Media watch: Nawaz's speech and the sugar crisis

Media analyses Nawaz Sharif's speech against the government along with the ongoing sugar crisis .

Media watch is a daily round-up of key articles featured on news websites, hand-picked by The Express Tribune web staff.

Angry Nawaz

It is not just in the economic sphere that we have a mess. The tussle between the executive and the judiciary poses a huge threat to the system while the consistent failure to abide by court decisions means the government has lost respect in the eyes of people. It has also floundered as far as offering flood relief is concerned, with reports of mismanagement now pouring in. (thenews.com.pk)

Noises of discontent

Mian Nawaz’s remark about martial law deserves some attention for he was addressing a genuine concern, though it reflected upon both the performance of the government and the commitment of the military to democracy. There is a genuine danger, because the government’s ability to control the present price hike will determine whether it can survive, or whether it will be overthrown. (nation.com.pk)

Breaking the begging bowl

Mian Nawaz Sharif should not be playing politics at a time like this, as there is a serious economic crisis. It is a well-documented phenomenon that in order to sustain our economy, we have always used the ‘begging bowl’. Mr Sharif is right in pointing out that most of the economic policies are anti-poor, but to change all this we have to revolutionise the economy. (dailytimes.com.pk)

The sugar spiral

It is unfortunate that the federal government disregarded all warnings of insufficient domestic production during the last crushing season and failed to import the required quantities of the commodity to leverage its position in the market. Also, it did not release the state reserves well in time to ward off shortages in the market and allowed matters to go from bad to worse. (dawn.com)

Avoid conflict of interest

There is a consensus and it makes perfect economic sense from a theoretical standpoint to allow the market to set itself the price of sugar - a commodity that operates within perfect competition conditions in most countries whereby supply and demand determines price. The cost of growing sugarcane in Pakistan is uneconomical at present. (brecorder.com)