Pakistan. Ungovernable state (Niaz Murtaza, South Asia Monitor)

http://southasiamonitor.org/detail.php?type=n&nid=17743

Pakistan. Pondering over Panama (Niaz Murtaza, South Asia Monitor)

The response to the Panama leaks has been expectedly monotonous, mainly covering legal or moral issues. But ancient Sufis wisely said that kids view things narrowly; to grasp a complex issue, adults must view it from seven distinct lenses without any view undermining the other.

http://southasiamonitor.org/detail.php?type=n&nid=16574

Pakistani political parties and the democratic deficit (Niaz Murtaza, East Asia Forum)

Unlike India and Sri Lanka’s uninterrupted commitment to democracy since independence, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have as yet failed to attain democratic consolidation. Since independence in 1947, Pakistan has experienced democracy for only about 28 years. The lack of internal democracy within Pakistani political parties has been both a cause and an outcome of Pakistan’s chequered democratic track-record. This weakness has made it easier for unelected institutions like the military to derail democracy. In turn, this prolonged derailment has shielded parties from the public pressures for improvement that regular elections impose on them.

http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/04/20/pakistani-political-parties-and-the-democratic-deficit/