DAWN Editorials 9th August 2026

Makkah agreement

IN the midst of a gruelling war between the US and Iran — currently at a stalemate — the signing of the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday is a highly symbolic development.

It comes at a time when the American defence umbrella has proved of little help in protecting Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states. Rather, the presence of US military assets in these states has pulled them into the war, as the Iranians and their regional armed allies target these facilities.

Seen in this context, many questions swirl around the new defence agreement, specifically the fact that it considers an attack against one signatory to be an attack against all.

The prime minister, the Saudi crown prince and the Turkish president were all upbeat about the new pact. PM Shehbaz Sharif termed it “historic”, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it is open to “friendly nations”.

This is not an ‘Islamic Nato’. Moreover, similar alliances have been attempted before, such as the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition founded in 2015 and headed by former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif. The latter alliance is not linked to any major operations.

Pakistani-Saudi defence collaboration goes back decades, and the current pact only solidifies the arrangement, while also bringing Turkiye on board. But the question in many minds is what role the pact will play vis-à-vis Iran.

A Saudi deputy minister has said the agreement “does not represent an effort to establish a military axis or a sectarian bloc”. This clarification is welcome. On the other hand, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has said that more cooperation among regional states “can secure its security”.

If the US-Iran war remains unresolved and major hostilities erupt again, the new alliance will be put to the test, especially if Tehran resumes attacks on the pro-America GCC states.

Suffice it to say, such alliances should work to reduce tensions between Muslims states, and not be used against any Muslim country.

The US has shown it is uninterested in protecting its Gulf allies, even though the latter have purchased billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry from it. Instead of depending on the US or other foreign powers for security, regional states — indeed all OIC members — should pledge to refrain from aggression against each other.

Iran should stop attacking the GCC states, while the Gulf sheikhdoms should stop foreign forces from using their soil against Iran. The Arabs and the Iranians cannot change their geography; they have to live side by side; hence it would be best if they worked out a modus vivendi for mutual security.

Hopefully, the new defence agreement can promote unity within the Muslim world, instead of adding to the existing fissures.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026

Conflicting priorities

THERE is a reasonable argument that the democratic process must go on regardless of prevailing conditions; that powering through adversity is what makes systems stronger. At the same time, it must be said that the recent elections in Azad Kashmir really should have been planned and conducted better. The AJK Election Commission recently announced that the third and final phase of general elections in the territory, scheduled for Aug 10 across the entire Poonch division, will now be held only in Bagh and Haveli. Of the division’s 11 constituencies, only four will elect leaders to the AJK Assembly this Monday. Polling in the other seven was deferred after the home secretary reported law-and-order concerns following the July 27 clashes between police and the banned Joint Awami Action Committee in Rawalakot, which resulted in multiple casualties. No new date for the suspended polls has been announced, and it now seems that those areas may go without representation in the AJK legislature for the foreseeable future.

It was a controversial move to announce the election results piecemeal rather than after the exercise concluded in all constituencies. It now seems as though the authorities had anticipated that the election would not be completed. It is hoped that a new assembly will not be constituted and a government sworn in while seven constituencies sit unrepresented, with no date for their enfranchisement. As it is, rigging complaints have been coming not from a defeated outsider but from a partner in the ruling coalition at the centre. That alone makes it difficult not to view the exercise with considerable trepidation. The PML-N is claiming it will form the AJK government despite the polls not being complete, and it will find it difficult to shrug off the impression that this was the intention all along. But the process can still be salvaged. Given where things stand, the restive parts of AJK may stabilise quicker if they are governed by a House they have elected themselves. The election commission should give a new poll date for the deferred constituencies immediately, rather than wait until conditions are deemed “conducive”. It is also important that no government is sworn in at Muzaffarabad until every seat has been properly contested. It is essential that the political process march on, but it cannot leave any citizen behind.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026

FIFA controversy

FIFA PRESIDENT Gianni Infantino is at the centre of a storm of his own making. Even after a crisis meeting in Morocco, where Mr Infantino received support from the FIFA management to continue as president and issued an apology for his controversial plan to sell stakes to private investors to run the World Cup, there is discontent. European football’s governing body UEFA has categorically said it has lost confidence in him, while the Norwegian Football Association has demanded Mr Infantino’s resignation. But there is still support for him from Africa’s football body CAF. Mexico, Argentina and Qatar have also backed the beleaguered Mr Infantino’s continuation as FIFA chief as he seeks re-election for a fourth and final term next year. Two weeks ago, it seemed he would be re-elected unopposed. But his proposal to sell a $4.2bn stake in a new $20bn commercial subsidiary — the FIFA Forward Enterprise — that would run major football events, and his push to have it approved by the 211 FIFA member associations, led to an unprecedented backlash. That proposal came with the caveat of increased funding, of up to $40m, for member associations — an amount large enough to sway votes in his favour, especially those of the smaller members — but it was shelved after UEFA’s rallying call saw the Asian Football Confederation as well as the North and Central American body CONCACAF join the opposition.

It has been a humiliating climb-down for Mr Infantino, whose senior adviser Carlos Cordeiro resigned in protest, while FIFA’s chief operating officer Kevin Lamour stated that the staff felt deceived by the plan. But he is clinging on to power even as UEFA has threatened to boycott FIFA events. When the US launched a corruption investigation into FIFA in 2015, it vowed it would reform the football body. But Mr Infantino’s brazen use of his position to push for what was essentially the sale of the World Cup shows that FIFA is far from reformed.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026