ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election oversight body will today, Monday, scrutinize thousands of nomination papers filed by candidates last week for the upcoming national polls scheduled for Feb. 8.
Thousands of candidates across Pakistan rushed to file their nomination papers on Sunday as an extended deadline given by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit them expired on Dec. 24.
The returning officers will now scrutinize the papers from Dec. 25-30 during which they would either accept or reject the nominations. The ECP will allot election symbols to candidates on Jan. 13, with the polling date set for Feb. 8.
“Once the deadline ends, the ECP is set to conduct scrutiny of the nomination papers from Monday and continue it till Dec 30 as per the commission’s updated schedule,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said on Sunday.
Over 128 million electorates will be exercising their right to vote in the upcoming national polls for 266 national and 593 provincial assembly seats across Pakistan.
The exercise to submit nomination papers, however, was marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The PTI has accused police of snatching their candidates’ nomination papers and carrying out raids at their homes to deter them from contesting the polls.
Khan, arguably the most popular politician in Pakistan currently, has been in jail since August after he was convicted by a Pakistani court in a case relating to the alleged illegal sale of state gifts during his tenure.
He was disqualified from holding public office and contesting elections for five years by the ECP after his conviction. Khan, who denies any wrongdoing, has blamed the powerful military, his political rivals, and the ECP for using unfair means to keep him and the PTI away from elections. All three strongly deny the allegations while the caretaker government has repeatedly said all political parties would be given an equal chance to contest elections.
After the deadline to submit nomination papers concluded on Sunday, the ECP issued a list of registered political parties throughout the country.
“The updated list no longer includes Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as the head of the party, marking PTI as a leaderless political entity,” the APP said.
This was yet another blow to the party after the ECP ruled last week that the PTI could no longer retain its iconic bat symbol for the polls. The verdict was issued by the regulator after it declared the PTI’s intraparty elections “null and void.”
Political analysts have raised alarm over media reports of alleged pre-poll rigging, saying that a rigged election would not bring stability in the country.
“It is bad politics and bad optics,” political analyst Zebunnisa Burki told Arab News on Sunday. “If PTI loses these elections even genuinely, they would be justified in saying the elections were rigged based on these pre-poll rigging incidents.”
Pakistan’s election regulator begins scrutinizing nomination papers today for polls
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Pakistan’s election regulator begins scrutinizing nomination papers today for polls
- Returning officers will scrutinize papers from Dec. 25-30 to either accept or reject the nominations
- The ECP will allot election symbols to candidates on Jan. 13, with the polling date set for Feb. 8
Pakistan police officer killed as polio vaccination drive starts — police
- Two motorcycle riders opened fire on police officer in northwestern Jamrud town, say police
- Pakistan launched this year’s first nationwide immunization effort today after 73 cases in 2024
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A Pakistan police officer traveling to guard polio vaccinators was shot dead Monday, police said, on the first day of a nationwide immunization effort after a year of rising cases.
The officer was traveling to guard polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when he was killed, local police official Zarmat Khan told AFP.
“Two motorcycle riders opened fire on him,” he said. “The constable died instantly at the scene.”
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio is endemic and militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts.
Pakistan recorded at least 73 polio infections last year compared to six in 2023. The vaccination campaign which started on Monday is the first of the year and is due to last a week.
“Despite the incident, the polio vaccination drive in the area remains ongoing,” Khan said.
Abdul Hameed Afridi, another senior police official in the area, also confirmed details of the attack and said officers have “launched an investigation.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, however Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — which neighbors Afghanistan — is a hive of militant activity.
The Pakistani Taliban are the most active group in the area.
Polio can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine, but scores of vaccination workers and their escorts have been killed over the years.
In the past, clerics falsely claimed that the vaccine contained pork or alcohol, declaring it forbidden for Muslims.
In more recent years the attacks have focused on vulnerable police escorts accompanying the vaccinators as they go door-to-door.
Last year, dozens of Pakistani policemen who accompany medical teams on campaigns went on strike after a string of militant attacks targeting them.
Pakistan has witnessed rising militant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan.
More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in 2024 — the deadliest year in almost a decade — according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s new rulers of failing to rout militants organizing on Afghan soil, a charge the Taliban government routinely denies.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Sunday last year’s polio eradication efforts faced “a major setback.”
“We must eradicate polio from Pakistan at any cost,” he said as he launched the new vaccination drive.
Lawyers in Pakistan’s capital strike to protest ‘unfair’ transfer of judges
- Lawyers in Pakistan’s capital strike to protest ‘unfair’ transfer of judges
- Lawyers reject president’s move, say transfer “unfair” and affects seniority of other Islamabad High Court judges
ISLAMABAD: Lawyers associated with the capital’s bar associations and councils have gone on strike today, Monday, to protest against the president’s move to transfer three judges from different high courts to the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday approved the transfers of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court, the Sindh High Court’s Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and Balochistan High Court’s Justice Muhammad Asif to the IHC, invoking anger from the capital city’s district and high court bar associations.
Zardari went ahead with the transfers despite opposition from five of 10 IHC judges. In a letter addressed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and high courts on Friday, the judges said the decision was unfair to the existing senior judges of the IHC.
They also cited speculation and news reports that the government wanted to appoint Justice Dogar as the IHC’s chief justice, saying that it would be a “fraud on the constitution.”
“This decision is unfair to the judges serving in the IHC as it clearly affects their seniority,” Asad Manzoor Butt, president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, told Arab News.
Butt supported the Islamabad High Court Bar Association’s call for notification of the judges’ transfer to be canceled.
“We will travel to Islamabad to consult with the Bar leadership and extend our support to them,” he said.
Pakistan’s constitution empowers the president to transfer a judge from one high court to another after the concerned judge consents to the decision. The president can approve the transfer after consulting the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of both high courts.
The Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) said on Sunday that the capital city’s lawyer bodies will pursue all legal and constitutional avenues to challenge the move and safeguard the “judicial independence of Islamabad.”
It said an All-Pakistan Lawyers’ Convention will be held under the IBC on Monday to formulate a future strategy to challenge the transfers.
Pakistan PM visits Quetta after militant attack kills 18 security forces
- Militant attack took place in southwestern Balochistan province’s Kalat district on Saturday
- Shehbaz Sharif to discuss law and order situation with provincial leadership, says PM’s Office
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in the provincial capital of Quetta on a day-long visit where he will be briefed about the law and order situation in southwestern Balochistan, his office said on Monday, days after a militant attack killed 18 security forces in the province.
The Pakistan army said on Saturday 18 security forces had been killed while trying to thwart an “act of terrorism” in the insurgency-plagued Balochistan province, adding that 23 militants were killed in subsequent clearance operations.
The army said the attack took place in Kalat district’s Mangochar town on the night between Friday and Saturday when militants attempted to establish roadblocks in the area. The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the most prominent separatist groups operating in the southwestern province, claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Governor Balochistan Sheikh Jafar Khan Mandokhel and Chief Minister Balochistan Sarfraz Bugti received Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival at Quetta,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
It said Sharif will meet security forces personnel who were injured while battling militants in Kalat last week.
“The prime minister will also meet the provincial leadership in Quetta and will be briefed on law and order,” the statement added.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Power Minister Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari are accompanying Sharif, the PMO said.
While the army did not specify which forces the 18 soldiers belonged to, government officials in Balochistan told Arab News they included 17 soldiers and one Frontier Corps trooper.
BALOCHISTAN INSURGENCY
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has long faced a low-level insurgency led by separatist groups like the BLA, who accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources while neglecting the local population.
Pakistani governments have for decades denied these allegations, saying they have prioritized Balochistan’s development through investments in health, education and infrastructure projects.
The BLA has emerged as a significant security threat in recent months, carrying out major attacks in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan and targeting security forces, ethnic Punjabis they consider outsiders in Balochistan, as well as Chinese interests and nationals working on investment projects.
Over 50 people, including security forces, were killed in August last year in a string of attacks in Balochistan claimed by the BLA. Last month, dozens of fighters of the separatist outfit gained control of a small town in Khuzdar for hours. They snatched weapons and vehicles from the local Levies paramilitary force and set the Levies station on fire.
Violence by Baloch separatist factions, primarily the BLA, killed about 300 people last year, according to official statistics, marking an escalation in the decades-long conflict.
Pakistan, Iran chambers of commerce sign agreement aimed at increasing exports to $10 billion
- Governors of Pakistan’s Punjab and Iran’s Razavi Khorasan provinces attend signing of MoU in Lahore
- Pakistan, Iran have often been at odds over militancy and instability along shared, porous border
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s and Iran’s chambers of commerce have signed an agreement aimed at increasing exports between the two countries to $10 billion, state-run media reported on Monday, as the two sides eye increasing trade to move past strained ties.
The development takes place after Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of general staff of Iran’s armed forces, visited Pakistan last month to hold talks with the country’s civil and military leadership on border management, economic cooperation and regional issues.
Pakistan and Iran have often been at odds over instability along their shared, porous border and routinely trade blame for not rooting out militancy. Tensions surged in January last year when Pakistan and Iran exchanged airstrikes, with both claiming to target alleged militant hideouts in each other’s territory.
“A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Mashhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Lahore,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“The purpose of the MoU is to take bilateral volume of exports to ten billion dollars between the two countries,” the statement said.
It said the governor of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, Sardar Saleem Haider Khan and the governor general of Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province, Gholam Hossein Mozaffari, both attended the signing ceremony.
Khan said his Iranian counterpart expressed “great interest” in Pakistani products, stressing that both countries should focus on expanding trade relations.
“He said the Iranian Governor has assured to consider reducing tourist and business visa fees and improving facilities for easier travel and trade,” the report said.
Later, both governors inaugurated a one-day shopping festival organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Expo Center Lahore.
Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi toured Pakistan in April 2024 as both countries sought to mend ties after unprecedented tit-for-tat military strikes.
During Raisi’s three-day visit, the two governments signed MoUs and agreements covering different fields including trade, science and technology, agriculture, health, culture and judicial matters.
Raisi had said that the volume of trade between the two countries “is not acceptable at all” and that they should enhance bilateral trade to $10 billion.
Police constable killed as Pakistan begins first anti-polio drive of 2025
- Two motorcycle riders opened fire on police officer in northwestern Jamrud town, say police
- Pakistan says nationwide immunization campaign to vaccinate over 45 million children
ISLAMABAD: Unidentified armed men shot dead a police constable in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, police said as the South Asian country kicked off its first anti-polio nationwide drive of 2025 to vaccinate over 45 million children.
Militant groups in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province have frequently attacked and killed members of polio vaccine teams, and police officials who guard them.
Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate polio have been undermined by vaccine misinformation and opposition from religious hard-liners who say immunization is a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children or a cover for Western spies.
The latest attack took place when the constable was traveling to guard polio vaccinators in Jamrud town in KP, local police official Zarmat Khan told AFP.
“Two motorcycle riders opened fire on him,” Khan said. “The constable died instantly at the scene.”
Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are essential to provide children high immunity against the disease.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the disease is endemic. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
The Pakistan polio program conducts multiple mass vaccination drives in a year, and this year’s first anti-polio vaccination campaign is expected to continue till Feb. 9.
Pakistan has assembled teams of around 400,000 polio workers to go door-to-door countrywide to vaccinate children below five years of age, Coordinator for Health Dr. Mukhtar Bharath said in a statement.
Dr. Bharath called on parents to support polio vaccinators and ensure their children received the vaccines.
“It is the national and moral responsibility of parents to vaccinate all children under the age of five,” he said.
Pakistan has reported only one polio case this year. However, last year it reported 73 cases with Balochistan province reporting 27, the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh reporting 22 cases each, and Pakistan’s capital city and eastern Punjab province each reporting one case of the disease.
With additional inputs from AFP
