While the domestic media continues to sing the praises of Mustafa Kamal (and he deserves a lot of praise) for his #2 ranking by Foreign Policy magazine, bad reporting is in play.

If you check the ratings that were issued by Foreign Policy magazine, you will find that Syed Mustafa Kamal, Mayor of the great City of Karachi is #57, not number #2. I can however see how someone would think that he was number #2 based on a profile page that was included, but it clearly says next to his name #57.

Can the media please correct this information for the general public or are they too busy gaining favors from the MQM for this propaganda?

Screen shots for your review:

Foreign Policy Magazine has released their new “Failed States Index for 2008” ranking countries based on specific criteria. Pakistan has placed 9th.

What is interesting to me are the graphs that have been included to support the fact. For example, the powers of Parliament in a failed state: Read more »

Naveed Ismail, CEO of KESC Pakistan, refuted this story from The Nation and other media outlets in a press conference this morning. His statement is that “he works for a public limited company and his salary will be printed in the annual report. But the reports of the salary are much higher than he actually makes.”

The Nation ran this story this morning and cleared up why KESC can not be trusted. 

The CEO of Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) is being paid in dollars despite serious financial crisis in the organisation, well-informed sources told The Nation here on Wednesday.

The CEO, Naveed Ismail, received his initial pay worth US$ 60,000/-. It is noteworthy that CEO and rest of the 40 senior KESC officials are getting their salaries through A.F Ferguson Audit Company in a bid to dupe the lower staff of the company. Moreover, the total amount being paid to them is Rs. 4.8 million (after conversion into rupees), which is the highest salary of a KESC CEO in the past.

These hefty salaries being offered to the new team KESC management are an extra burden on the company already facing serious financial crisis. The new KESC management had successfully curtailed its above-mentioned liabilities amounting to Rs. 65 billion through negotiations with the government before taking the charge.

On the other hand, the company has transferred the financial burden to the government by not owning the debts.

Sources further revealed that the amount paid to these officials would be around $8.22 million annually. Meanwhile, the demand and supply gap of electricity in the city is still lingering on despite tall claims of the new KESC management. Since the privatisation of the company, no substantial step has been taken with regard to improving the situation.

Meanwhile a KESC official, Qashif Effendi, has strictly rejected the report given above. He said the CEO was getting pay in Pakistani currency adding the total amount would be published in the annual report of the company. He further said that no audit company has been hired for this purpose. “We are the employees of the KESC and are being paid by the company”, he added. On the other hand, the longstanding issue loadshedding still persists in the metropolis and the city is facing 6 to 8 hours long power breakdowns on rotational basis.

Read more »

The bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad on 20 September 2008 has hit Pakistan hard. The reputation of the hotel as a meeting-point and social hub for the capital’s political and diplomatic class ensured that the attack - which killed fifty-three people and wounded 250 - would receive the maximum worldwide publicity that the assailants doubtless wanted. But the effect of the enormous blast involving around 600 kilograms of explosives also reinforced the insecurity of the working-class Pakistanis who were its principal victims. Even more, the incident has intensified serious concerns over the political future of Pakistan itself.

In assessing the country’s predicament at this critical juncture, three elements that often fail to get the attention they deserve need to be borne in mind: the role of Washington and the way it is perceived by Pakistanis; the distinction between the country’s ostensible (or political) government and its real (or shadow) one; and the role of class and its changing dynamics in Pakistan’s economy and society. Read more »