Page 16 - Pakistan Government

US monitoring Pakistan's electoral process closely, says official

The United States is closely monitoring Pakistan's electoral process, an official of the US State Department has said, observing that it has concerns over the infringement with respect for freedom of expression, assembly, and associations. Speaking at his regular press briefing, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that it wants the broad participation of the people of Pakistan in the country's election. "We're continuing to monitor Pakistan's electoral process quite closely, and as we have said, we want to see that process take place in a way that facilitates broad participation with respect for freedom of expression, assembly, and associations, Patel said. Pakistan will hold its general elections on February 8. "We have concerns of all incidents of violence and restrictions on media freedom; freedom of expression, including internet freedom; and peaceful assembly and association. We're concerned by some of the infringements that we've seen in that space. ..

Pakistan Election Commission ready for Feb 8 Polls with EMS setup

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) concluded setting up the Election Management System (EMS) and election monitoring on Monday

Imran Khan accorded 'high-profile' status, to perform prison labour: Report

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi despite being high-profile prisoners will have to perform their prison labour inside the compound, according to a media report. Both the leaders were convicted by a special court for a 10-year jail term in the cipher case and have been imprisoned in Rawalpindi's high-security Adiala Jail, where their trial was held. Khan, 71, and Qureshi, 67, are being kept separately as high-profile prisoners - in their capacity as a former prime minister and foreign minister, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Ahead of Pak general elections, minority Hindus feel left out of process

Ahead of the February 8 general elections in Pakistan, members of the minority Hindu community feel they are mostly left out of the poll process despite having a notable presence, especially in the southern Sindh province. The census showed that Hindus account for just 2.14 per cent of the total population in Muslim-majority Pakistan and in Sindh itself their large concentration means they account for nearly nine per cent. Under Pakistan's Constitution, 10 seats are reserved for members of minority communities in the National Assembly and 24 seats in the provinces. Leaders and members of the Hindu community rue the fact that they are not given proper representation and many are not even registered as voters. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, the Patron-in-Chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council, noted that the Hindu community, especially those belonging to the lower economic sector or those living in remote villages in Sindh feel left out of the election process. In the national census carried o

Ahead of elections, Pakistan finalises deal to sell national airline

The government decided to privatise PIA just weeks after signing the IMF agreement

Expect Pak's new govt to take deep structural problems seriously: IMF MD

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said that she expects the new government in Pakistan to take seriously solving its "very deep structural problems" and help the cash-strapped country to reach its potential. Her remarks came days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook 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 2.5 per cent. Pakistan, currently facing an economic crisis, is set to hold its general elections on February 8. A caretaker government currently runs the cash-strapped country. What we expect is a government that would take seriously solving the very deep structural problems of Pakistan, Georgieva told reporters during a media round table here. We see the problem we have with this caretaker government. They have done a good job of moving in the right direction. But of course, the problems of Pakistan are not solved. So more nee

IMF lowers Pakistan's economic growth forecast to 2% for FY2024: Report

The IMF's growth forecast is significantly lower than the Pakistan government's 3.5 per cent GDP growth target for current year

Pakistan to issue new currency notes to combat counterfeit currencies

Pakistan's central bank has announced that it will introduce new currency notes with enhanced security features to deal with the menace of counterfeit currencies in the cash-strapped country. The Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed told the media here that the currency notes will be incorporated with advanced international security features, including distinct security numbers and design to modernise the Pakistani currency. Ahmed also said the transition would be gradual so that Pakistan does not face disruption and public panic problems as has been witnessed in some other countries in the past. However, some financial experts wonder whether the introduction of new currency notes could also include demonetisation of the Rs 5,000 or higher denomination notes to combat the counterfeit and black money market. According to experts, cash-strapped Pakistan's economy is influenced a lot by the illegal use of black money which is easier due to the circulation of higher ...

Nawaz Sharif supporters bring lion & tiger at Lahore rally, click selfies

Scores of PML-N supporters took selfies with the lion and tiger locked in iron cages. The wild animals have been brought to multiple PML-N public gatherings in the past

Pakistan's civil-military leadership holds meeting amid tension with Iran

Pakistan's civil-military leadership held a high-level consultative meeting on Friday to discuss the ongoing tiff with Iran as the two neighbours made amends to repair the frayed ties following their military strikes in each other's territory. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar presided over the meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) while services chiefs, cabinet ministers, and other officials were in attendance, sources said. The NSC meeting has started and is currently underway, a source said. The officials from the defence and foreign ministries will brief the meeting about the attack by Iran and counter charge by Pakistan armed forces, sources said. It is said the NSC is likely to give guidelines for future ties with Iran. Kakar had rushed back home on Thursday night from Davos, where he had gone to attend the World Economic Forum event after Pakistan and Iran carried out military strikes against each other. Pakistan conducted "precision military strikes" ag

Pak's caretaker PM forms committee to ensure smooth conduct of Feb 8 polls

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has constituted a seven-member committee mandated with ensuring the smooth conduct of the February 8 general elections already impaired by allegations of "pre-poll rigging", according to a media report. According to a notification issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Thursday, interim Minister for Communications, Railways, and Maritime Affairs Shahid Ashraf Tarar has been named as the head of the committee, the Dawn newspaper reported. The other members include the interior secretary, four provincial chief secretaries as well as any other co-opted individual desired by the committee. As per the PMO notification, the committee will have the mandate to oversee the security arrangements for polls; review and resolve matters regarding administrative arrangements and coordination for the smooth conduct of elections; issue directions for urgent requirements of additional security where law and order situation requires, and .

Attack 'seriously damaged bilateral ties': Pak foreign minister to Iran

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani has told his Iranian counterpart that the unprecedented attack by Iran seriously damaged the ties between the two nations. Iranian missiles and drones on Tuesday night targeted two bases of the Balochi militant group Jaish al Adl in Pakistan's border town of Panjgur in Balochistan province. Jilani, who is currently leading the Pakistan delegation to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday in a telephonic conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed that the attack conducted by Iran inside the Pakistani territory on January 16 was not only a serious breach of Islamabad's sovereignty but also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran, the Foreign Office said in an overnight statement. Expressing Pakistan's unreserved condemnation of the attack, the foreign minister added that the incident has ...

Pak's PTI party candidates were picked with little input: Imran Khan

Pakistan's jailed ex-premier Imran Khan has said that his party candidates for the February 8 elections were picked with his little input and he was largely unaware of ticket distribution among them. Khan made these remarks on Saturday after attending court proceedings in the Toshakhana corruption case, according to a report by the Dawn newspaper. Before the court proceedings began, about two dozen PTI workers and candidates of different constituencies complained to 71-year-old Khan about being denied party tickets. He told them that the tickets were awarded with his little input and that he was unaware of their distribution. He explained to them that it was not possible for him to make a quick decision on the award of 850 tickets in a brief discussion with party leaders, the paper reported. Khan also again accused his rival Nawaz Sharif of playing the match with the umpires of choice. He said that a certified money launderer returned to Pakistan under the London Plan and was give

Imran Khan challenges rejection of his nomination papers from 2 seats

Pakistan's jailed former premier Imran Khan on Friday approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the rejection of his nomination papers on two National Assembly seats in the run-up to the general elections. Khan, 71, filed two separate petitions in the LHC challenging the decisions of the returning officers (ROs) and the appellate tribunals for rejecting his nomination papers from NA-122, Lahore and NA-89, Mianwali, cities of Punjab province. A three-judge full bench headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi will hear the petitions on Saturday.

IMF approves $700 mn second tranche of $3 bn package for Pakistan

Ahead of the next month's elections, the IMF on Thursday approved a USD 700 million loan tranche for cash-strapped Pakistan under an existing USD 3 billion bailout package after completing its first review of the country's economic reform programme. The Ministry of Finance announced the completion of the first review by the Executive Board of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Dawn newspaper reported. A mission from the Washington-based global lender reviewed the country's economic performance during the first three months of the fiscal year from July to September, 2023. The completion of the review allows for an immediate disbursement of USD 700 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), bringing the total disbursements under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) to USD 1.9 billion, the ministry said in a statement. The initial tranche of USD 1.2 billion of the current IMF programme --amounting to USD 3 billion-- was released in July 2023. The other two tranches

Pakistan's former PM Sharif to launch election campaign as front-runner

Analysts believe the South Asian nation's powerful military has thrown its backing to Sharif, 74, after it was locked in a standoff with former cricket star Khan, 71

Anti-Terrorism Court summons Imran Khan in case related to May 9 protests

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan in a case related to May 9 protests, Pakistan-based ARY News reported

Pakistan witnessed 17% spike in terrorist violence last year: Report

Pakistan witnessed a 17 per cent spike in terrorist violence in 2023, with a total of 306 militant attacks which killed 693 people, according to a new think tank report which said banned groups like the Pakistani Taliban, Islamic State Khorasan, and the Balochistan Liberation Army accounting for over 82 per cent of the terrorism-related deaths. The security report for 2023 by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) released before the February 8 general elections raises questions over the security of electoral candidates and political leaders during the election campaign and polling, the Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday. The report said militants' intensifying attacks indicate that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its affiliates will continue to resort to an intensified terrorism onslaught with a view to force' Pakistan to reinstate the process of dialogue. The report emerged days after the interior ministry informed the Senate that the continuous influx of TTP ..

Pak Election Commission to set up over 92,500 polling stations for polls

The official polling scheme will notably be revealed 15 days before the scheduled February 8 general elections

Pak media criticises govt for crackdown on Baloch long march protesters

The Baloch protesters remained in their camps outside Islamabad's National Press Club, pressing authorities to accept their demands