How the junta grapples with a resurgent Imran Khan would be the main event and a measly coalition government merely a sideshow.

As Pakistan votes today (February 8), the fight is expected to be between Nawaz Sharif's PMLN and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's PPP. Imran Khan's party (PTI), stripped of its election symbol, is forced to field its candidates as independents.

Nawaz Sharif will have to tackle both the economic and political future of Pakistan and define and refine the roadmap, if he has any.

The Shehbaz Sharif government’s abject abdication of the political and governance space to the army has paved the way for an Indonesian-style Dwifungsi or “dual function”.

Imran Khan is in serious trouble. It is difficult to see how he can extricate himself from the straitjacket he finds himself in, which is largely of his own making.

At a time when Pakistan is not just at the brink of an economic disaster but faces a meltdown of state institutions, the civil and military elite have chosen to intensify their power struggle.

Musharraf’s lasting legacy is upending the constitutional order, death and destruction in Balochistan, sowing the winds of Talibanisation for which the country reaps the whirlwinds, and a career full of lies and deceit.

In a country, where the last police strike was in the 1970s, police protesting publicly and virtually indicting the army for the losses in Peshawar is a very significant development.

He merged the Marxist philosophy with a practical political struggle. He excelled where the traditional communist ideologues of Pakistan had failed.

While the civilian leadership has a window of opportunity to wrestle back some of the political space lost to the 'hybrid regime', the state of play remains fluid.

The proclamations made by the army and the ISI chief at the unprecedented presser are welcome; though as the old Russian saying goes, "One should trust, but verify!"

Why were reactions from Pakistani supporters, opinion makers and former players to Afghanistan's Asia Cup loss – and the sledging episode – so xenophobic and distasteful?

The elimination of the terrorist mastermind raises urgent questions about the Taliban, Pakistan, and the likelihood of the next big jihadi attack.

Running a super-charged campaign, Khan was able to turn what otherwise would have been a mundane provincial electoral affair into a referendum of sorts over his ouster from the high office.

Negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban has always ended in more bloodshed and there is little reason to believe it would be different this time. 

The very factors that led to the rise of Shehbaz Sharif become significant if Pakistan is to witness a recovery of its economy and an evolution of the army's role.

In Pakistan, when someone is coerced by the army to change their views, it is said that the person’s 'software has been updated'. This may be the time for brass to ponder if their own software needs a reset.

Is there a method to this madness? Can the Supreme Court of Pakistan redeem itself at this crucial juncture? If it fails, will opposition parties rise to the occasion?

The army remains doggedly averse to cede its monopoly over defining the ‘national interest’ and formulating the national security and foreign policies.

While the political sands are shifting, the ultimate face-off remains between Nawaz Sharif and the army – with Imran Khan and other minor players being a sideshow.