The Americans do not have a monopoly on freedom and protection for women. This is the message from yesterday's historic event in Islamabad where President Zardari signed the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill ensuring equal rights for men and women in accordance with the Constitution. This was an especially bold move by the President, who has taken a firm stand against religious parties, choosing instead to stand with the legacy of the Quaid.

In case you missed Nadeem Paracha's column in Dawn yesterday, take a moment to read it, please. Nadeem makes an excellent point about the recently concluded election in NA-55 and what this really says about what politics really resonates with the people.

by Cyril Almeida

Let’s walk through the process for appointing superior court judges devised by Raza Rabbani’s Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR). A vacancy on the Supreme Court (SC) arises following the retirement of one of its 17 permanent justices.

Somewhere, six men with grave expressions sit down to decide who they will recommend for the job. Seated at the table are the chief justice (CJ) of Pakistan, the two senior-most judges of the SC after the CJ, the attorney general, the federal law minister and a senior advocate of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).

Dawn today reports about US special envoy Richard Holbrooke's comments after his recent trip to South Asia. To a group in Washington, Mr. Holbrooke said that Pakistan has largley taken control of the threat from militants and that the greater concern to the US currently is Pakistan's economy and energy. This is good news, and promising for a better and more productive relationship with the US, but also for getting at the root of the problem in the country.

There has been a lot of discussion about the need to let the proper process play out with regards to accusations against Zardari. Some have even called it a 'coup by other means' or 'coup by judiciary' the way that opposition groups are trying to use the courts to throw out the democratically elected president. The Daily Times today gets to the bottom of the argument, though, and points out very correctly that despite what opposition groups might wish to be true, Zardari has never been convicted of any crime by any court. So what is all the fighting about?

President Zardari has published the following column in today's issue of the UK newspaper Guardian.

When I was elected president more than a year ago, Pakistan was in a grave condition, strained by terrorism and a ravaged economy. Countering the effects of a decade of dictatorship requires bold actions, some of which are unpopular. I am working with parliament to run a country, not a political campaign. The goal of our democratic government is to implement policies that will dramatically improve the lives of Pakistanis. In time, good policies will become good politics.

Something of a controversy broke out recently over a suprisingly uncontroversial event. Yes, we have come to expect foreign aid, the judiciary, politics - all of these to involve controversies. But fashion? This is something that may be controversial in some small circles, but for most people it either does not register as important, or it is some interesting thing that may be followed like an art. The recent controversy broke out over the way that the Lahore fashion week was reported in the international media.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Congress on Wednesday that her department was seeking $3.2 billion for Pakistan during the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct 1.

She told a Senate appropriations committee that the money would be spent “to combat extremism, promote economic development, strengthen democratic institutions, and build a long-term relationship with the Pakistani people”.

The past year of the Zardari government has been filled with controversy and tension. Every week there is another prediction that the government is breathing its last, and only a matter of days will go by before its death. But with each of these controversies, each of these 'near-death experiences,' the government comes out not only alive, but actually stronger.

In case you missed it, Shahzaib Khanzada Interviewed Mr. Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s esteemed Ambassador to the United States.

Think what you want about Nadeem Paracha. Sometimes it seems like nobody is safe from his sharp tongued wit. But then again, he seems to have a remarkable patience. Considering his intense frustration with the right-wing chatterboxes and conspiracy wallas, you might expect him to be heated and angry when confronted by some follower of Zaid Hamid or Imran Khan. Actually, it seems to make him even calmer as he tries to point out, in his own way, how confused such a young man might be.

Nadeem Paracha's latest 'Smoker's Corner' column for Dawn is just such a chance encounter between the writer and a dedicated follower of the right-wing, typically dressed just like an American teenager. Read this and think if you would have the same patience!

Who are Pakistan's real friends? This is a popular question, and one with answers that come quickly off the tongue. China and Saudi Arabia are certainly friends. Everyone will tell you that. What about America? NOT a friend! This is also always the answer. There is no suprise to this attitude as it is presented daily on the pages of newspapers and in the discussions on TV talk shows. But a closer look at the thinking behind some of these attitudes more closely. Gulmina Bilal Ahmad does this in her column in today's Daily Times, and her comments are very revealing.

by Agha Haider Raza

There have been three major occasions when the Pakistani middle class has broken away from its traditionally conservative disposition to come out and announce its 'revolutionary' political aspirations. The first incident of demonstrating political assertiveness was in the late 1960s when the bulk of the youth began to air their grievances against Pakistan's military-industrialist nexus headed by military dictator, Field Martial Ayub Khan.

The judiciary crisis appears to be passing as the government is accepting the judiciary's recommendations and everyone is moving on. As it turns out, people in the Executive and the Judiciary can have some disagreements, and they can talk to each other and work out solutions that are acceptable to all involved. This should not be a surprise, really, since it is what happens every day in other democracies. Why, then, must every disagreement in Pakistan be treated as an existential crisis in the popular media and public dialogue?

The judicial controversy has taken a turn for the silly. What is now being called a constitutional crisis is no such thing, and is actually simply a lot of hysteria being created by political parties and media types who are looking to increase their ratings. The fact is that the Constitution has been followed to the letter, and there is no legal problem. The only problem that can be found is one of overly inflated egos and legal ignorance.