Imran Khan takes firm lead in Pakistani election marred by violence and rigging claims

Pakistan's cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) speaks to the media after casting his vote at a polling station during the general election in Islamabad on July 25, 2018. (AFP)
Updated 26 July 2018
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Imran Khan takes firm lead in Pakistani election marred by violence and rigging claims

  • PML-N crise foul, says 'this is not an election, it is complete selection'
  • PPP says reports of voting irregularities can render 'the whole election null and void'

LAHORE: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan is set to emerge victorious from Pakistan’s general elections, as unofficial early results on Wednesday night indicated he had taken the lead in a political contest marred by allegations of rigging by the main political parties.
The vote is proving to be a close fight between Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
“God willing, PTI will emerge as the single largest party in Parliament,” said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the party’s vice-chairman. “I congratulate Imran Khan.”
But victory in the election, which marks only the second time that power in Pakistan has been transferred from one civilian government to another, will be tempered by unprecedented allegations of voting irregularities. Leaders of all political parties other than PTI said voters were not given the required forms on time and that polling agents, party volunteers who monitor the count, had been forced out of polling stations, leaving security officials free, potentially, to tamper with the vote.
About 800,000 law-enforcement officials, including 371,388 soldiers, were deployed to protect and facilitate the vote.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said that his party will reject the election results over concerns of rigging.
“This is not an election, it is complete selection,” said PML-N Sen. Mushahid Hussain Sayed. “A great disservice has been done to Pakistan. This is the dirtiest election in the history of Pakistan.”
Sherry Rehman, the leader of the opposition in the upper house of Parliament and a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), said the widespread reports of voting irregularities had the potential to render “the whole election null and void.”
Violence also cast a shadow over election day. At least 31 people were killed in a suicide bombing outside a polling station in the southwestern Baluchistan province. There were also clashes in all four provinces between supporters of the various parties, in which at least two people were killed.
The run-up to the election was also bloody. A suicide bomber killed 151 people, including Balochistan Awami Party candidate Siraj Raisani, at a rally in Baluchistan’s Mastung area this month. Ikramullah Gandapur, a candidate for PTI, and Haroon Bilour, who was standing for the secular Awami National Party, were assassinated in separate attacks in northwestern Pakistan.
In addition, the election has been plagued by widespread allegations that the army was working behind the scenes to skew the contest in Khan’s favor. Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month, has long had tense relations with the military and accuses army chiefs of orchestrating his conviction.
But despite the threat of violence and some public disenchantment over the allegations of rigging, at least half of the country’s 106 million registered voters turned out to cast their ballots for the 272 parliamentary seats.
“A lot has been written dismissing Pakistan’s election as a sham but there are scores of women, grandparents and great grandparents queuing today to cast their vote even in the face of news of violence from Quetta,” said Fahd Humayun, a researcher at Jinnah Institute. “This is the resilience of this country and its people.”
Women in the Dir, Kohistan, and North and South Waziristan regions made history by voting for the first time. Media footage showed disabled people arriving to vote across the country, and one news channel followed the election experiences of a team of wrestlers and two grooms who left their weddings to cast ballots. A teenage girl took her mother on a motorcycle to vote for Khan, she said, because public transport was not available.
Khan, whose appeal rests mainly on a fierce anti-corruption crusade, took the lead as the unofficial results started to come in on Wednesday night. Television news projections predicted his party would win up to 115 of the 272 elected seats on offer. With PML-N trailing on just 70 seats, it seemed clear that Sharif’s election slogan, “Give Respect to the Vote,” had failed to resonate with common Pakistanis.
In Lahore, the capital of what is traditionally Sharif’s Punjab power base, Khan’s supporters danced in the streets, waving flags bearing his image, honking horns and firing celebratory gunshots.
“I voted for Imran Khan because he is not corrupt and he has never been given a chance before,” Mustafa Abbas, a web developer, said outside a polling station on Wednesday afternoon. “We know all the other candidates and parties. Now it’s time to test out Imran.”
At another polling station, Samra Aslam, 53, said she was voting for Sharif because he had brought development to the country. Sharif’s PML-N party is known for its large-scale infrastructure projects and energy projects that have reduced crippling power cuts.
“Nawaz has been dealt with unfairly just because he won’t bow before the generals,” Aslam said. “By voting for him, we are voting against this trend of victimizing political leaders.”
Even if Khan wins and faces no obstacles in forming a government, he will have to deal with a currency crisis, a record trade deficit and enduring threats from militants. For years now, he has called for less dependence on the US, but it remains to be seen how he will manage Pakistan’s stormy relationship with Washington, as well as with rivals India and Afghanistan.
The Americans will be particularly concerned about the outcome of the election, given that Khan famously said he would order the Pakistani military to shoot down American drones if he came to power, and advocated negotiations with Pakistani Taliban fighters rather than military operations against them.
There are also questions over how successfully he can work with the army, and how much he would concede to the military in policy-making.
“Imran Khan doesn’t have many friends or allies; he’s not someone who really knows how to work with people,” said Mohammad Malick, a popular political talk show host, referring to Khan’s famous stubbornness. “So he will need a lot of help from the military not just to convince smaller parties and independent candidates to help him form the government but, once in power, to push reforms and enact policy. He won’t be able to work without the military.”
If that is the case, it would only mean more political power for a military that directly ruled Pakistan for almost half its history and already has a significant role in foreign and national security policymaking.
Khan’s triumph, however, signals a victory against dynastic politics. The Sharifs have dominated Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, since the 1980s, and Nawaz Sharif has been prime minister three times. The other loser in this regard is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of the Pakistan People's Party, whose mother and grandfather are former prime ministers.
In addition, in a landscape long closed off to disruptive, new voices, several political novices jumped into the fray during this election cycle, including social workers, lawyers, political activists and an unprecedented number of people from the transgender community. Hundreds of candidates from militant-linked groups also ran.
However, despite the violence and allegations of rigging, observers said this election could have historic repercussions for Pakistani democracy.
“When an election is believed to be unfree and unfair, knowing that the procedural aspects of the election have been carried out successfully offers little consolation,” said Kugelman. “At the same time, it’s unfair to conclude that democracy is a lost cause in Pakistan simply because it struggles to carry out a clean election. This election is a democratic milestone.”


Elon Musk blasts Australia’s planned ban on social media for children

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Elon Musk blasts Australia’s planned ban on social media for children

SYDNEY, Nov 22 : US billionaire Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, has criticized Australia’s proposed law to ban social media for children under 16 and fine social media platforms of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for companies for systemic breaches.
Australia’s center-left government on Thursday introduced the bill in parliament. It plans to try an age-verification system to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.
“Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians,” Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, said in a reply late on Thursday to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s post on X about the bill.
Several countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, but Australia’s policy could become one of the most stringent with no exemption for parental consent and pre-existing accounts.
France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15 but allowed parental consent, while the US has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13.
Musk has previously clashed with Australia’s center-left Labor government over its social media policies and had called it “fascists” over its misinformation law.
In April, X went to an Australian court to challenge a cyber regulator’s order for the removal of some posts about the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney, prompting Albanese to call Musk an “arrogant billionaire.” ($1 = 1.5359 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by David Gregorio)

Philippines cleans up after sixth major storm in weeks

Updated 30 min 30 sec ago
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Philippines cleans up after sixth major storm in weeks

  • There have been no other reports so far of deaths or injuries
  • Power outages across the island province of Catanduanes could last for months
Manila: Filipinos cleared fallen trees and repaired damaged houses on Monday after the sixth major storm to batter the Philippines in a month smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least one life.
The national weather service had warned of a “potentially catastrophic” impact from Man-yi, which was a super typhoon when it hit over the weekend, but President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday it “wasn’t as bad as we feared.”
Packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 kilometers an hour, Man-yi slammed into Catanduanes island late Saturday, and the main island of Luzon on Sunday afternoon.
It uprooted trees, brought down power lines, crushed wooden houses and triggered landslides, but did not cause serious flooding.
“Though Pepito was strong, the impact wasn’t as bad as we feared,” Marcos said, according to an official transcript of his remarks to media, using the local name for Man-yi.
One person was killed in Camarines Norte province, which Marcos said was “one casualty too many.” Police said the victim, a 79-year-old man, died after his motorbike was caught in a power line.
There have been no other reports so far of deaths or injuries.
“We will now carry on with the rescue of those (in) isolated areas and the continuing relief for those who are, who have been displaced and have no means to prepare their own meals and have no water supplies,” Marcos said.
Power outages across the island province of Catanduanes could last for months after Man-yi toppled electricity poles, provincial information officer Camille Gianan told AFP.
“Catanduanes has been heavily damaged by that typhoon — we need food packs, hygiene kits and construction materials,” Gianan said.
“Most houses with light materials were flattened while some houses made of concrete had their roofs, doors and windows destroyed.”
In the coastal town of Baler in Aurora province, clean-up operations were underway to remove felled trees and debris blocking roads and waterways.
“Most of the houses here are made of light materials so even now, before the inspection, we are expecting heavy damage on many houses in town,” disaster officer Neil Rojo told AFP.
“We’ve also received reports of roofs that went flying with the wind last night... it was the fierce wind that got us scared, not exactly the heavy rains.”
Storm weakens
Man-yi weakened significantly as it traversed the mountains of Luzon and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it swept over the South China Sea toward Vietnam on Monday.
More than a million people in the Philippines fled their homes ahead of the storm, which followed an unusual streak of violent weather.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.
At least 163 people in the Philippines died in the past month’s storms, which left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
Man-yi also hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season — most cyclones develop between July and October.
This month, four storms were clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin, which the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951.

Texas offers Trump land on US-Mexico border for potential mass deportations

Updated 38 min 52 sec ago
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Texas offers Trump land on US-Mexico border for potential mass deportations

McALLEN, Texas: Texas is offering a parcel of rural ranchland along the US-Mexico border to use as a staging area for potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.
The property, which Texas originally purchased last month, is located in rural Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley. Republican Dawn Buckingham, the Texas Land Commissioner, sent a letter Nov. 14 to Trump extending the offer.
“We do hear through back channels that they are taking a look at it and considering it. But we just want them to know we’re a good partner. We’re here. We want to be helpful,” Buckingham told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.
The property has no paved roads and sits in a county with one public hospital and limited local resources. But Buckingham stressed its location.
“We feel like this is actually very well-located. The land is very flat there. It’s adjacent to major airports. It’s also adjacent to a bridge over the river,” Buckingham said. “So if it’s helpful, then I would love to partner up with the federal government. And if it’s not, then we’ll continue to look to ways to be helpful to them.”
The land offer is the latest illustration of a sharp divide between states and local governments on whether to support or resist Trump’s plans for mass deportations of migrants living in the US illegally. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to become a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities to carry out deportations.
Texas leaders have long backed aggressive measures on the border to curb crossings, including installing razor-wire barriers and passing a law last year that would allow law enforcement to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally.
“By offering this newly-acquired 1400-acre property to the incoming Trump Administration for the construction of a facility for the processing, detention, and coordination of what will be the largest deportation of violent criminals in our nation’s history, I stand united with President Donald Trump to ensure American families are protected,” Buckingham said in an earlier statement.
Trump has said he plans to begin his deportation efforts on the first day of his presidency. He frequently attacked illegal immigration during his campaign, linking a record spike in unauthorized border crossings to issues ranging from drug trafficking to high housing prices.
There are an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. Questions remain about how people would be identified and where they would be detained.
The president-elect’s transition team did not say whether they would accept Texas’ offer but sent a statement.
“On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history,” Karoline Leavitt, the transition spokeswoman for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, said Wednesday.
The Texas General Land Office did not disclose the amount paid for the land, but Buckingham stated the previous owner resisted the creation of a border wall.
A 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometer) stretch of border wall was built under Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021 on that land. Buckingham said with the recent purchase, the state has created another easement for more border wall construction.


Haiti blasts Macron’s criticism of transition council as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’

Updated 34 min 32 sec ago
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Haiti blasts Macron’s criticism of transition council as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti’s foreign minister met with the French ambassador to the nation on Thursday over what the ministry branded as “unfriendly and inappropriate” comments from French President Emmanuel Macron as he left the G20 summit in Brazil.
Macron had on Wednesday called the decision of the Caribbean country’s transitional presidential council to oust the prime minister earlier this month amid an escalation in gang warfare as “completely dumb.”
“Honestly, it is Haitians who killed Haiti by letting in drug trafficking,” Macron was filmed saying in Brazil, before hailing ex-Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was ousted amid divisions with the council, as a great leader.
“They are completely dumb, they should never have fired him,” he said.
His remarks sparked outrage in Haiti, a former French colony. After Haiti freed itself from slavery and declared independence in 1804, it paid France a “debt” for lost property — including slaves — over more than a century that some activists say amounted to over $100 billion.
Activists are seeking French reparations for the debt, which many blame for Haiti’s economic and political turmoil.
Speaking in Chile on Thursday, Macron vowed that “France will never turn its face from a crisis... There will never be a double standard in face of tragedy, be it in Haiti, Venezuela, or at the gates of Europe.”
France has pledged 4 million euros ($4.2 million) to a UN fund financing a deeply under-resourced security mission mandated to help restore security in Haiti, as well as funding for French and Creole classes for its troops.
Haiti’s foreign ministry said that in the meeting French Ambassador Antoine Michon promised France would stay by Haiti’s side to help restore security and carry out elections. 


NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war

Updated 22 November 2024
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NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war

BRUSSELS: The experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile Russia fired at Ukraine will not affect the course of the war nor NATO’s backing for Kyiv, a spokesperson for the US-led defense alliance said on Thursday.
“Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO Allies from supporting Ukraine,” said spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah, calling the launch “yet another example of Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian cities.”