Adil Najam

Back in July, we had written that “change may be brewing in Pakistani politics.” Over the last many months the themes of change and the indicators of change have been a frequent subject of discussion here. Our ATP Poll on the key events of 2006 seemed to validate the sense that 2007 may, in fact, be the year of change that many anticipate it to be; but possibly in ways that we do not anticipate.

We at ATP are a patient lot. We did not assume then, and do not assume now, that change awaits around the corner. In some ways, important change has already come. Slowly it has crept upon us and the political calculus in Pakistan today is markedly different from what it was a year ago.

The fiasco with Chief Justice Iftikhar’s removal, the flexing of the muscles by the religious extreme, the posturing by the politicos (including their relative silence at the beginning of the CJ debacle and now the macho statement from Chaudhry Shujaat) are all indicators that add to the indicators we had pointed out back in July. The result, of course, is a constant buildup of the popular fatigue and the democratic desire.

For weeks there has been (increasingly credible) chatter about a possible deal between Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the one hand and the Musharraf regime on the other. What that would mean for Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz or the Qaaf-League that the Chaudhries put together remains an important unknown.

For days now there has also been (more intriguing but less credible) chatter about some impending change in Gen. Musharraf’s status; within and without the Army. With the military top brass meeting right now there are rumors of the possibility that he just might be persuaded to hand over the Chief of Army Staff position to someone else but remain as President, possibly with the return of BB.

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Adil Najam

I think that political parody – even when not of the highest quality – is often indicative of the political trends in a society. In fact, the presence of parody itself is a medium of political expression. Shows such as Daily Show with John Stewart, the Stephen Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, the many British political satires, Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain, Three Man Show, and GEO TV presentations such as Bush-Mush Hotta Hai are not only indicators of vivid political imaginations but also of political vigor.

I saw the following video of a parody of a Gen. Musharraf speech by a student on Adnan Siddiqui’s blog yesterday.

WPvideo 1.10

Mush in action

00:54

I do not know where and what context this was in, but it is one of a number of such parodies (some, it seems by the same young person) available of YouTube. The quality of the portrayal is variable at best as is the humor in the substance. However, like all satirical parodies it is a to be viewed not only for its humorous content but also for the points it seeks to make as a depiction of public opinion and expression.

Guest Post by Babar Bhatti

After many false starts mobile number portability (MNP) was implemented in Pakistan recently (March 23 to be precise). MNP allows users to switch mobile phone company while keeping their existing mobile number. MNP was one of the key items of Pakistan’s Mobile Cellular Policy of 2004.

The implementation of MNP was a huge and expensive undertaking as it requires significant system changes and all phone companies have to agree to rules and tariffs for routing calls. Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) is the government agency which was responsible for overseeing the MNP initiative. In the beginning there was reluctance from the big mobile companies and PTCL and there were disagreements about the tariffs, which caused delays (see timeline below).

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