Ex-PM Khan’s pick, Parvez Elahi, finally takes oath as chief minister of key province

President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi (center) administers oath to Chaudhry Parvez Elahi (left) as Chief Minister Punjab in Islamabad, Pakistan, on July 27, 2022. (@PresOfPakistan/Twitter)
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Updated 27 July 2022
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Ex-PM Khan’s pick, Parvez Elahi, finally takes oath as chief minister of key province

  • Oath comes hours after Supreme Court ruled to hand control of the country’s most populous Punjab province to Elahi
  • Supreme Court said Elahi had been wrongfully denied victory in a vote last week by the Punjab assembly speaker

ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, a candidate backed by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Wednesday took oath as chief minister of Punjab, hours after Pakistan’s top court ruled to hand control of the country’s most populous province to him.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday ruled that Elahi had been wrongfully denied victory in a vote last week by the speaker of the Punjab assembly, who disregarded votes caste in Elahi’s favor on the basis of them being against party line and handed victory to the candidate of the ruling coalition, outgoing CM Hamza Shahbaz. 

The court overturned the speaker’s decision.

It was well past 1am on Wednesday when Pakistani media showed Elahi taking oath at the presidency.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the court’s verdict a “blow to the expectations of the legal community, citizens, the media and to the people.”

“The constitution has mandated all the institutions to work within the specified limits. No institution can interfere in another’s jurisdiction.

“There will be no compromise on the supremacy of the constitution and parliament,” Sharif added. 

“The decision has not been accepted by the people, we will decide our future line of action after consulting coalition partners,” Marriyum Aurangzeb, federal minister for information, told reporters on Tuesday night.

Ex-PM Khan, however, lauded the court’s ruling and his supporters came out in celebration in cities across the country. 

“I appreciate our SC [Supreme Court] judges for standing firm & upholding the Constitution & law, against all manner of threats & abuse,” Khan said on Twitter. 

In the July 22 election for Punjab CM, Elahi, backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and it’s ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), had bagged 186 votes, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Hamza Shahbaz had secured 179 votes in the provincial house of 371. Shahbaz is the son of PM Sharif. 

However, Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari rejected 10 PML-Q votes on the basis of a recent Supreme Court verdict that endorsed the idea of disqualifying legislators for voting against party lines. Mazari quoted a letter written to him by PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, asking his party’s lawmakers to support Shahbaz instead of Elahi.

In its 11-page verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that the deputy speaker’s ruling was “void, without lawful authority and of no legal effect.”

“In consequence of the above … Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is declared as the duly elected Chief Minister, Punjab,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial announced in the high-profile case.

The court directed the Punjab chief secretary to “immediately and forthwith” issue a notification to declare Elahi as the elected chief minister of the province. Likewise, the court declared that the oath of the office administered to Hamza Shehbaz “was and is without lawful authority and of no legal effect.”




Police officers stand guard as people celebrate after court ordered that backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, candidate for Punjab's chief minister, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, to be installed as the province's premier, outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad, Pakistan July 26, 2022. (REUTERS)

Elahi’s election will give Khan’s campaign for early elections a shot in the arm. General elections are scheduled for August next year.

The tug of war between Khan and his opponents comes while the coalition government struggles to restart a tough IMF bailout program and as Pakistan faces falling foreign exchange reserves, a widening current account deficit and a sharply depreciating currency.

The July 22 election was held on the directions of the Supreme Court after 25 members of former premier Imran Khan’s PTI party were disqualified for voting for the rival PML-N candidate, Shahbaz, in an April election for the same post.

In a unanimous decision in May, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had said the PTI dissidents were being de-seated for defecting from the party under Article 63-A. The Supreme Court of Pakistan, in its interpretation of Article 63-A, has said votes cast against the party direction “cannot be counted and must be disregarded.”

According to Article 63-A of the constitution, a parliamentarian can be disqualified on grounds of defection if he or she “votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to election of the prime minister or chief minister; or a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or a money bill or a Constitution (amendment) bill.”


Three-year-old girl sues Punjab government as smog crisis worsens in Lahore

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Three-year-old girl sues Punjab government as smog crisis worsens in Lahore

  • Record air pollution has triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, school closures, stay-at-home orders in Lahore
  • On Friday, Lahore, home to 13 million people, had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to IQAir

ISLAMABAD: A three-year-old girl in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has sued the government of the Punjab province as record-high air pollution levels have triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, school closures and stay-at-home orders in the city, which has been enveloped in a thick, toxic smog since last month.
On Friday, Lahore, home to 13 million people, had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company.
Research shows children exposed to high levels of smog may suffer from reduced lung capacity, pneumonia, bronchitis and other lung infections and more asthma attacks and worse symptoms than adults. 
“Under Article 9-A of the Constitution, the government is obligated to provide citizens with a clean and healthy environment,” said the petition filed by three-year-old Amal Sekhera, who appeared in court with her mother Mehek Zafar on Thursday. 
Sekhera said she was seeking justice for herself, her friends and the future generations as children and the elderly were the most badly hit by air pollution and smog. She also criticized the Punjab government for failing to protect fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan.
The Lahore High Court issued notices in response to the petition to the Punjab government, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the City Traffic Police. The hearing has been adjourned till Nov. 12, with the court instructing the government to ensure the presence of the provincial secretary of the Environment Protection Department and the director general of the EPA in court at the next hearing. 
Authorities earlier this week shut down schools in Lahore and said 50 percent of government employees in the city were told to work from home until next week. On Wednesday schools in 18 surrounding districts were also shut. Marriyum Aurangzeb, a senior minister in the Punjab province, has urged residents to voluntarily wear face masks and avoid unnecessary travel, and said that “otherwise, the government will be forced into a complete lockdown.” 
Authorities in the city have already banned barbecuing food without filters, as well as the use of motorized rickshaws, and wedding halls must close by 10pm. The government has also said it was looking into methods to induce artificial rainfall to combat the pollution, which has been sending patients to hospitals and private clinics complaining of coughs and burning eyes.
“Tens of thousands of patients suffering from respiratory diseases were treated at hospitals and clinics in a week,” Salman Kazmi, vice president of the Pakistan Medical Association, told media on Thursday.


Pakistan’s Muhammad Asif wins IBSF World Snooker Championship in Qatar

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan’s Muhammad Asif wins IBSF World Snooker Championship in Qatar

  • Asif defeated Iran’s Ali Ghareghozlou 5-3 to clinch the title for 3rd time
  • PM Shehbaz Sharif promises to set up world-class facilities for sportsmen

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated Pakistani cueist Muhammad Asif for winning the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Championship in Qatar for the third time, Pakistani state-run media reported on Thursday.
Asif defeated Iran’s Ali Ghareghozlou 5-3 to clinch the title in a thrilling final on Nov. 6. He outclassed Ali 5-3: 70-25, 7-87(84), 82(56)-8, 106(106)-08, 82-12, 43-91(58), 0-118 and 93(80)-4.
“Asif made the entire nation proud by winning the international championship for the third time,” PM Sharif was quoted as saying by the Radio Pakistan broadcaster. “The talented youth of Pakistan are highlighting the country’s name in the fields of sports.”
The IBSF, founded in 1971, is the governing body for billiards and snooker worldwide. It represents 85 member countries and is recognized by the World Confederation of Billiard Sports and the International Olympic Committee.
Asif, 42, first won the IBSF World Snooker Championship in 2012 and went on to win it again in 2019. His victory ties him with India’s Pankaj Advani who has also won the World Snooker Championship thrice.
The Pakistan prime minister said Asif’s family and coach also deserved recognition, adding that providing quality facilities to Pakistani players was top priority of his government.
“The government is making all possible efforts to provide international standard facilities to the players,” he added.
 


China, Pakistan discuss advancement of rail, road and economic zone projects under CPEC

Updated 08 November 2024
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China, Pakistan discuss advancement of rail, road and economic zone projects under CPEC

  • The discussions included sections of Main Line-1 railway project, Karakoram Highway as well as Gwadar port and economic zone
  • Beijing has invested over $65 billion in energy, infrastructure and other projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

ISLAMABAD: China and Pakistan on Thursday discussed advancement of key infrastructure and economic projects under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Pakistani government said, with the two sides also discussing security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.
CPEC, a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea through a network of roads, railways, pipelines and ports in Pakistan and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.
The discussions on key CPEC projects were held during Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong’s meeting with Pakistani Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, according to Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID).
On the occasion, the Pakistani planning minister emphasized the need for concrete mechanisms to ensure smooth and effective implementation of bilateral projects.
“Both sides deliberated on advancing key projects, including the Karachi-Hyderabad section of Main Line-1 (ML-1) and Karakoram Highway (Thakot-Raikot Section) project, and agreed to accelerate the projects’ timely execution,” the PID said in a statement.
“Regarding the Gwadar Port and Free Zone, both sides expressed a mutual commitment to ensuring the continued development of Gwadar in a holistic manner.”
The meeting came two days after a security guard at a factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi shot and injured two Chinese nationals before fleeing, police said.
Last month, two Chinese nationals were killed in a suicide bombing near the international airport in Karachi. In March this year, a suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in northwestern Pakistan as they headed to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in the country. In 2022, three Chinese educators and their Pakistani driver were killed when an explosion ripped through a van at the University of Karachi. A blast on a bus killed 13 people in north Pakistan in 2021, including nine Chinese nationals.
China, breaking with tradition, publicly spoken out against security threats to its workers and nationals living in Pakistan, where hundreds of them work on Beijing-funded projects linked to CPEC.
Iqbal assured the Chinese ambassador the safety of Chinese citizens was a top priority of his government.
“Pakistan will continue working closely with China to ensure the security of Chinese citizens, projects, and institutions,” he was quoted as saying by the PID.
Ambassador Jiang expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s comprehensive engagement and said the Chinese side was ready for collaboration in areas of agriculture, mines and minerals, industrial cooperation, according to the PID.
Iqbal shared that his ministry was in coordination with the National Development and Reform Commission of China to arrange high-level workshops to bring together experts from both sides to outline the future direction of CPEC’s second phase.
China has lately shown willingness for the second phase of CPEC and has given assurances for the establishment of five new corridors, including that of growth, livelihood, innovation, green economy and open regional inclusive development.
 


Pakistan to press developed nations for unconditional climate funding at COP29

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan to press developed nations for unconditional climate funding at COP29

  • Pakistan is ranked as the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index
  • Pakistan PM’s aide Romina Khurshid Alam says vulnerable countries are suffering from their own economic challenges

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will urge developed countries attending the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku to fulfill their pledges and provide easy access to climate funding without attaching conditions, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coordinator on climate change said on Thursday.

The COP29 climate conference, scheduled to take place in Baku between November 11 and 22, will layout new policies and bring together representatives from various nations to discuss the adverse impacts of climate change and evaluate available solutions for adaptation.

Pakistan is ranked as the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. In 2022, devastating floods affected over 33 million people and caused economic losses exceeding $30 billion, highlighting the country’s high susceptibility to extreme weather events.

“Pakistan is very clear on our stance that we need all the developed countries when it comes to the pledges, one, they need to complete their pledges, they need to fulfil their pledges, and two, easy access toward the fundings,” Romina Khurshid Alam, PM Sharif’s coordinator on climate change, told Arab News in an exclusive interview.

In this file photo, taken on August 30, 2024, people wade through flood waters after heavy monsoon rains in Multan. (AFP/File)

Due to the rising temperatures, extreme climatic phenomena, including floods, droughts, cyclones, torrential rainstorms and heatwaves, have been occurring more frequently and with greater intensity across Pakistan.

The South Asian country is among the most severely threatened countries in terms of climate–induced challenges, especially in the context of its dependency on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water, natural resources and the environment, and socio-economic issues such as poverty. The country’s adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change is inevitable and likely to become critical in the future.

Alam said vulnerable countries were suffering from their own economic challenges and vulnerabilities, while at the same time, many countries faced additional restraints on climate funding.

“It’s not fair that we always get demands to ‘do more and to do this, to do that, these sanctions are coming,’ that is something which is on the human rights violation as well,” she said, adding that Pakistan wanted to raise its voice on what happened to the pledges, how many countries benefited from them and what straightforward mechanisms could be pursued to provide effective support.

Asked about the total amount pledged by developed nations, Alam said she would provide the exact figure after COP29, but noted that “the number is very low.”

“At COP29, we are talking about the data bank system like in a way that what countries are suffering and looking forward for the carbon credits policies,” she added.

In this file photo, taken on August 30, 2024, residents gather at the site of a landslide owing to heavy monsoon rains in the remote area of Patrak, in Upper Dir district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (AFP/File)

Last month, Pakistan proposed the establishment of a regional climate data bank to help Vulnerable Twenty (V20) group of countries prepare an evidence-based response to climate disasters.

Alam said the South Asian country had planned “many things” to showcase at Pakistan Pavilion during COP29.

Speaking about the prevailing smog issue, she said Pakistan would take it up with the Indian team at COP29.

“We are open to dialogues and open to come up with the solution, we want to get the things done by dialogue,” she said, noting that the chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, had also urged India to sit together to resolve this issue.

People walk along a street amid smog in Lahore on November 2, 2024. (AFP/File)

“CM Punjab very clearly said that ‘let’s sit together to sort out this issue because this cannot be done in a way that we are not doing this or you are doing this’,” Alam said.

“This is not a game, the main thing is to think about the children and to think about the future.”

Winter smog has become an annual crisis in Pakistan’s Punjab, particularly the provincial capital of Lahore, with air quality deteriorating to hazardous levels each season. The city consistently ranks among the world’s worst for air pollution, leading to a significant rise in respiratory issues and hospital admissions, especially affecting children and the elderly.

Last year, severe pollution levels prompted a surge in cases of asthma, lung infections and other respiratory problems among residents, according to media reports.

The problem this week prompted Punjab CM Nawaz to propose cross-border cooperation with Indian authorities to tackle shared pollution sources, such as crop residue burning, which exacerbate the region’s smog problem.


Pakistan PM performs groundbreaking of first private sector university in Gilgit-Baltistan

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan PM performs groundbreaking of first private sector university in Gilgit-Baltistan

  • Ramday University is being built by a trust with construction set to complete by donations from overseas Pakistanis
  • Home to some of the world’s tallest mountains, semi-autonomous GB region is among Pakistan’s least developed areas

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week laid the foundation stone of first private sector university in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), promising a bright future for the youth of the remote mountainous region.

Home to some of the tallest mountains in the world, the semi-autonomous GB region is counted among the least developed areas administered by Pakistan.

Ramday University is located in Thagos area of GB’s Ghanche district at an altitude of 11,000 feet. The university is being built on a 200-kanal area of land under a trust, with construction set to be completed through the donations of overseas Pakistanis, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

GB-based news portal Pamir Times said the university will offer specialized programs in environmental studies, climate change, hydrology and mineral studies subjects.

“The establishment of an institution of higher learning in a remote area like Ghanche in Gilgit-Baltistan is highly encouraging,” Sharif was quoted as saying on by the APP during the groundbreaking ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday.

The prime minister congratulated former Supreme Cour judge Khalil ur Rehman Ramday on establishing the university.

“He expressed his confidence that this university, located at an altitude of 11,000 feet in Thagos, will reach the peak of modern knowledge and research standards,” the APP said.

Sharif stressed that GB’s development and the welfare of its people were among the government’s top priorities.

The development takes place a day after Sharif visited the mountainous northern region, where he inaugurated a model village for flood-affected families during a day-long visit to Ghizer.

There, Sharif pledged to provide residents with ownership documents to help them acquire new houses that were destroyed by the 2022 floods.