hameed haroon, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you are in london but back home in pakistan there is a great deal of noise, energy, vibrancy to the last couple of weeks of campaigning in the pakistani elections, and yet you say that democracy in your country is threatened, it is in grave danger. why? | threatened, it is in grave danger. why? i think the fact of the matter is that democracy without representative government or responsible government is not really democracy. and if you are on the path to democracy, mopping up a militancy, or on the path of trying to create a new social architecture in pakistan, if you play around with the institution of democracy, you are going to do great damage to its

hameed haroon, it has been a pleasure to have you on a hardtalk. thank you very much indeed. day was another hot day across eastern areas of england throughout the weekend, with scenes like this, it was england and wales that had the lion's share of the sunshine and warmth. sunday brought some useful rain to of parts of northern ireland scotland and eastern scotland held on to some sunny spells. this is the weather system that brought some rain to northern ireland and parts of scotland, it's moving southwards in the next 24 hours and behind it, it's introducing a somewhat cooler but more noticeably fresher feel to weather. into north—west scotland and northern ireland as monday begins, sunny spells here, one or two showers developing. central and eastern parts of scotland, early outbreaks of rain clear away with sunshine following. for england and wales, many with a dry start. early on in the west, this strip of cloud, outbreak of rain, some thundery bursts. all that slowly moving east during the day. maybe something decent on the garden. as you can see, still some heat, where

hameed haroon, welcome to hardtalk. thank you.ou're in london, but back home in pakistan there is a great deal of noise, energy, vibrancy to the last couple of weeks of campaigning in the pakistani elections, and yet you say that democracy in your country is threatened, it is in grave danger. why? i think, steve, the fact of the matter is that democracy without representative government or responsible government is not really democracy. and if, on the path to democracy, or on the path to mopping up a militancy, or on the path of trying to create a new social architecture in pakistan, if you're going to play around with the institution of democracy, you are going to do great damage to its possibility under a new political dispensation. you're pointing a finger at the pakistani military. in a recent op—ed in the washington post, you wrote this, "there is an unprecedented assault by the pakistani military on the freedom of the press". now, pakistan has got a very difficult and sometimes toxic history of relations between the military

hameed haroon is the ceo of dawn and also head of the all pakistan newspapers society.l leadership, on the eve of the elections. the media is required to be silent about it under the guise of national security. and as a consequence, we are being targeted because we don't believe that kind of silence is what this country is all about. last year, former prime minister nawaz sharif was disqualified from office. he's now on trial for corruption. sharif‘s supporters and many analysts say his rivals, the military, forced him from power using the courts as a cover. the army denies that, but the journalists and outlets being targeted are those critical of the military. earlier this year, geo news was taken off air in large parts of pakistan, reappearing after reportedly agreeing to change its editorial stance. at the dawn newspaper offices, they are still printing copies and still reporting as before. but with just over three weeks until the elections, many in pakistan are nervous about what lies ahead. secunder kermani, bbc news, islamabad. from construction to medicine, bambo

hameed haroon is the ceo of dawn and also head of the all pakistan newspapers society.e decapitation of a political class, of political leadership, on the eve of the elections. the media is required to be silent about it under the guise of national security. and as a consequence, we are being targeted because we don't believe that kind of silence is what this country is all about. last year, former prime minister nawaz sharif was disqualified from office. he's now on trial for corruption. sharif‘s supporters and many analysts say his rivals, the military, forced him from power using the courts as a cover. the army denies that, but the journalists and outlets being targeted are those critical of the military. earlier this year, geo news was taken off air in large parts of pakistan, reappearing after reportedly agreeing to change its editorial stance. at the dawn newspaper offices, they are still printing copies and still reporting as before. but with just over three weeks until the elections, many in pakistan are nervous about what lies ahead. secunder kermani, bbc news,

hameed haroon is the ceo of dawn and also head of the all pakistan newspapers society.political class, of political leadership, on the eve of the elections. the media is required to be silent about it under the guise of national security. and as a consequence, we are being targeted because we don't believe that kind of silence is what this country is all about. last year, former prime minister nawaz sharif was disqualified from office. he's now on trial for corruption. sharif‘s supporters and many analysts say his rivals, the military, forced him from power using the courts as a cover. the army denies that, but the journalists and outlets being targeted are those critical of the military. earlier this year, geo news was taken off air in large parts of pakistan, reappearing after reportedly agreeing to change its editorial stance. at the dawn newspaper offices, they are still printing copies and still reporting as before. but, with just over three weeks until the elections, many in pakistan are nervous about what lies ahead. secunder kermani, bbc news, islamabad. new mig

in the bbc hard talk interview, the ceo of dawn group hameed haroon, accused the country's powerful military an attempt to favour second level string leaders and a patched up coalition which will drew opposition from the deep state.|j patched up coalition which will drew opposition from the deep state. i am pretty sure from what you're you mean imran khan and his pti party. there are times that the index of imran khan goes up with the security state and there are times that other people in his party are named. you're throwing out... you havejust said something potentially explosive in pakistani politics, but the fortu nes in pakistani politics, but the fortunes of imran khan go up and down depending on the interventions of the deep state and intelligence services. where is your evidence? you are a journalist and you know you cannot say these things without having absolutely irrefutable evidence. i think that evidence today in pakistan must, to a certain extent, be left out, through inference and the work of human rights organisations, through the works of political commentators. i am not act