A substantial downturn at the PSX can be attributed to escalating leverage costs and mounting political risks, compelling investors to hastily offload shares. The surge in leverage, measured by futures open interest, margin trading, and financing, hit a two-year high at Rs40 billion, a substantial increase from Rs14.3 billion in June.
Op-Ed
Photo courtesy of @sindhicongress
Time to go beyond condemnation
Condemnation always starts pouring in right on cue – but condemnation alone is not enough. Outrages like Jaranwala will continue to visit us until we impose consequences on the perpetrators. By Ahmer Kureishi.
Pakistan’s newly appointed caretaker prime minister, Senator Anwar ul Haq Kakar. Photo courtesy of @JemalBeker1
PM Kakar: PDM’s trump card or Military’s choice?
The optics are awful – or are they? Has the military stormed back in politics – or are the top generals gritting their teeth to clean up the political mess created by their politicking predecessors? Caretaker PM Kakar’s actions in the coming days and weeks hold the answers to these and similar questions. By Ahmer Kureishi.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan flanked by his legal counsel Naeem Haider Panjotha at a court hearing in this undated photo courtesy insaf.pk
Imran Khan: Down But Not Out
Found guilty of corruption by an Islamabad sessions court, former Prime Minister Imran Khan is finally behind bars, but it is still too soon to write him off as a potent political force. Here is why. By Ahmer Kureishi.
Nawaz Sharif (right), and Imran Khan (left). Photos courtesy of APP.
Enter Nawaz Sharif, Exit Imran Khan
Nawaz Sharif was hounded out of politics (and eventually the country) to install and keep Imran Khan in power. There is poetic justice in the idea that his return coincides with the end of Khan’s political journey. By Ahmer Kureishi.
A view of the Punjab Assembly building. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beautiful_view_of_Punjab_Assembly_Lahore_-_panoramio.jpg)
Punjab Assembly remains indissoluble for now
The direction taken by the court proceedings suggests that while the battle for the administrative control of the province is evenly poised, the Punjab Assembly has gained a guaranteed lease on life at least another eighteen days. By Ahmer Kureishi.
The strange case of Punjab’s indissoluble assembly
By Ahmer Kureishi
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been threatening to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies for quite a while now. In particular, living a charmed life under this dangling Damocles’ sword has been the Punjab assembly and the government of Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, a key ally of Khan.
Sketchy path to transition
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s nascent democracy has recently witnessed a very positive omen for the country as the military establishment publicly surrendered itself bowing before Constitutional supremacy first time in the country’s history.
Rooting for Ishaq Dar
The IMF has said it is not concerned with the Finance Minister’s move to freeze the federal petroleum development levy. By Ahmer Kureishi.
Decoding Khan’s ruckus about the next army chief
Khan will rile up his foes. Khan will fight with all his might. Khan will do all it takes to stage a comeback. If you find it damaging to your polity, rest assured that is incidental.