[DAWN] Six weeks ago, Imran Khan... aka
Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
and his Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is
Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
looked all fired up and on a winning streak. Suddenly, the December 16 tragedy happened in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
and changed things for everyone everywhere.
The massacre of 150 schoolchildren and teachers by the Pak Taliban united the nation in the resolve to take on the insane bully boys. Political consultations and legislation moved fast.
Above all, for the first time, there appeared a political will on all sides to get the job done.
Alas, by the middle of January the rare consensus dissolved into the old, perpetual squabbling.
All mainstream political parties have since resumed their usual blame games. There is no debate on real issues. Only narratives have changed -- more so by their spin doctors. Kaptan Imran Khan is back, though to a queered pitch, to lead the PTI in the latest power game -- the election to 52 Senate seats held every three years. But the party would contest that election voting only in the assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
, the province it rules, and not in the National Assembly because it was "born of rigged elections".
That may look paradoxical only to those not in politics. Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system...
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, no more facing PTI's jarring 'Go Nawaz Go' refrain, is busy in networking to gain the PML-N the control of the Senate too, the miserable performance of the ruling party in the National Assembly, where it enjoys absolute majority, notwithstanding.
Political analysts expect the PML-N to gain a majority in the Senate on the back of its allies and the PTI to return five Senators from its stronghold of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Although literally reduced to Sindh in May 2013 elections, the PPP is hopeful of receiving a much needed boost, if not many seats, in the Senate election to be held on March 3. It is pinning the hope on its seeming recovery in Punjab, the bastion of power as its founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
...9th PM of Pakistain from 1973 to 1977, and 4th President of Pakistain from 1971 to 1973. He was the founder of the Pakistain Peoples Party (PPP). His eldest daughter, Benazir Bhutto, would also serve as hereditary PM. In a coup led by General Zia-ul-Haq, Bhutto was removed from office and was executed in 1979 for authorizing the murder of a political opponent...
called it. Perceived as invincible, until Gen. Zia ul Haq
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...overthrew Bhutto in 1977, the PPP had some 50 MNAs from Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
in its last stunt in power 2008-2013. It has only three MNAs from Punjab in the present National Assembly.