Banyan economist who is

Not that anyone is celebrating. There is still much feverish talk that the elections, somehow, will not be allowed to take place, though it is hard to see what could stop them now.

The government and parliament completed their five year terms on March 16th. Now an interim government, led by a caretaker prime minister, is supposed to be installed for a two-month period, so that a neutral administration can oversee the election.

If the deadlock continues to the end of the week, the issue will be handed over to the independent Election Commission to decide, in a move that would be seen as a failure of democratic bargaining. Some fear that a caretaker prime minister not chosen by the politicians could perhaps be persuaded by the military to just continue in office without the bother of elections.

Mr Musharraf had planned to stay on as president, which is supposedly a ceremonial position, but he was eased out after that election by Mr Zardari, who replaced him. Musharraf went into exile, though he is currently threatening to return and stand in the current polls.

The PPP suspects that the military establishment was behind the assassination, though it has been able to prove nothing about that while in office. Once back as chief justice, Mr Chaudhry duly hounded the government every day, questioning many of its decisions, opening corruption cases and trying to oust Mr Zardari.

The other challenge came from the military. Mr Zardari was forced to hand over security and foreign policy to Rawalpindi. At times, it looked like the army was behind plots to remove the government. Overall, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani won praise though for keeping the military out of politics relative to the recent past at least. Keynote speakers, moderators and panellists for your event.

A veteran international correspondent and editor and one of Asia's most experienced commentators. A veteran international correspondent, he was based in Singapore for many years as The Economist's Banyan Columnist, covering Asia.

He remains a leading journalist and commentator on the Asia region. Banyan touches on many of the critical issues shaping Asia's future, including economic and political integration, climate change and competition for resources. Prior to his time stationed in India, he spent two years working on economist. He had returned to London in to become Finance and Economics editor having been Southeast Asia correspondent based in Bangkok.

At The Economist, he was also a writer for Global Agenda, economist. He is regularly interviewed on television and radio and quoted in international print media.