenge: Managing Civil Military Relations in Pakistan
This policy note was prepared for a report published by The Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) after the general elections of 2018. As the previous government…
Election 2018 — Seven cautionary signs
July 15, 2018: Election 2018 — Seven cautionary signs Under ordinary circumstances, the election campaign should have peaked by now with political parties and…
Nawaz Sharif’s Dilemma: On the Edge
July 15, 2018: Nawaz Sharif’s Dilemma: On the Edge PAKISTAN’S thrice-elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, has entered a decisive and somewhat unexpected phase of…
Old sherbet in new bottles
The political turmoil in recent months has seen Pakistan’s military return centre stage. Since the exit of Gen Musharraf, the latter had taken a…
Pakistan’s democratic transition is derailed. Does anyone care?
Pakistan’s decade-old democratic transition is going nowhere. Ten years after the military president Gen Musharraf removed his uniform and paved the way for national…
Civil-military tensions continue even after Nawaz’s ouster
The tense relations between the civilian government and the khakis indicate that despite Nawaz Sharif’s exit, the latter has not yet lost the political…
The Fall of Nawaz Sharif
04 August 2017: The Fall of Nawaz Sharif, Open Magazine. The story of Nawaz Sharif’s rise and fall is the story of contemporary Pakistan. For him,…
Sagacious move by the military – Pakistan wins
Pakistan’s military leadership, by issuing its latest statement on the Dawn Leaks issue through the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has done the democratic process…
The travel ban on ‘Dawn’ journalist was just a side show in the civil-military conflict in Pakistan
The real issue is about fighting non-state actors, the ongoing street protests and Nawaz Sharif’s impending decision to appoint a new army chief. Pakistan’s…
Fighting for democracy
Raza Rumi is a Pakistani journalist and policy analyst who is currently Visiting International Scholar in Residence at Ithaca College, US. A consistent voice…
An Uphill Battle
One-year review of Pakistan’s fight against extremism and terrorism Nearly a year ago, Pakistani security forces announced the killing of Malik Ishaq, leader of…
Back in the Driver Seat
Pakistan military is back in the driving seat. This time, not through a conventional coup detat, but through an amended constitution that enables military…
History repeats itself?
It is time for Nawaz Sharif to revisit his earlier stints in power for obvious reasons TS Eliot had termed April as the cruellest…
‘Greater rights abuses will ensue unless Pakistan’s elected institutions assert themselves’
An interview of – Ali Dayan Hasan (Director, Human Rights Watch) taken by me, published in TFT December 30 – January 05, 2012 –…
A Shifting Political Landscape
By Raza Rumi: If there is any single constant in Pakistani politics it is perennial instability. More so when fledgling democracies struggle to change…
Whither civilian governance?
My new piece published by The Friday Times While the gurus of security and international affairs continue to unpack and make sense of the…