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ISLAMABAD: Just before a PTI’s general body meeting on Wednesday, police and security officials in plainclothes allegedly raided and took control of PTI’s central secretariat in Islamabad’s Sector G-8, stopped members from entering the premises, warning them that they would have to face consequences, party sources said.
The PTI general body, however, managed to hold a virtual meeting in which it decided to hold intra-party elections within a fortnight.
An official of the capital police denied the allegation, pointing out that a raid could not be conducted without having its permission from a magistrate and no such order was issued on Wednesday.
He claimed on condition of anonymity they went there for security. “[As] a judgement against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi was announced, there was a possibility that a protest would be held there. Police did not enter the secretariat and remained outside.”
At the online meeting, the PTI general body nominated Omar Ayub as chief organiser and empowered him to issue notifications for intra-party polls. It also nominated new election commission, headed by Raoof Hasan as chief election commissioner, with one member from each province and Gilgit Baltistan.
Noorul Haq from Sindh, Qazi Mohammad Anwer from KP, Walid Iqbal from Punjab, Mohammad Daud Khan from Balochistan and Nasir Shah from GB have been nominated as members of the election commission from their respective provinces.
Official claims police reached party’s central secretariat for ‘security’; PTI to hold intra-party polls within a fortnight
A party representative, requesting anonymity, said the general body meeting was planned to be held in Islamabad, all provincial capitals and GB for which an arrangement was made to connect all stations through internet.
“However, in Islamabad, police along with people in civil dress reached the central secretariat, removed guards and took control of the secretariat. Staff was told to go out and a few of them, who wished to stay there, were restricted to their offices. Police officials threatened the PTI members, who were reaching there to attend the general body meeting, and told them not to take part in any political activity if they don’t want to face consequences,” he said. “Later, members attended the meeting virtually.”
A ‘crackdown’ similar to the one in Islamabad was launched against the party in Quetta but the members swiftly changed venue of the meeting and managed to attend it physically, according to him.
The meeting was convened by Sibghatullah Virk in Islamabad, Sher Ali Arbab in KP, Ijaz Minhas in Punjab, Khurram Sher Zaman in Sindh and Salar Kakar in Balochistan, he said. The general body decided that the PTI would hold polls to the satisfaction of the ECP and that Imran Khan would remain party’s chairman-for-life.
Imran’s nomination papers
Also on Wednesday, the apex court offices returned Mr Khan’s challenges to the rejection of his nomination papers for Mianwali (NA-89) and Lahore (NA-122) seats, with a direction to remove the deficiencies in the petitions and resubmit them within a fortnight.
Soon after his conviction in the Toshakhana and cipher cases, Mr Khan approached the Supreme Court through Advocate Uzair Karamat Bhandari to seek a direction that he was entitled to get election symbols besides his candidature should be included in the list of validly nominated aspirants from Mianwali and Lahore constituencies to contest the Feb 8 elections.
While returning the petitions, the court office pointed out that the case description was improper, the petitions lack mentioning of actual controversies, chronology of litigations, findings recorded by the forums below and the questions requiring consideration by the SC.
Mr Khan’s nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer on the grounds that he was disqualified from contesting polls due to Toshakhana charges and for defaulting on a Rs3.6 million payment of social security. The Lahore High Court also upheld the tribunal’s decision, validating the rejection of papers.
The petitions contended the forums below based their decision on the Toshakhana case, finding that such conviction disqualified the petitioner under Article 63(1h) of the Constitution. The rejection was wrong and irrational as the said article did not simply require conviction but conviction for an offence involving ‘moral turpitude’, the pleas argued, highlighting that this was a ‘significant omission’.
Pemra ordered to facilitate PTI
On the other hand, the Lahore High Court, in a detailed verdict issued on a petition of Mr Khan, directed Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to ensure that the PTI founding chairman as well as candidates of all political parties are given free access to media platforms in view of the upcoming general elections.
“The government has no right to prevent the media from covering certain candidates or political parties. Similarly, the media platforms must be able to provide unconstrained access to candidates belonging to all political parties to transmit their opinions and manifestos to the public enabling them to make informed choices,” Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza ruled.
The judge disposed of the petition on Jan 4 after Pemra’s counsel claimed that the authority had not issued any instructions to TV channels about any restriction on Mr Khan’s media coverage.
In the detailed ruling, Justice Mirza said free and fair polls required an opportunity for all candidates and their supporters to promote their respective manifesto, to have access to and hold meetings at the venue of their choice and to travel freely across the country.
A free and fair election required freedom of speech, assembly, movement, information through an independent media, he noted, adding that “without these freedoms, no election can be called free, fair and democratic”.
The LHC asked Pemra to ensure that the petitioner and candidates of all parties are given unrestricted access to media platforms.
Wajih Ahmad Sheikh in Lahore also contributed to this report
The caretaker government on Wednesday hiked the price of petrol by Rs13.55 per litre for the next fortnight.
The new price of petrol is now Rs272.89 per litre from the previous price of Rs259.34, according to a notification from the Finance Division.
The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) was increased by Rs2.75 to Rs278.96 per litre.
The notification did not mention any changes in the prices of light-diesel oil (LDO) and kerosene oil.
The petrol price increase is higher than what was expected earlier. The prices of petrol and HSD were estimated to go up by Rs5-9 per litre for the next fortnight owing to higher international prices and import premiums, nullifying an impact of minor exchange rate gains.
Informed sources had said the prices of both major petroleum products had increased in the international market over the past fortnight and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) also had to pay higher import premiums even though the rupee had gained against the US dollar.
As a result, the price of HSD was expected to go up by Rs4-6 per litre and that of petrol by Rs6.5 to 9 per litre, depending on the final exchange rate calculation. However, the prices of kerosene and LDO were expected to remain unchanged.
Officials had said the price of petrol had come down by more than $3 per barrel to $86.5 from $83 per barrel over the last two weeks while HSD had become costlier by about $2 per barrel to $97.5 from about $95.6. The rupee on the other hand gained by about Rs1.5 against the dollar to about Rs280 from Rs281 in the first half of January. The premium paid by PSO for securing product cargoes went up on both products by $2 per barrel each. It increased to $6.5 per barrel from $4.2 for HSD and from $7.5 per barrel to $9.5.
The government has already achieved a Rs60 per litre petroleum levy — the maximum permissible limit under the law — on both petrol and HSD. The government had set a budget target to collect Rs869bn as petroleum levy on petroleum products during the current fiscal year under the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund but is hoping the collection to go beyond Rs920bn by the end of June.
Petroleum and electricity prices have been the key drivers of the high rate of CPI-based inflation recorded at 29.7 per cent in December 2023.
SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk said on Tuesday his Neuralink startup had installed a brain implant in its first human patient with “promising” initial results.
The neurotechnology company co-founded by Musk in 2016 aims to build direct communication channels between the brain and computers.
The ambition is to supercharge human capabilities, treat neurological disorders like ALS or Parkinson’s, and maybe one day achieve a symbiotic relationship between humans and artificial intelligence.
“The first human received an implant from Neuralink yesterday and is recovering well,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” he added.
The startup last year said it won approval from US regulators to test its brain implants in people.
Neuralink’s technology will mainly work through an implant called the “Link” — a device about the size of five stacked coins that is placed inside the human brain through invasive surgery.
According to data company Pitchbook, last year California-based Neuralink had more than 400 employees and has raised at least $363 million.
Though he wins most of the headlines, Musk is hardly alone in trying to make advances in the field, which is officially known as brain-machine or brain-computer interface research.
Hit with delays, the tycoon had reportedly reached out to join forces with implant developer Synchron about a potential investment.
ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) has directed pharmaceutical companies to recall nine contaminated syrups, the authority’s CEO told Dawn.
In the past two months, the regulator has found at least seven pharmaceutical companies involved in producing syrups with high proportions of Propylene Glycol (PG), a prohibited substance.
Drap CEO Dr Asim Rauf said nine more syrups, manufactured by five pharma companies, were found contaminated, taking the number of companies involved in producing contaminated syrups to seven.
According to a document issued by Drap, syrups manufactured by the companies PDH Pharmaceuticals, Raazee Therapeutics, Siza International, and others have been found to be contaminated.
The syrups include Allerphene, Zevirol, Texcol DM, Texcol EX, Virol, Torax DM, Bronyl and Speczine.
Earlier this month, the regulator seized a batch of PG imported from a Thailand-based company after detecting impurities.
The acceptable level of impurities in PG excipient — used in cough syrups — is 1.1 per cent, and any contamination above that level can lead to multiple organ failure. The batch, imported from Thailand’s Dow Chemical, had an impurity level of 25pc.
According to a document issued by Drap, upon ingestion, PG impurities, also called ethylene glycol (EG), metabolise into toxins that affect the central nervous system and heart and can cause kidney damage, which can be fatal.
The issue of poisonous syrups caused global embarrassment for Pakistan in December 2023 when the Maldives informed about contamination in medicines imported from Pakistan.
The South Asian state claimed that substances found in the syrups were used in hydraulic brake fluids, stamp pad inks, paints, plastics and cosmetics.
The World Health Organisation also issued an alert regarding the products of a Lahore-based pharmaceutical company, Pharmix Laboratories (Pvt) Ltd.
• Also revises next fiscal year’s projection downward to 3.5pc
• Lifts global growth forecast to 3.1pc citing unexpected ‘resilience’
• Indian economy expected to grow at a faster 6.5pc
ISLAMABAD: Despite an improved global outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday lowered Pakistan’s economic growth forecast to two per cent for the current fiscal year, down 0.5 percentage points from its October estimate of 2.5pc.
In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released on Tuesday, the Washington-based global lender also slightly revised downward (by 0.1pc) the next fiscal year’s growth forecast to 3.5pc.
The revised growth estimates are based on the Fund’s recent detailed quarterly review of Pakistan’s macroeconomic position as part of the ongoing $3bn Standby Arrangement (SBA), which is set to expire in March.
The IMF’s growth forecast is significantly lower than the government’s 3.5pc GDP growth target for the current year but generally in line with the State Bank of Pakistan’s expectation of 2pc to 3pc announced a day earlier as part of the monetary policy statement.
In the WEO report, the IMF also raised the global growth rate for 2024 to 3.1pc, 0.2pc higher than its October forecast of 2.9pc, citing greater than expected resilience in both the United States and China, besides many other large emerging market and developing economies.
“Global growth is projected at 3.1 per cent in 2024 and 3.2 per cent in 2025, with the 2024 forecast 0.2 percentage point higher than that in the October 2023 WEO on account of greater-than-expected resilience in the United States and several large emerging market and developing economies, as well as fiscal support in China,” it said.
But despite a slightly better outlook, the IMF noted the growth forecast for both years (2024 and 2025) was below the historical (2000-19) average of 3.8pc, with elevated central bank policy rates to fight inflation, a withdrawal of fiscal support amid high debt weighing on economic activity, and low underlying productivity growth.
Inflation is falling faster than expected in most regions in the midst of unwinding supply-side issues and restrictive monetary policy. “Global headline inflation is expected to fall to 5.8pc in 2024 and to 4.4pc in 2025, with the 2025 forecast revised down,” it said.
The global lender also noted that with disinflation and steady growth, the likelihood of a hard landing had receded, and risks to global growth were broadly balanced. On the upside, faster disinflation could lead to further easing of financial conditions.
Looser fiscal policy than necessary and than assumed in the projections could imply temporarily higher growth but at the risk of a more costly adjustment later on. Stronger structural reform momentum could bolster productivity with positive cross-border spillovers.
On the downside, new commodity price spikes from geopolitical shocks — including continued attacks in the Red Sea — and supply disruptions or more persistent underlying inflation could prolong tight monetary conditions. Deepening property sector woes in China or, elsewhere, a disruptive turn to tax hikes and spending cuts could also cause growth disappointments.
As such, the WEO Update raised the US growth rate by 0.6pc to 2.1pc for 2024 and downgraded by 0.1pc for 2025 to 1.7pc. On the other hand, it improved its growth forecast for China by 0.4 percentage points to 4.6pc for 2024 and kept unchanged at 4.1pc for 2025. India is anticipated to grow 0.2pc faster to 6.5pc than the previous forecast in both the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.
Overall, the advanced economies are expected to see growth decline slightly from 1.6pc in 2023 to 1.5pc in 2024 before rising to 1.8pc in 2025, with a recovery in the Euro area from low growth in 2023 and a moderation of growth in the United States. Emerging markets and developing economies are expected to experience stable growth through 2024 and 2025, with regional differences.
World trade growth is projected at 3.3pc in 2024 and 3.6pc in 2025, below its historical average growth rate of 4.9pc. Rising trade distortions and geo-economic fragmentation are expected to continue to weigh on the level of global trade.
The IMF said its forecasts were based on assumptions that fuel and non-fuel commodity prices will decline in 2024 and 2025 and that interest rates will decline in major economies. Annual average oil prices are projected to fall by about 2.3pc in 2024, whereas non-fuel commodity prices are expected to fall by 0.9pc.
Also, the projections are for policy rates to remain at current levels for the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of England until the second half of 2024, before gradually declining as inflation moves closer to targets. The Bank of Japan is projected to maintain an overall accommodative stance.
JUBA: Fighting between rival communities in a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan has killed 54 people, including two UN peacekeepers, the United Nations said on Monday, calling for calm.
One of the two peacekeepers was Pakistani, according to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
The clashes in Abyei, a contested oil-rich territory straddling the border of both countries, broke out at the weekend, according to local authorities.
In a statement on Monday, the US, the UK and Norway — the international “troika” that sponsored South Sudan’s independence — said they were “deeply concerned by the escalation of violence in recent months between communities living in and around” Abyei.
“All leaders who have influence with involved communities and who fail to use it to support peace are demonstrating their disregard for the interests of their people,” the troika said.
The UNISFA said it “strongly condemns these attacks against civilians and peacekeepers. Currently, according to local authorities, 52 civilians have lost their lives, while 64 others are said to be gravely wounded.”
It said peacekeepers came under fire on Sunday “while transporting affected civilians from a UNISFA base to a hospital”. A Pakistani peacekeeper was killed, and “four uniformed personnel and one local civilian sustained injury”, it explained.
Earlier on Saturday, a Ghanaian peacekeeper was killed, UNISFA added, calling for an investigation into the violence.
Located between Sudan and South Sudan, Abyei has been a flashpoint since the South gained independence in 2011.
Rou Manyiel Rou, secretary general for the Abyei Special Administrative Area, said the violence was tied to a long-running “conflict between (the) Ngok and Twic” communities.
The attacks follow clashes in November last year that killed 32 people, including a UN peacekeeper.
A regional UN envoy expressed concern in November that fighting within Sudan was drawing closer to the country’s border with South Sudan and Abyei.
An emergency was imposed in the hospitals of Quetta amid the report of rocket attacks in Balochistan’s Mach area on Monday night, according to officials.
Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai said a report was received about a “few rockets” fired from the hilly areas of Mach. In a post on social media platform X, the minister said there were no reports of any losses and the law enforcement agencies were alert.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Health Secretary Abdullah Khan Noorzai imposed an emergency in all hospitals of Mach and Quetta, according to a statement posted on Facebook.
“Instructions have been issued for all doctors and staff to be present on duty immediately. Instructions have been issued to strengthen the security of hospitals to deal with any unpleasant situation. Instructions have been issued to gather medicines, medical equipment, lab supplies, and abundant stock of blood,” the statement said.
The secretary said that all nearby ambulances in Quetta were dispatched for Mach.
The incident comes with the February 8 general elections just 10 days away.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 — marking a record six-year high.
KP and Balochistan were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.
On January 18, Pakistan had launched retaliatory strikes against targets within Iranian territory, aiming at facilities linked to purported Pakistani Baloch separatist groups.
According to a statement issued by the military’s media affairs wing, “hideouts used by terrorist organisations namely Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF)” were struck in an intelligence-based operation codenamed ‘Marg Bar Sarmachar’.
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
ISLAMABAD: Brushing aside reports about the harassment of journalists in the matter related to a ‘malicious’ campaign on social media against judges, caretaker Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Sunday said a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is probing the matter in accordance with law.
“So far no FIR has been lodged against anybody, nor has anyone been arrested,” the minister said while addressing a news conference along with the officials of Federal Investigation Agency, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and other institutions.
“Nobody has been picked up since the formation of JIT,” he said while dispelling the impression of a witch-hunt under the garb of the JIT.
The minister explained that the JIT, formed on Jan 16 to probe the anti-judiciary campaign, held its first meeting the next day and another on Jan 23, adding that investigation was still underway. He said it was imperative to bring forth facts in this regard.
So far, 600 social media accounts have been investigated, and a total of 100 inquiries registered, according to him. Notices were served on 110 individuals, including 32 journalists and 22 politicians and political workers, Mr Solangi disclosed, asserting that notices to the identified individuals had been served in accordance with law.
He said law would take its course, adding that action against those found involved in running the campaign against the judiciary would be taken in accordance with law.
In response to a query, he said there were reasonable restrictions on the freedom of expression and the law of the land prohibited from running campaigns against the judiciary and armed forces.
“This is not about criticism, rather it is related to character assassination and ridiculing [of the judiciary],” he remarked.
Whatever has been done against the Supreme Court judges on social media in recent days could not be called criticism, he said, adding that there should be a fine line between the criticism and ridiculing someone.
He noted the intensity of the malicious campaign had decreased significantly since the formation of the JIT.
FIA Director General Ishaq Jahangir said notices were served to give an opportunity to the individuals to give their version on the issue.
“Not every notice ends up in the FIR,” he remarked.
Three US service members were killed and dozens wounded during an unmanned aerial drone attack on US forces stationed in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, President Joe Biden and US officials said on Sunday.
Biden blamed Iran-backed groups for the attack, the first deadly strike against US forces since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted in October, sending shock waves throughout the Middle East.
It is the first time American military personnel have been killed by hostile fire in the Middle East since the start of the Gaza conflict, and the incident will further raise tensions in the region and fuel fears of a broader conflict directly involving Iran.
Hamas said the death of the soldiers shows Washington’s backing for Israel could put it at odds with the whole Muslim world if the Gaza conflict continues and that it could lead to a “regional explosion.”
“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said in a statement.
Hold perpetrators ‘to account’
“We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing,” the president added.
US Central Command put the number of wounded from the attack near the Syrian border at 25, and said the identities of those killed will be withheld pending notification of their families.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the killing of the soldiers “is a message to the American administration that unless the killing of innocent people in Gaza stops, it may be faced with the entire (Muslim) nation.”
“The continuation of the American-Zionist aggression on Gaza risks a regional explosion,” Abu Zuhri said in a statement.
US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in more than 150 attacks since mid-October, according to the Pentagon, and Washington has carried out retaliatory strikes in both countries.
Many of the attacks on US personnel have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Growing Middle East crisis
Following the attack, the United States rushed military aid to Israel, which has carried out a relentless military offensive that has killed at least 26,422 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Those deaths have sparked widespread anger across the region and stoked violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as well as Yemen.
The Lebanon portion of the conflict has been limited to near daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, but American forces are directly involved in Iraq and Syria, as well as Yemen.
Yemen’s Houthis have carried out more than two months of attacks on shipping, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The United States and Britain have responded with two rounds of joint strikes against the Houthis, while American forces have also carried out unilateral air raids against the rebels, who have also declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets.
The growing violence in multiple parts of the Middle East has raised fears of a broader regional conflict directly involving Iran — a worst-case scenario that Washington is desperately seeking to avoid.
KARACHI: A day after the Election Commission of Pakistan issued a notice to Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab for violating its code of conduct, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday came up with a complaint against him and the Sindh governor, asking the poll supervisory body to “temporarily remove” them from their offices to ensure free, fair and impartial elections.
PTI-Karachi president Khurrum Sher Zaman, who is also contesting the Feb 8 elections from NA-241, accused him and Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori of indulging in activities tantamount to violation of the ECP’s code of conduct.
In a formal complaint sent to the provincial election commissioner, the PTI leader contended that both the governor and mayor were engaging in activities that violate the code of conduct of the ECP, undermining the principles of a fair and impartial electoral process.
In light of these serious allegations, Mr Sher Zaman called upon the ECP to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the matter.
Khurram Sher Zaman questions their neutrality, seeks their ‘temporary removal’
He also urged the commission to take immediate action, including the “temporary removal” of mayor of Karachi and governor of Sindh from their offices until the investigation was concluded.
“Furthermore, it is requested that the offices of Mayor Karachi and Governor Sindh be sealed to prevent any further misuse of their positions for political gains until the conclusion of the electoral process on February 8,” he urged.
He asked the ECP to ensure a level-playing field for all political parties and take immediate and decisive action to investigate these allegations thoroughly.
“Upholding the principles of democracy is paramount to him,” he said and added that any violation of the ECP code of conduct must be addressed promptly to ensure a fair and transparent electoral process.
Mayor submits reply to ECP
On his part, Mayor Wahab filed his reply to the ECP in response to its notice he received on Friday. Taking notice of his press conference, Joint Election Commissioner, Ali Asghar Sial had issued the mayor a show cause notice asking him to clarify his position as his media talk was an attempt to influence the results of the Feb 8 elections.
However, Mayor Wahab stated in his reply that the press conference was not meant to violate any set rule as it was solely focused on public issues.
“The January 26 press conference was about public issues. I never took part in any election campaign and have been following the set code of conduct in line with the true spirit of the Constitution of Pakistan. I assure the ECP that I am not part of any candidate’s election campaign nor I would do that [during the ongoing electioneering],” he added.
Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2024
To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.
Legendary singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan apologised on Saturday and owned a video circulating of him physically abusing his “student” after it generated online furore at his behaviour.
Earlier in the day, a video doing the rounds on the media showed the singer beating ostensibly a domestic servant repeatedly over a missing “bottle”.
The video generated intense criticism by netizens towards the singer.
In an apology video issued later today, the singer said it was a “personal matter between a teacher and his student” and identified a person, Naveed Hasnain, saying he was the individual being beaten in the video.
Hasnain said the “bottle” responsible for the controversy in the original video contained “water sanctified by a pir”, adding that he had misplaced the bottle and forgotten about it.
“He is my father and my teacher. He loves us a lot too. Whoever has done this act [of leaking the video] is plainly blackmailing to defame my teacher.”
The singer added that he had asked forgiveness from Hasnain the next instant.
The singer is the nephew of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and grandson of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. He is also the recipient of the Sitara-i-Imtiaz.
He was awarded an honorary degree by the Oxford University in 2019. The singer was recognised by the university as a “Pakistani singer, primarily of Qawwali”, and was accredited for more than 50 albums, over one billion views online, more than 50 title tracks of television serials and over 100 film songs in both Hollywood and Bollywood.
KHYBER: Tribal customs and traditions are the main hurdle to three women candidates for general seats of provincial assembly in Khyber district as they run a restricted door-to-door campaign and focus mostly on female voters.
Shakira Shinwari, Lal Zaida and Naseem Riaz have filed their nominations for PK-69, PK-70 and PK-71, respectively, alongside 76 other male contestants for the three provincial assembly seats in Landi Kotal, Jamrud and Bara.
Shakira Shinwari and Naseem Riaz are contesting elections as independent candidates while Lal Zaida has the backing of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-Parliamentarians.
None of these three female candidates have so far organised any public meeting nor are their personal posters or banners anywhere in sight in their respective constituencies. Motivated by her family support and backing to try her luck in the February 8 general elections for the first time, Shakira Shinwari believes that she can be a better choice to raise voice for the legitimate rights of the otherwise political and economically deprived tribal women as all the former male lawmakers have failed to bring about a qualitative change in the life of local women.
Local elders look at participation of women in polls with sarcasm
“With my canvassing and persuasion, I also want to change the otherwise biased mentality of tribal men towards their womenfolk. Tribal men do not allow their women to get equal rights and have access to basic health and education facilities,” she told this scribe in a committed voice.
But in the same vein she acknowledged the challenges she was faced with in her electoral campaign in the male-dominated tribal society while also conceding that she herself would focus on approaching only female voters, the male members of her family would reach out to male voters as she was not able to pay visits to ’hujra and jumaath (mosque) for canvassing.
Naseem Riaz from Bara believes that concrete legislation is required for women empowerment as tribal women are lagging behind their male counterparts in this field and she is in the contest with the same objective.
“My main purpose of contesting elections is to financially empower tribal women as they are now entirely dependent on male members of their families. I will work hard for the achievement of these legitimate goals,” she told Dawn.
She said that financial empowerment of tribal women would not mean that she would be going out of her home for jobs but would rather focus on provision of profitable skills to them to make them ‘stand on their own feet’ while staying at their homes.
She was also quick to add that she had no intentions to challenge the local tribal customs. She insisted that she would rather focus on raising awareness both among tribal women and men to secure due rights for the tribal women while living a peaceful life with their families.
But her campaign too was hampered by the tribal customs and traditions as she admitted that she was approaching only female voters and had assigned the responsibility of contacting male voters to her male family members.
Both Shakira Shinwari and Naseem Riaz insisted that there was a lot to be done in improving the quality of education for tribal girls along with provision of better health facilities to local women as those were denied to them in the name of tribal customs and traditions.
Lal Zaida was yet to devise her campaign strategy and was in a ‘confused state of mind’ when she was asked about her decision to contest elections. “My focus would be on health and education” was her only reply through a male interlocutor when she was approached by this scribe to ascertain her campaign strategy and election manifesto. She is yet to make a public appearance or start approaching female voters.
Traditional tribal elders, who strongly believe in strict adherence to local traditions, looked at participation of women in the upcoming general elections with sarcasm and termed it a revolt against their authority.
“Our tribal traditions do not permit a woman to contest elections and challenge the authority of men but the current situation in tribal districts has taken such a turn that we as elders have lost control over our womenfolk as they take such vital decisions on their own,” said Malak Abdur Razzaq, a Zakhakhel elder, while indirectly referring to the abolition of the previous status of erstwhile Fata after its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
These ‘harsh’ sentiments of a tribal elder were, however, rejected by Turab Ali, a young social activist, who insisted that tribal women deserved to be equally represented in the parliament as they constituted half of the region’s population.
He said that with no representation in the assemblies, most of the issues confronted by tribal women remained unresolved as male parliamentarians were least interested in giving any attention to those longstanding problems.
Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2024
To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.
Ollie Pope was unbeaten on 67 at tea with England still trailing by 18 runs and struggling against a persistent Indian bowling attack in the opening Test on Saturday.
England were 172-5 at the break in Hyderabad after beginning the second innings behind by 190 after the hosts were bowled out for a mammoth 436 in the morning session.
Pope was batting alongside wicketkeeper Ben Foakes (2) after brief and disappointing spells from Joe Root (2) and skipper Ben Stokes (6).
Jasprit Bumrah and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked two wickets each.
Zak Crawley fell to Ashwin’s off-spin early but England raced to 89-1 at lunch after Ben Duckett defied the Indian attack with back-and-forth sweeps to keep the scoring rate above five per over.
Bumrah bowled a sensational spell after lunch to get Duckett bowled for 47, soon after the batsman survived an lbw call that would have likely been upheld if reviewed.
He then got veteran batsman Joe Root lbw for two to raise the volume of a raucous weekend crowd.
Ravindra Jadeja bowled Jonny Bairstow for 10 and Ashwin got his second after bowling Stokes.
India resumed the day on 421-7 in response to England’s first innings total of 246 and overnighters Jadeja and Axar Patel started cautiously, with just six runs scored in the first half-hour.
Root, who returned figures of 4-79, got Jadeja out and bowled Bumrah on the next ball but Mohammed Siraj avoided the hat-trick.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed cleaned up Axar on 44 to end the innings inside the first hour.
Spinner Jack Leach, who injured his knee while fielding on day one and again on day two, took the field heavily bandaged and bowled just one over in the morning.
PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif unveiled his party’s much-anticipated election manifesto on Saturday, with the upcoming February 8 polls less than two weeks away.
Speaking at a party event in Lahore, he said that the PML-N’s manifesto has been prepared with “great efforts” and would be “fully implemented” if voted to power.
While the former premier recalled the PML-N’s previous tenures, saying there was “no inflation” back then, the detailed manifesto was shared by the party on its official account on social media platform X.
Nawaz termed the country’s economy as the most important aspect of the manifesto.
At the outset of his address, he said it felt “strange” despite him being ousted as the prime minister in 2017 and “political vendettas” against his party members, the PML-N was once again “preparing to contest elections and presenting its manifesto”.
If voted to power, the party vowed to provide the public with “cheap and increased electricity” as well as “speedy development”. Appeasing the youth, the party also promised to undertake several projects and schemes aimed at improving their skills and aiding literacy.
The manifesto was unveiled after the party’s political rivals, especially PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, frequently assailed it for not disclosing its agenda despite the general elections being less than two weeks away.
“What kind of democracy and election is this where one party has a manifesto and another — which is pitting its nominee for the prime minister for the fourth time — says their [old] manifesto is [still] valid. They can’t even tell you that if they somehow get the chance again [to rule] for the fourth time, what they’ll do,” the PPP scion had said.
More to follow
To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.
MANSEHRA: A group of Kohistan clerics, mostly members of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, on Friday issued a fatwa (Islamic decree) against canvassing by and for women election candidates and declared the act un-Islamic.
“The women’s act of going from door to door to solicit votes is against sharia [Islamic laws],” declared seminary head Mufti Gul Shahzada after a meeting of clerics in the Kandia area of Upper Kohistan district.
He said the fatwa against women’s election campaign was issued by 30 authorised religious scholars and endorsed by participants, including around 400 clerics from Kohistan region.
For the first time in Kohistan, three women have entered the electoral arena.
They insist it is sinful to defy fatwa
They include the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Tehmina Faheem (PK-31 Kohistan-I) and Momina Basit (PK-33 Kolai-Palas) and independent Sannaya Sabeel (PK-33 Kolai-Palas).
Cleric Shahzada claimed that it was sinful to defy the fatwa.
He also said the sharia disallowed the casting of vote along ethnic lines, so residents shouldn’t do so.
When contacted, women contender Tehmina Faheem said she would respond to the decree after consulting her party’s leadership.
The other candidates didn’t comment on the issue.
NO SEAT ADJUSTMENT: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl provincial emir and Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman on Friday said his party didn’t make electoral alliance or seat adjustment with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for the Feb 8 general elections.
“The PML-N leaders are falsely propagating that we [JUI-F] will withdraw our election candidate in favour of their supreme leader, Nawaz Sharif, in Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency.
This is not going to happen as there is no electoral alliance or seat adjustment between us,“ Mr Rehman told a public meeting here.
The JUI-F leader said the PML-N feared its leader’s defeat in the constituency and therefore, it had resorted to “false propaganda.”
He said the party’s parliamentary board led by central emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman fielded Mufti Kifayatullah as the NA-15 candidate against Mr Sharif and it won’t withdraw him from the electoral contest.
“Maulana Kifayatullah is the strongest candidate in NA-15, so he will win the election convincingly,” he said.
The JUI-F provincial emir said Mr Sharif publicly acknowledged that JUI-F emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman offered help to the PML-N to form a coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 2013 elections but the offer was rejected clearing the way of the PTI to power.
He said had Mr Sharif accepted Mr Fazl’s offer, thecountry’s politics and economy would not have been shattered by the PTI government.
Mr Rehman said his party was committed to bringing about an “Islamic revolution” in the country through people’s votes.
JUI-F candidates Mufti Kifayatullah, Maulana Nasir Mehmood, Abrar Hussain Tanoli, Fahd Habib and SardarWaqarul Muluk also addressed the gathering.
DIES: Senior lawyer and former principal of the SM Law College Karachi Umar Farooq passed away here on Friday.
His funeral prayers were attended by people from all walks of life, especially lawyers.
Mr Farooq was laid to rest at a local graveyard.
Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2024
To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.
Stepping out from his father’s shadow, Bilawal has taken on the mantle of leadership, on both the national and global stages.—White Star archive
NOVEMBER 2023; the aisles of the Gizri Football Stadium are jam-packed with throngs of full-throated jiyalas. A group of young PPP workers manically try to manage the crowd, extolling them to stay behind the fences.
One of the volunteers, Sumair Ali, scrambles alongside his colleagues to enforce the discipline at the sports facility, where PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is scheduled to appear as the chief guest who would inaugurate the facility, being reopened after renovation.
But Sumair and his fellow workers — and even those in attendance — could never have anticipated what would happen when the Bhutto scion arrived at the venue. In complete disregard of security protocols, young Bilawal mingled with the crowd.
After attending the opening ceremony and a brief customary interaction with the media, he and Karachi mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqi moved towards the fence and spent nearly an hour shaking hands and taking selfies with screaming fans and jiyalas.
The young chairman is trying to forge a more youthful path for the PPP, which has been demonised for years. But will he be able to shed the baggage his party has accumulated?
In those moments, not a single selfie request was turned down, and the crowd loved it too. As a result, what was supposed to be an hour-long engagement ended up lasting a good two-and-a-half hours.
“I was confused and scared for a while, fearing what may happen in case of a security breach,” recalls Ghaffar, a 33-year-old real estate agent and active party worker who was also there that fateful day.
“But the very next second, I realised that this is what we actually want from our chairman. These are the things the PPP is known for, and it is in keeping with the tradition of his grandfather (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) and mother (Benazir Bhutto), which he is trying to revive.”
With a serious focus on the party’s revival and efforts to bring in younger leadership at all levels, Sumair and his comrades believe that Bilawal is consolidating his grip over national politics.
The 2023 transformation
Whatever the results of the upcoming polls may be, these die-hard supporters believe that he will emerge from February 8 as a stronger, more experienced campaigner.
From taking a tough stance for elections within three months following the dissolution of the PDM government — which saw him standing against former allies who favoured a delay — to challenging his own father’s point of view, the year 2023 saw a different side of Bilawal come to fore, as he stepped out from under Asif Zardari’s shadow and showed his true colours to the masses.
Earlier, his parliamentary debut following the 2018 elections saw him commanding the opposition benches from the front rows as Imran Khan sat on the prime minister’s chair. Then, following the latter’s ouster and the formation of a PDM coalition at the Centre, Bilawal was picked to be foreign minister — the youngest in the country’s history — taking on the mantle at an extremely tricky time in global politics.
But the exposure he got during his months at the helm of the country’s foreign policy machinery gave him the kind of real-world experience he could only have dreamed of before 2018.
It is difficult to gloss over his dynastic roots, given that the Bhutto name, which he chose to incorporate into his own following his mother’s assassination, gives him an edge no one else can even lay claim to.—White Star archive
But has his personal growth in the national political arena helped his party in its attempts to regain what it lost over the years — popular support among the masses and the repute of being a true ‘people’s party’?
For journalist and author Nadeem Farooq Paracha, while Bilawal’s efforts may not necessarily lead to an overnight reversal of the party’s political fortunes, “at least it’s a start”.
“After it began losing its vote bank in Punjab, Asif Zardari rightly began to secure Sindh. This kept the party in the larger game. Bilawal is now looking to reinvigorate his party’s dwindling vote bank in Punjab,” he says.
Quick to adapt
After an intense round on the campaign trail, some of Bilawal’s most significant statements have come in the past couple of weeks, probably the tail-end of his electoral drive, showing that he is adapting to the swiftly changing electoral scenario.
Ostensibly shaped by the need to take a more aggressive approach towards his opponents, especially in Punjab, he has doubled his criticism of the rival PML-N to woo disheartened workers and voters of other parties, including the PTI.
In fact, during a recent verbal onslaught against the PML-N leader in Chiniot, Bilawal warned Nawaz Sharif that his “politics of revenge” would harm the country and its economy if he is voted to power again. The cautionary advice came only a day after he asked PTI workers and supporters in Lahore to support him.
Then, in an interview with Reuters, he made it clear that his party would not join hands with the PML-N, or even the embattled PTI, and instead prefer to woo independent candidates — including de-symboled PTI hopefuls.
Bilawal knows this election is the time to build a narrative that will resonate with the youth
A paternal rebuke
Over the past year, Bilawal has spent more and more time selling the idea of bringing in a younger leadership, both within the party and at the national level. Around November last year, when the country was inching towards general elections, the PPP chairman started campaigning for the old guard to be sent home.
But before anyone else could point fingers, the young man’s words caught the attention of his own father. In a TV interview given just days after Bilawal started building this narrative, Asif Ali Zardari seemed to undermine the political maturity of the youthful PPP chairman, calling his son “emotional and inexperienced” and putting himself above everyone else when it came to key decision-making within the party.
Karachi mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab Siddiqi, counted among those considered quite close to Bilawal, agrees with the impression that the chairman is keen to reform political culture, both within the party and in national politics, by bringing in younger leaders with fresh ideas.
“The PPP is a democratic party. Here, everyone has the right to express their opinion and make their argument. But once the party reaches a decision through consensus, everyone sticks to it.”
Disputing the impression that Bilawal is facing resistance from within the party’s ranks when he talks about bringing in younger leadership, he cites himself as an example. “He chose me to be the mayor of Karachi, so you can’t say that he’s unable to do the things that he wants,” Wahab says.
But for senior journalist and analyst Mazhar Abbas, who has been reporting on the party for several decades now, Mr Zardari’s statements damaged Bilawal’s position in the national political scene, even if they didn’t weaken his position within the party.
“I think those remarks were uncalled for. Calling him emotional and immature or inexperienced didn’t help the party and they proved quite damaging for Bilawal as well,” he notes.
Opportunity of youth
Several parallels exist between the political careers of Bilawal and Benazir: both were thrust into the limelight in difficult times.—White Star archive
The vibes (to use a contemporary expression) within the party suggest that the rank and file — from the contemporaries of his mother and grandfather all the way down to the younger lot — admire him equally.
The 73-year-old PPP stalwart, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, has his own reasons to believe in the young chairman.
“Bilawal’s key quality is that he has simple solutions to big problems, which makes him stand out from the crowd,” he says.
“He’s determined. Once he sets his mind to something, he executes it and brings it to its logical conclusion. Our long march against Imran Khan’s government is one example. When every single party of the opposition was crestfallen and had lost hope, he was the one who insisted on a vote of no-confidence and mobilised the national leadership, in line with public sentiment.”
For Mr Khuhro and younger party workers alike, Bilawal is “gradually but surely” becoming a force to be reckoned with in the national political arena.
Obviously, the PPP chairman knows well that this election is the most opportune time to build a narrative that will resonate with the youth, given that the number of young voters has surged from 46.43m in 2018 to 56.86 million this year.
This means more than 10 million new voters have come of age in the intervening six years, and if mobilised, could play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the polls.
Analysts believe this massive number of young voters, a majority of whom use social media, are not only in a position to influence opinions on online platforms, but could even alter the electoral scene in several constituencies if they turn out in large numbers on election day.
Hampered by ‘demonisation’
Here, a number of questions arise. Will the young chairman’s efforts be reflected in the results of the upcoming elections? Can Bilawal’s ‘younger leadership’ narrative attract young voters to his party? Can he succeed in his quest to become the country’s youngest prime minister?
For many, all these things are still distant dreams, for various reasons. Mr Paracha says that it takes more than just leadership skills to become a political leader, especially one that inspires the fickle youth vote.
“He still doesn’t have the kind of media muscle which, in the recent past, helped turn an old man into a so-called leader of the youth,” he says, a veiled reference to former PM Imran Khan.
“Secondly, the party Bilawal is leading has been demonised for decades. He is trying to undo this; it’s a tough task, but I believe he can succeed in the years to come,” Mr Paracha forsees.
“First, it was Imran Khan who championed an anti-PPP and PML-N narrative. That definitely damaged the repute of both parties and their leaders, and Bilawal was no exception,” says Mazhar Abbas.
“Secondly, the performance of the Sindh government is also counted [among the party’s demerits]. If the party had established good governance in Sindh, its leader would not have been facing this challenge.
For instance, while campaigning in a Punjab constituency, if you promise clean drinking water, naturally you would will asked if you have been able to provide the same in Sindh during your 15-year rule there.“
Dynastic or disruptive?
With so many question marks on the electoral process, such as controversies over electoral symbols, reservations of parties over the absence of a level playing field, and uncertainty about who is the favourite going into the Feb 8 polls, those close to the PPP chairman say that his campaign relies solely on garnering “organic votes”, rather than looking for favours from the powers that be.
But the PPP chairman’s galloping cross-country campaign, including a power show in Jati Umrah — the heart of Sharif country — show that he is still not at as much of a disadvantage as some other parties’ candidates. Indeed, he has the entire party machinery working to make his campaign a success, a luxury not available to nearly any other contender, barring someone like Maryam Nawaz, for example.
It is also difficult to gloss over his dynastic roots, given that the Bhutto name — which he chose to incorporate into his own following his mother’s assassination – gives him a definite edge no one else can even lay claim to.
Several parallels can be drawn between the political careers of Bilawal and Benazir: both took the reins of the party during difficult times, thrust into the limelight after the death of a parent. Both were educated at Oxford and command mastery in the arts of diplomacy and public speaking.
Both also suffered due to an initial disconnect from the masses, being derided for their heavily accented Urdu. While his mother was attacked for being a woman in a man’s world, Bilawal has had to fend off misogynistic attacks as well.
But like his mother, Bilawal has worked hard to overcome these shortcomings, emerging in the current campaign as the face of the PPP’s push to reclaim lost territory north of Sindh. While it is premature to say that his current efforts would result in a sea-change for the PPP, he can be credited with initiating the process of reviving its fortunes — a long-term investment that may pay off in elections to come.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has hundreds of thousands of child labourers, reveals the province’s first Child Labour Survey 2022-23.
The working children totalling 922, 314 make up 11.1 per cent of the province’s child population with 745,165 beingchild labourers, according to the survey findings that were unveiled in a special ceremony here.
The event was attended by representatives of government departments, UN agencies, donor organisations, academia and civil society.
Adviser to the chief minister on labour Riaz Anwar Khan was chief guest on the occasion.
The survey said working children were economically active, while child labour was the work that was not only mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous for children but also interfered with their schooling.
It was the second such exercise conducted in the country after Punjab.
The survey conducted by the labour department across the province, including the newly-merged tribal districts, said the residents aged 5-17 years totalled 8.2 million in the province.
It added that 80.9 per cent of working children were engaged in child labour with the rest totalling 177,159 not falling in that category.
The survey report said 465,853 children or 73.8 per cent of child labourers worked in hazardous conditions.
Of them, 69,446 are working with hazardous tools, 111,631 working in hazardous industries and occupations, 426,446 working hazardous hours, 206,539 doing night work and 119,267 others facing abuse, according to it.
The report said for the survey, data was collected from 49,734 households, including 5,976 urban and 43,758 rural ones. The people’s response to the exercise was 92.5 per cent despite “harsh weather and security challenges”, especially in merged districts.
The report revealed that the major four industries for child labour include agriculture, forestry and fishing (51.6 per cent), water collection (19.1 per cent), wholesale and retail trade (9.7 per cent) and manufacturing (7.7 per cent).
According to it, child labour has multi-dimensional causes like head of household had no or primary education (44.7pc), household is in the poorest wealth condition (31.8pc), household is the beneficiary of BISP’s assistance (26.3pc), the head of household has migrated (14.6pc), and household has lost at least one parent (6.6 percent).
The report said child labour had been historically a huge issue with negative consequences on the development and wellbeing of children and a challenge for government and other actors to address.
Adviser to the CM Riaz Anwar Khan told participants that after the survey, stakeholders, including policymakers, should take its findings seriously and use them for wider policy reforms and programmes necessary for the eradication of child labour.
Labour secretary Mohammad Fakhre Alam said the enormous amount of resources invested in the survey was just the beginning of a new long-term initiative and commitment of the government and labour department.
“Now that we have sufficient understanding of the child labour issue in the province, the next logical step is ensuring the full utilization of this evidence for policy reforms and designing programmes to eradicate child labour and provide children decent living and equitable opportunities for education and development. And to achieve this vision, we look forward and welcome collaborations and support from all relevant stakeholders and partners,” he said.
Development director at the British High Commission in Islamabad Jo Moir said child labour was a global issue but it was of particular importance for Pakistan.
She said around 35 per cent of child abuse cases in the country were reported at workplace.
“Drivers of child labour are complex including poverty and social behavior that push children into labour which in turn deprive them of their right to education and health.”
Ms Moir said the drivers of child labour were multi-faceted that required multi-sectoral and collective response.
She stressed the need for supporting parents and families to access better opportunities for their children.
Abdullah Fadil, a representative of Unicef Pakistan, urged civil society and academia to use the survey’s findings to generate social discourse around the social problem and positive social and behavior change aiming at the eradication of child labour.
He said both the government and other stakeholders should take pragmatic steps to change the conditions in which those children lived and promise them better future.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took more digs at former ally PML-N on Thursday and questioned its agenda in the absence of a manifesto despite the general elections being just two weeks away.
Bilawal, who has criticised the PML-N on the regular during his election trail, was addressing a campaign rally in Gujrat today when he made the remarks.
“What kind of democracy and election is this where one party has a manifesto and another — which is pitting its nominee for the prime minister for the fourth time — says their [old] manifesto is [still] valid. They can’t even tell you that if they somehow get the chance again [to rule] for the fourth time, what they’ll do,” the PPP scion said.
In contrast, he said, he had presented his 10-point agenda on the nation’s most important issues.
Bilawal said he wanted to serve the women of Punjab as a dutiful son of his mother.
“Those who said PPP is not present in Punjab and they have no competition with us are chanting ‘PPP PPP’ day and night these days,” the former foreign minister said, adding that the only party which was serious about electioneering was the PPP.
“We have arrived after many rallies and conventions and tours, but our opponents don’t even venture out of their homes. Very strange, you’ve seen so many elections, you’ve contested against them in every poll, have you ever seen them so scared before?
“There is some reason why the sher (tiger) is not venturing out to hunt. Instead, he says that someone else hunts for him, someone else deals with his opponent, everything is ready and then he will come out.”
He also called on PTI and PML-N workers to support the PPP to uphold the ideology of sanctifying the ballot, alleging that the PML-N had abandoned its former narrative.
“Come support me and we will arrange the tiger’s hunt,” Bilawal said, adding that PTI supporters also had “only one option” to defeat the PML-N by voting for the PPP through a “strategy”.
“If you want to stop the tiger and PML-N’s path, then you too need to vote for the ‘arrow’. If you do, I will stop the path of this tiger,” Bilawal said, adding that he would personally arrange the ticket for the “return flight to Avenfield apartments in London on Feb 9 where he (Nawaz) will go back”.
Bilawal vowed that if elected to power, his first step would be to order the release of all political prisoners and it would be “forbidden” for his government to arrest and jail political opponents and their workers.
PML-N’s riposte
A whole host of PML-N officials and leaders responded to their former ally’s remarks.
Addressing a campaign rally in Lahore, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz said two kinds of parties were asking for votes.
“Some parties are such, rather, all parties apart from the PML-N are such that they’ve done nothing and their only job day and night is to criticise and accuse.”
She said there was only one party that did not do the above since it had “so many projects of service for the people that if it starts listing them then speeches exhaust.”
Taking a dig at the PPP, she said there were some parties in Punjab who had ruled a province for 15 years and yet could not list 15 projects.
Maryam said an individual was criticising her father for not presenting a manifesto. She pointed out that Nawaz’s manifesto was an Orange Line bus passing by overhead the crowd.
She said Nawaz had implemented his manifesto beyond “just giving it in paper in a press conference”.
WASHINGTON: The United Arab Emirates and its powerful ruler were sued in a Washington court on Wednesday, accused of bankrolling a “dark public relations” operation that falsely linked an American oil trader to terrorist financing.
The lawsuit filed by the trader Hazim Nada in the District of Columbia alleges that starting in 2017 the UAE paid a Swiss private intelligence firm, Alp Services, to “seriously damage” his reputation and business in a sweeping smear campaign.
The alleged operation against Nada, first reported by The New Yorker last year, spotlights a booming industry of what security analysts call “disinformation-for-hire” enterprises that seed false narratives and peddle influence operations on behalf of governments and other paying clients.
Nada is suing dozens of parties including the UAE, its President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — often known as MBZ — its national oil company ADNOC, Emirati officials and Alp Services.
Nada is seeking damages worth $2.77 billion over the campaign that tipped his commodities trading firm Lord Energy into bankruptcy, his lawyers said.
“The United Arab Emirates and some of its top officials managed, directed, and bankrolled a years-long ‘dark’ public relations campaign through the Swiss private investigative firm, Alp Services,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit claimed that the UAE, along with the Geneva-based Alp, paid “journalists” and a professor at George Washington University among others to smear dozens of people including Nada.
There was no immediate comment from the UAE embassy in Washington, Alp Services or the professor, Lorenzo Vidino.
The lawsuit, based on over 8,000 documents procured by hackers from Alp’s internal servers, stated that the Swiss firm approached the UAE in 2017, offering to use “offensive viral communications” to defame Nada and dozens of other parties seen as hostile to the oil-rich Gulf state.
The plan relied on sowing doubts about Nada, who was born in the US state of Maryland, by saying Lord Energy was a front company for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Malign influence operations
Alp boasted of its ability to conduct “disinformation operations” on companies and individuals, saying its clients included nation states and the wealthy, according to court filings, audio recordings and other documents seen by AFP.
In one exchange with a representative of the UAE government, Alp declared that its actions, which included fraudulently posing as Nada to illegally obtain phone records and other confidential information, managed to bankrupt Lord Energy in less than two years.
The lawsuit claimed Lord Energy was seen as a serious business threat by the UAE and ADNOC, an incentive to eliminate the growing rival.
“MBZ had ultimate approval authority over the enterprise’s disinformation operations,” the suit alleged.
BEIJING / ISLAMABAD: China has said it is ready to work with Pakistan to upgrade the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and accelerate the building of an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era.
Separately, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said after having achieved the first phase of CPEC, Pakistan is benefiting from its early harvest projects while remaining engaged with China to execute the next phase.
Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Wang Wenbin while answering a question during a briefing on Wednesday said, “China stands ready to work with Pakistan to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, deepen political mutual trust, and expand practical cooperation.”
About the recent visit of Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong to Pakistan, he said the minister during his Jan 20-22 trip called on President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Kakar, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani to have in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest.
The spokesperson added that the Chinese minister also co-chaired the fourth meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination with Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi. “China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperative partners,” he said.
China appreciates Pakistan’s firm commitment to the One-China principle and supports Pakistan in defending its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, stability, development and prosperity.
Next CPEC phase
In Islamabad, PM Kakar said that after having achieved the first phase of CPEC, Pakistan is benefiting from its early harvest projects while remaining engaged with China to execute the next phase.
“We have already achieved the CPEC’s first phase and we are benefiting from its early harvest projects. We are entering the second phase. We do need more deliberations when it comes to the second phase,” he said in an interview recorded by CGTN during his recent visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum. The Chinese news outlet ran the interview on Wednesday.
PM Kakar said the CPEC’s second phase required road and air connectivity around industrialisation projects.
“Both sides are engaged and we have developed a lot of connectivity — road, air and the rest of connectivity corridor. We are benefiting from the ecosystem of doing trade with one another,” he remarked.
Asked how he saw the Chinese economy, the prime minister said: “I am always sanguine about it. There are 1.5 billion consumers and 1.5bn producers… How can you divorce 1.5bn people from 8bn people? It has to remain connected.”
Circular debt
Less than two weeks away from the end of its term, the caretaker government on Wednesday vowed to devise a plan to overcome the mammoth circular debt in the power and gas sector.
The circular debt reportedly swelled to over Rs5.73 trillion — Rs2.5tr power and Rs3tr gas.
Presiding over a meeting, PM Kakar directed the authorities concerned to devise an effective, durable and doable plan to overcome circular debt.
The PM had already expressed dissatisfaction over the poor performance of Discos and directed the power division to submit a comprehensive plan with clear targets, responsibilities and timelines, said an official.
With the February 8 general election roughly two weeks away, the PTI will be contesting the polls without a common electoral symbol after being stripped of its iconic ‘bat’.
Despite the party’s best efforts, its candidates will be competing in the polls as independents, each having a separate symbol, and that’s because the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to revoke their long-held symbol, which held additional value due to party founder Imran Khan’s cricketing roots.
The verdict has also resulted in the party losing out on reserved seats for women and minorities.
Resultantly, the PTI has alleged that revoking its ‘bat’ will cast a shadow on the freeness and fairness of the election, as its candidates would be vulnerable to horse-trading.
Let’s take a look at the significance of electoral symbols and the challenges which the PTI faces in the Feb 8 polls.
What is an electoral symbol?
Electoral symbols — unique pictorial identifiers — are handed out by the ECP to political parties and candidates before polls so their voters and constituents can easily recognise them.
Parties usually have long-standing symbols, which, for the PTI, was the ‘bat’, referencing PTI founder Imran Khan’s past as a celebrated former captain of the national cricket team.
The symbols appear on ballot papers, with voters able to put a stamp on their symbol of choice. The ballot paper also has names but with the country’s literacy rate at under 40 per cent of the 241 million population, pictures are really important for unified recognition.
Further, a majority of the constituencies are in rural areas where the literacy rate is around 50pc, according to the economic survey of 2022-23.
The election process involves thousands of candidates and dozens of political parties and symbols. A single ballot paper has a long list of options for voters.
A total of 150 symbols have been assigned to political parties and another 174 were up for grabs by independent candidates for this election.
Other popular electoral symbols include the ‘tiger’ for the PML-N, the ‘arrow’ for the PPP, the ‘kite’ for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the ‘lantern’ for the Awami National Party and the ‘book’ for the the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl to name a few. A full list of all electoral symbols allotted to political parties for this year’s election can be accessed on the ECP’s website.
In addition to this, the election commission has also allotted a range of various symbols for independent candidates.
Why was PTI’s symbol revoked?
In December, the ECP had stripped the PTI of its electoral symbol on technical grounds that it had not held intra-party elections, a prerequisite for any party to take part in the Feb 8 vote.
The party had challenged that ruling in the Supreme Court, which had ruled against it on Jan 13. The ruling had left lawyers and political experts in disbelief, terming the apex court’s decision a “blow to fundamental rights”.
In addition to Imran’s legal troubles, his party now no longer has a single electoral symbol to rally behind. Instead, each of his hundreds of candidates has been given separate symbols from the independent symbol list — including ‘donkey cart’ and a ‘bowl’.
That means confusion for his voters and also extra costs to produce separate campaign material, such as banners, for each candidate.
The PTI has, for now, also lost its registered status with the ECP, which means that its candidates’ bloc will not be eligible for reserved seats handed out to political parties.
There are 70 seats reserved for women and religious minorities in the National Assembly, given to parties in proportion to the number of their candidates winning elections. This provides a boost to party positions in parliament.
Parallels with PPP
The predicament the PTI finds itself in today is not unique. Political observers have compared the situation to what befell the PPP in the late 70s.
The ‘sword’, ‘plough’ and ‘scales’ were three symbols deleted from the list of prescribed election symbols by ex-military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq after the 1977 general election.
The ‘sword’ was the election symbol of the PPP, headed at the time by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, while ‘plough’ was the election symbol of an amalgam of politico-religious parties named as Pakistan National Alliance (PNA). Jamaat-i-Islami, which was part of the PNA in 1977, had contested 1970 polls with ‘scales’ as its election symbol.
Analysts believed that the primary target was to remove the ‘sword’ from the list, but other symbols were also taken out as a balancing act and just to prove that it was not a one-sided action. After the ‘sword’ was taken away, the PPP had chosen the ‘arrow’ as its electoral symbol — something that it has stuck to since then.
In August 2002, the party had formed a separate entity, PPP-Parliamentarians (PPPP) to meet the requirements of a decree issued by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. A law was framed to bar former prime minister Benazir Bhutto from holding a party office and the new political entity was a bid to avert the imminent threat of losing the chance of contesting the elections.
In 2013, the party had contested the elections on the PPPP platform under the symbol of the ‘arrow’ while the PPP was allotted ‘two swords’.
In 2018, after 41 years, the PPP succeeded in reclaiming the ‘sword’ as its election symbol, but only as a political tactic to not allow any rival to get the symbol. The PPP is still going to contest the upcoming polls with the ‘arrow’ electoral symbol.
Being ‘symbol-less’ opens door for halal horse-trading
The PTI attempted to circumvent the loss of the ‘bat’ by looking to forge an alliance with its splinter PTI-Nazriati group to use the ‘batsman’ symbol — the closest one to its first-choice ‘bat’ — for its candidates.
In no time, the ECP countered and barred returning officers from allotting election symbols of a party to the candidates of another party — a move that was unnecessary as the PTI-Nazriati denied allowing any other group to use its electoral symbol anyway.
The chief concern expressed by the PTI after losing the ‘bat’ is horse-trading, which is not a new phenomenon in Pakistani politics and typically becomes a talking point every time there is a crucial vote being taken by the National or provincial assemblies.
Parliamentary and political experts also believe that the PTI may not be able to control its members in the upcoming assemblies as the defection clause, Article 63-A, would not apply to them.
They say that such members, even if they remain loyal to their party and do not join any other other within three days of the notification of their victory, will be considered as independents throughout the five-year tenure of the assemblies.
Lawyer Jibran Nasir, himself an independent candidate, had pointed out these concerns while reacting to the apex court’s decision upholding the ECP’s decision to revoke the PTI’s symbol.
“All those PTI-affiliated independents who will win, will be notified by the ECP as independent winners and under the Constitution would be free to join any party.
“Meaning a candidate who might win with the support of PTI voters can under duress, influence or for personal gains join PML-N or PPP post-elections. This will allow for ‘halal’ horse-trading,” he said.
