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The Mirage of New Provinces: Weak Institutions And Political Power Rivalries

The Mirage of New Provinces: Weak Institutions And Political Power Rivalries

Pakistan’s perennial debate over new provinces has resurfaced with familiar urgency. It is often framed as a corrective—an administrative fix to...

yesterday 10

The Friday Times

Raza Rumi

At 79, What Is Right With Pakistan And Wrong With India

At 79, What Is Right With Pakistan And Wrong With India

Pakistan celebrates its 79th Independence Day in circumstances few could have anticipated only a few years ago. A country widely associated with...

yesterday 30

The Friday Times

Ishtiaq Ahmad

Is Patriotism Restricted To Religious Affiliation?

Is Patriotism Restricted To Religious Affiliation?

An advertisement for the recruitment of soldiers in Pak Army appeared in the Daily Jang on July 5, 2026 restricting the eligibility to only male...

yesterday 20

The Friday Times

Nabila Feroz Bhatti

Building A National Water Vision: Data, Audits, And The Path To Water Equity

Building A National Water Vision: Data, Audits, And The Path To Water Equity

Pakistan’s water debate has resurfaced with Tarbela Dam reaching its maximum storage level of 1,550 feet. On the surface, this looks like a success...

yesterday 30

The Friday Times

Dr Imran Aziz Tunio

The Souring Of The American Dream: The US At 250

The Souring Of The American Dream: The US At 250

America has always seemed to be more than a country or a nation. Peopled primarily by white migrants from Europe, it has also been an idea, i.e. that...

yesterday 10

The Friday Times

Shahid Ahmed

Trilateral Defense Pact: Can It Be Converted Into Economic Transformation?

Trilateral Defense Pact: Can It Be Converted Into Economic Transformation?

It is being argued that Pakistan has broken out of its South Asian “geographical prison” and positioned itself at the heart of the Middle East....

previous day 20

The Friday Times

Mohammad Sajjad Anwar

Stop Hyperventilating Over MJDA; It’s Mostly Husk

Stop Hyperventilating Over MJDA; It’s Mostly Husk

First we had the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement (SMDA) between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Much fanfare followed it. Thinner than a reed, it...

previous day 10

The Friday Times

Ejaz Haider

The Defense Pact Between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, And Türkiye: Can It Be Converted Into Economic Transformation?

The Defense Pact Between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, And Türkiye: Can It Be Converted Into Economic Transformation?

It is being argued that Pakistan has broken out of its South Asian “geographical prison” and positioned itself at the heart of the Middle East....

previous day 20

The Friday Times

Mohammad Sajjad Anwar

Fifteen Years After 18th Amendment: What Have Pakistan’s Provinces Delivered?

Fifteen Years After 18th Amendment: What Have Pakistan’s Provinces Delivered?

The debate over new provinces has resurfaced amid a deepening crisis of credibility in Pakistan’s political system—and it is not unfolding in a...

previous day 70

The Friday Times

Yousuf Nazar

Broad Peak’s Warning: The UN, UNDP, And The Future Of Glacial Governance

Broad Peak’s Warning: The UN, UNDP, And The Future Of Glacial Governance

Imagine standing at 6,600 meters on the lethal slopes of Broad Peak where a single second can rewrite mountaineering history forever. On July 30,...

previous day 20

The Friday Times

Engineer Arshad H Abbasi

The Illusion Of Reset And The Reality Of Collapse

The Illusion Of Reset And The Reality Of Collapse

The phrase “system collapse and reset” has gained currency in Pakistan’s public discourse recently. It is a superficial diagnosis of a much...

tuesday 10

The Friday Times

Zishan Ahmad Siddiqi

Pakistan’s Game: Why Rational Players Keep Producing An Irrational Outcome

Pakistan’s Game: Why Rational Players Keep Producing An Irrational Outcome

Pakistan’s history has been marred by a seemingly endless game of musical chairs between civilian, military and hybrid regimes. All different...

tuesday 20

The Friday Times

Azhar Dogar

Zoom Courtrooms: What Pakistan Can Learn From Canada’s Virtual Court Proceedings

Zoom Courtrooms: What Pakistan Can Learn From Canada’s Virtual Court Proceedings

One of the most significant changes in the administration of justice post covid in Canada and particularly in Ontario has been the efficient use of...

tuesday 10

The Friday Times

Usman Ali Virk

Full Dams, Narrow Margins

Full Dams, Narrow Margins

In the early hours of 10 August, after days of rapid filling, Tarbela touched its maximum conservation level of 5.58 million acre-feet. Mangla, on the...

tuesday 40

The Friday Times

Mohsin Leghari

Three States, One Security Calculus: A New Regional Order In The Making

Three States, One Security Calculus: A New Regional Order In The Making

The defense understanding among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye represents far more than the formalization of already close relations among three...

tuesday 50

The Friday Times

Dr. Intikhab Ulfat

Pakistan As A Potential BRICS Member In A Multipolar World Order

Pakistan As A Potential BRICS Member In A Multipolar World Order

As the global order transitions toward multipolarity and emerging economies increasingly seek alternatives to Western-led institutions, BRICS has...

10.08.2026 50

The Friday Times

Maria Mansab

Privatizing Yesterday's Grid While The World Builds Tomorrow's

Privatizing Yesterday's Grid While The World Builds Tomorrow's

Pakistan is preparing to privatize some of its electricity distribution companies at precisely the moment when the electricity business itself is...

10.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Shahid Sattar

Are New Provinces Really the Solution to Pakistan’s Problems?

Are New Provinces Really the Solution to Pakistan’s Problems?

On 30th July, the Interior Minister delivered a very important speech at Pakistan’s first economic summit at the Jinnah Convention Centre in...

10.08.2026 50

The Friday Times

Asim Anwar Khan

There Is No One Theory of Development: Authoritarianism vs Democracy

There Is No One Theory of Development: Authoritarianism vs Democracy

Pakistan does not need a hard state. It needs a development state. Egypt is a hard state; Vietnam is a development state. Anyone serious about...

10.08.2026 80

The Friday Times

Yousuf Nazar

Closing The Gap Between Law And Practice In Pakistan’s Juvenile Justice System

Closing The Gap Between Law And Practice In Pakistan’s Juvenile Justice System

Children who come into conflict with the law are often regarded as criminals for the rest of their lives. While the circumstances behind their...

09.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Mekaeel Sadiq Gondal

Statecraft, Centralisation And Pakistan’s Search For A Constitutional Order

Statecraft, Centralisation And Pakistan’s Search For A Constitutional Order

There is an old saying: when a jeweller begins to wield a blacksmith’s hammer, one must ask whether he is truly a jeweller or whether he intends to...

09.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Talimand Khan

Economic Journalism Still Reports The Symptoms, Not The System: August 1-7

Economic Journalism Still Reports The Symptoms, Not The System: August 1-7

Pakistan’s economic journalism had a better week than usual, with stories on exports, food insecurity, energy pricing, Islamic finance, agricultural...

08.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Nadeem Ul Haque

Beyond the American Umbrella: A New Strategic Triangle Takes Shape

Beyond the American Umbrella: A New Strategic Triangle Takes Shape

The Saudi Arabia-Türkiye-Pakistan defence pact is a watershed in regional security because it brings together three major Muslim states with...

08.08.2026 40

The Friday Times

Raza Rumi

A System Without Champions

A System Without Champions

Pakistan’s greatest sporting tragedy is not the absence of talent. It is the habit of forcing talent to survive without a system, then calling...

08.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Shahid Sattar

The Makkah Summit And The Emergence Of A New Strategic Axis

The Makkah Summit And The Emergence Of A New Strategic Axis

The signing of a trilateral Joint Security and Defence Pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye at the Makkah Summit marks one of the most...

08.08.2026 90

The Friday Times

Omar Quraishi

From Access To Learning: Pakistan’s Unfinished Education Agenda

From Access To Learning: Pakistan’s Unfinished Education Agenda

For a long time, Pakistan’s education debate has been dominated by numbers: how many children are in school, how many remain outside it, how many...

08.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Dr. Shahid Siddiqui

Why Is the Iran War Not Ending Anytime Soon?

Why Is the Iran War Not Ending Anytime Soon?

There were hasty celebrations over the Islamabad MoU signed on 17 June 2026. It indeed put Islamabad in a prominent spot on the stage of world...

08.08.2026 50

The Friday Times

Dr. Hasan Zafar

Delays In Tax Tribunal: Judgements Reserved, Forgotten And Reheard

Delays In Tax Tribunal: Judgements Reserved, Forgotten And Reheard

A taxpayer who misses a statutory deadline may lose the right of appeal, face recovery proceedings, pay default surcharge and suffer penalties. What...

08.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Dr. Ikramul Haq

How And Why To Change The Provincial Map Of Pakistan

How And Why To Change The Provincial Map Of Pakistan

Pakistan is a unique country in the sense that following the abrogation of one unit in 1970, it has four provinces. The fifth province called as East...

07.08.2026 60

The Friday Times

Dr Moonis Ahmar

Crying Wolf In The Power Corridors

Crying Wolf In The Power Corridors

Since the very beginning of Pakistan’s journey as an independent nation, a persistent stream of pessimism has accompanied its development. This...

07.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Anas A. Khan

Breaking The Resource Curse: How Reko Diq Could Rewrite Balochistan’s Future

Breaking The Resource Curse: How Reko Diq Could Rewrite Balochistan’s Future

Chaghi, an area that lies under the scorching sun with almost non-existent vegetation, caught investors' attention when it revealed its untapped...

07.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Arooj Sabir

The Governance Gap: Beyond Policies And Promises, Building The Capacity To Deliver

The Governance Gap: Beyond Policies And Promises, Building The Capacity To Deliver

There is a question that has stayed with me throughout my years of working closely with development, agriculture, climate resilience, and public...

07.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Dr. Saima Hashim

Stirring The Hornet’s Nest: Naqvi, The Establishment, And The Dynasties

Stirring The Hornet’s Nest: Naqvi, The Establishment, And The Dynasties

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts...

06.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Ambassador M. Alam Brohi

Redrawing Maps Will Not Fix Governance: Why The Country's Governance Crisis Is Institutional Rather Than Territorial

Redrawing Maps Will Not Fix Governance: Why The Country's Governance Crisis Is Institutional Rather Than Territorial

Every decade, Pakistan rediscovers the governance debate. The actors change, the slogans evolve and the proposed solutions differ, but the underlying...

06.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Fauzia Yazdani

Meanwhile, India's Settler-Colonial Project In Disputed Kashmir Rolls On

Meanwhile, India's Settler-Colonial Project In Disputed Kashmir Rolls On

The seventh anniversary of India's abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A passed this week with remarkably little attention in Pakistan's...

06.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Ishtiaq Ahmad

Reimagining Pakistan's Federation: Why Smaller Units Keep Pakistan Strong

Reimagining Pakistan's Federation: Why Smaller Units Keep Pakistan Strong

About 16 years ago, writing in another newspaper, I proposed the idea of 20 geographic provinces for Pakistan. I have since reconsidered my position...

05.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Yasser Latif Hamdani

The Issue Of New Provinces In Pakistan: The Prospective Division Of Sindh And The Future Of The Federation

The Issue Of New Provinces In Pakistan: The Prospective Division Of Sindh And The Future Of The Federation

The debate over the creation of new provinces in Pakistan is not a new phenomenon. However, in recent years, this issue has acquired extraordinary...

05.08.2026 40

The Friday Times

Ayaz Ali Sheikh

Pakistan's AI Policy Needs A Public-Service Evidence Standard

Pakistan's AI Policy Needs A Public-Service Evidence Standard

Pakistan’s National Artificial Intelligence Policy promises scale: one million trained professionals, thousands of trainers and scholarships, new...

05.08.2026 60

The Friday Times

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky

New Provinces, Old Kakistocracy

New Provinces, Old Kakistocracy

The establishment wants to redraw the map. Pakistan's crisis was never about the map.  Mohsin Naqvi has given an old idea a new sales pitch....

04.08.2026 100

The Friday Times

Yousuf Nazar

Pakistan's Public Wealth: The Missing Link In Fiscal Reform

Pakistan's Public Wealth: The Missing Link In Fiscal Reform

One of the most important messages in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment on Pakistan has...

04.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Shahid Anwar

From Economic Default To System Failure

From Economic Default To System Failure

In the last two weeks, I published three pieces in the Friday Times, in which I proposed a “controlled, negotiated” economic default. It was not a...

04.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Dr. Hasan Zafar

Facta Non Verba: Pakistan's Forty-Eight-Year Flood Protection Cycle

Facta Non Verba: Pakistan's Forty-Eight-Year Flood Protection Cycle

On 30 July 2026, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal announced that the National Flood Protection Plan would be placed before the Council of...

04.08.2026 50

The Friday Times

Mohsin Leghari

New Provinces Or Perks For "Cockroaches"?

New Provinces Or Perks For

Pakistan is currently embroiled in intense debate over remarks made by Federal Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, who advocated for creating new...

03.08.2026 60

The Friday Times

Asmatullah Niazi

A Qualified Non-Specialist Writes To Pakistan's Gen Z

A Qualified Non-Specialist Writes To Pakistan's Gen Z

This Youth Day, August 12, I will wait to hear an awakened dreamer from Pakistan's Gen Z. I suspect I will keep waiting.  Look around the...

03.08.2026 40

The Friday Times

Dr. Rakhshinda Perveen

Sindh High Court As The National Mediator And Sindh’s Lower Riparian Rights

Sindh High Court As The National Mediator And Sindh’s Lower Riparian Rights

River Indus and Sindh have lower riparian rights under customary international law as well as the Madrid Declaration; the Declaration of Montevideo;...

03.08.2026 30

The Friday Times

Dr M Shahrukh Shahnawaz

Who Can Pakistan Really Afford?

Who Can Pakistan Really Afford?

Section 1: The Country Is Not Going Broke—Its Social Contract IsPakistan is frequently portrayed as a country perpetually on the brink of...

03.08.2026 40

The Friday Times

Shahid Sattar

The System Has Collapsed. Who Was Running It?

The System Has Collapsed. Who Was Running It?

Mohsin Naqvi's declaration that Pakistan's governance system has collapsed was not a diagnosis. It was a confession. At the Pakistan...

03.08.2026 100

The Friday Times

Yousuf Nazar

The Price Of Incomplete Devolution

The Price Of Incomplete Devolution

Few constitutional reforms in Pakistan have enjoyed the political consensus and public acclaim accorded to the 18th Constitutional Amendment. Passed...

03.08.2026 40

The Friday Times

Dr. Shahid Siddiqui

The Wealth Of Nations Begins In The Classroom

For every nation, there comes a defining moment when it must decide what kind of future it wishes to build. For Pakistan, that moment is now. While...

02.08.2026 50

The Friday Times

M Shaban Uppal

Court To Revisit Ruling On Christian Girl's Conversion And Marriage

ISLAMABAD — The Federal Constitutional Court on Friday (July 24) agreed to reconsider its own judgment upholding the marriage of a 13-year-old...

01.08.2026 20

The Friday Times

Asif Angelo Aqeel