Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s London trip to attend the World Islamic Economic Forum was dominated, as most of Pakistan’s international engagements seem to be, by questions of war and militancy. Media coverage of Nawaz’s trip was dominated by his meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Afghan President Hamid Karzai at 10 Downing Street. Officially, Nawaz repeated what he has said many times before, including in his first meeting with Karzai in Islamabad: Pakistan does not intend to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and pick sides once Nato forces begin to withdraw from the country next year. As is always the case with such meetings, it is what may have been discussed off the record that will be more consequential. A report in The New York Times, which coincided with the trilateral meeting, revealed that the US had caught Afghan intelligence working with the TTP in an attempt to gain leverage over Pakistan. Since Karzai has cried himself hoarse over alleged Pakistani support for the Afghan Taliban, perhaps he can now choose to be at least not so hypocritically public about his complaints in the future. For now his reconciliation efforts with the Afghan Taliban are going nowhere and he needs Pakistan’s help in allowing Mullah Baradar back into the country among other things. So for once we hold both the strategic and moral upper hand.

On the domestic front, Nawaz reiterated his commitment to holding peace talks with the Taliban but admitted that the process had been delayed by continued militant attacks. Although he said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was responsible for initiating dialogue, Nawaz did not give a time frame or any indication of what may be discussed with the TTP. With all this activity on the sidelines of the World Islamic Economic Forum, Nawaz’s speech to the forum itself didn’t draw as much attention, even though he had much of value to say. His speech was a coherent critique of the inequality that has become inherent to the modern capitalist system. He spoke of the inequality that exists not only between nations but also within those nations and called for a system of globalisation where the free movement of capital and goods would also be accompanied by the free movement of labour. Such words may not capture the world’s attention quite as much as our militancy problems, but the international community would do well to heed them.



It took former Awami National Party leader Azam Hoti almost six months to deliver on his ‘threat’ to make ‘startling revelations’ against the top party leadership. What Hoti, expelled from the party earlier this year after lashing out at its chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, has alleged is that Wali, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president of the ANP, Afrasiab Khattak, took $35 million from the US, in a deal that also involved an Arab country, and ‘sold out’ the Pakhtuns. Hoti admits he has no proof and has failed to explain what the US sought in return for the handover of the greenbacks. These unexpected allegations could well be the manifestations of a decades-old family feud that has simmered between the Hotis and the Walis. It stems in part from the displeasure of Begum Nasim Wali Khan, Azam Hoti’s sister, over not being given control of the party after it re-emerged in the late 1970s following a ban placed by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on the now defunct National Awami Party. Begum Wali Khan had also recently attacked the leadership abilities of her stepson, Asfandyar, and there have been rumours of an attempt to create a new ANP faction.

Complicating the situation is the fact that the ex-chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ameer Haider Hoti, Azam Hoti’s son and Asfandyar Wali’s maternal nephew, has defended Asfandyar Wali – distancing himself from the Hoti tirade. This goes in favour of the Wali camp, also quashing speculation that Azam Hoti had been trying to create a path to ANP leadership for his son – currently an MNA from Mardan. One piece of information that is missing – and which can be very interesting – is the position of the Bilours of Peshawar. On which side does the family stand? Family and politics tend to go together in our part of the world. The allegations of corruption against top ANP leaders appear to be a part of the troubles so often thrown up when any party tries to rebuild itself. The ANP is currently doing just that after its debacle in the May 2013 polls, with Asfandyar Wali attempting a process of reorganisation. The sudden storm whipped up by Azam Hoti obviously hinders things, but right now it seems that the main party leadership is ready to stand with Wali. The longer term political impact of this feud will be watched. While this controversy may well blow over, inevitably it will leave some damage behind. How much is something that for now is impossible to predict with the allegations made as yet not pinned down by anything that even resembles hard fact.