TUNIS: Tunisia’s parliament was set to vote on a major amendment to the electoral law on Friday, nine days before a presidential election that opposition groups fear will cement President Kais Saied’s authoritarian rule. The bill strips the Administrative Court of its authority to adjudicate electoral disputes. It is likely to pass in an assembly elected in 2022 on an 11 percent turnout after Saied dissolved the previous one and prompted an opposition boycott.
Political opposition and civil society groups called for protests against the bill near parliament.
The Administrative Court is widely seen as the last independent judicial body, after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissed dozens of judges in 2022. The court this month ordered the electoral commission to reinstate disqualified presidential candidates, saying the legitimacy of the Oct. 6 election was in question. But the commission defied the court and has allowed only two candidates to run against Saied.
Lawmakers said they had proposed the bill because they believed the Administrative Court was no longer neutral and could annul the election and plunge Tunisia into chaos and a constitutional vacuum.
Critics argue that Saied is using the electoral commission and the judiciary to secure victory by stifling competition and intimidating rivals. He for his part says he is fighting traitors, mercenaries and corruption.
Saied was democratically elected in 2019, but then tightened his grip on power and began ruling by decree in 2021 in a move the opposition has described as a coup. Presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was sentenced last week to 20 months in prison on charges of falsifying popular endorsements, and to a further six months on Wednesday on charges of falsifying documents.
Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party, has been imprisoned since last year on charges of harming public security. Another prominent politician, Lotfi Mraihi, was jailed this year on charges of vote-buying in 2019.
Both had said they would run in October, but were prevented from submitting their applications from jail.
Another court jailed four other potential candidates in August and gave them lifetime bans from running for office.
Tunisia assembly votes on electoral bill nine days before poll, opposition calls protest
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Tunisia assembly votes on electoral bill nine days before poll, opposition calls protest
- Bill strips Administrative Court of authority over electoral disputes
- Critics argue Saied uses judiciary to stifle competition and intimidate rivals
Turkish indictment seeks prison for bank CEO in soccer stars case, state media says
- The new indictment relates to a previously opened case on the alleged defrauding of players including Turkiye’s Arda Turan and Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera by a former Denizbank branch manager
ISTANBUL: Turkish prosecutors have prepared an indictment seeking a prison sentence of 72 to 240 years for the chief executive of lender Denizbank for the alleged fraud of soccer stars, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
The new indictment relates to a previously opened case on the alleged defrauding of players including Turkiye’s Arda Turan and Uruguay’s Fernando Muslera by a former Denizbank branch manager. Denizbank has denied any role in wrongdoing.
Anadolu on Tuesday reported Denizbank CEO Hakan Ates and former assistant general manager Mehmet Aydogdu, who faces similar charges, had denied the allegations against them in the indictment, prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office.
Responding to the widely reported details on the indictment, Denizbank said late on Tuesday: “We have not received any information regarding the prosecutor’s investigation reflected in some press and publication outlets today.”
The bank said the disclosure of the indictment details violated the confidentiality of the case. Details of indictments are regularly released via Anadolu news agency.
Denizbank said last week that Aydogdu had resigned.
“I do not accept the allegations,” CEO Ates is quoted as saying in the indictment.
Aydogdu was quoted as saying: “I have no connection with or knowledge of the matter.”
No arrests have been made or court appearances set in relation to the new indictment.
Under the case opened last year, prosecutors sought a 216-year prison term for Secil Erzan, the former branch manager charged with defrauding soccer celebrities including Turan, a former Barcelona midfielder, and Galatasaray goalkeeper Muslera.
According to last year’s indictment, Erzan defrauded some $44 million from 18 individuals, promising substantial returns on their investments in a “secret special fund.” There are 24 complainants in the latest indictment.
Erzan convinced them to invest in the fund in part by telling them that former Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim had also invested, according to that indictment.
Erzan has been jailed as the case against her continues.
Ten army, two paramilitary soldiers killed as militants attack check post — Pakistan army
- Tuesday’s attack took place on joint army-FC check post in Mali Khel area of Bannu District
- Seven policemen abducted by gunmen from Bannu district on Monday recovered by police
ISLAMABAD: Ten Pakistan army soldiers and two from the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary were killed on Tuesday as militants attacked a checkpost in the northwestern Bannu district, the army said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has seen a surge in attacks in recent months, which Islamabad says are mostly carried out by Afghan nationals and their facilitators and by Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups who cross over into Pakistan using safe haven in Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Kabul denies the charges, saying Pakistan’s security challenges are a domestic issue.
The remote southwestern province of Balochistan has also seen an increase in strikes by separatist ethnic militants this year.
Tuesday’s attack was on a joint army-FC check post in the Mali Khel area of Bannu District, with six militants killed in the exchange of gunfire, the army said.
“The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by own troops, which forced the khwarij [militants] to ram an explosive laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post,” the statement said.
“The suicide blast led to collapse of portion of perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in Shahadat [martyrdom] of twelve brave sons of soil that include ten Soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of Frontier Constabulary.”
On Monday, seven policemen were abducted from a check post in Bannu district, but the cops were recovered on Tuesday through the efforts of local tribal elders and a massive search operation by police in the unforgiving mountainous terrain.
The TTP, which operates along the Pak-Afghan border, is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
Islamabad says TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and that the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.
Pakistan VPN ban could hike IT sector operational costs by $150 million annually — association
- Pakistan’s IT sector has been thriving in recent years, with exports clocking in at $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2024
- Business Council says many multinational firms considering relocating from Pakistan, some having “already done so”
KARACHI: The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the country’s top representative body for the IT sector, has warned this week Internet slowdowns and the restriction of virtual private network (VPN) services could lead to financial losses and closures and increase operational costs for the industry by up to $150 million annually.
Pakistan’s IT sector has been thriving in recent years, with exports clocking in at $3.2 billion in FY24.
Internet speeds in Pakistan have dropped by up to 30-40 percent over the past few months, according to the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP) as the federal government moves to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda” and terror attacks. Authorities have also announced a ban on the use of VPNs in the country.
Pakistan has already blocked access to social media platform X since the February general elections, with the government saying the blocking was to stop anti-state activities and due to a failure by X to adhere to local Pakistani laws.
Rights activists say all these moves are designed to stifle critical voices and democratic accountability in the country, which the government denies.
“Internet slowdown and blocking of virtual private network (VPN) services will certainly translate into an existential threat as it will result in unrecoverable financial loss, service disruptions, and reputational loss in the export of IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS),” P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said in a statement released on Tuesday, putting “cautious estimates” of the increase in operational costs of the IT industry from VPN blockages at between $100-150 million each year.
In August, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the national firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” P@SHA also said that month Pakistan’s economy could lose up to $300 million a year due to Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall.
“Even by conservative estimates the IT industry will suffer losses in tens of millions of dollars in the short term; and the reputational and intangible loses will be huge and devastating for the industry in the longer run, especially with the global competitive landscape evolving in this space,” Syed said.
He said the Internet slowdown and VPN blocks would deal a “huge blow” to one of the fastest-growing industries of Pakistan and create a “domino effect” on other sectors of the economy.
“Domestic and international IT companies will be forced to close or significantly restrict their operations in Pakistan – and it will be detrimental to the most flourishing industry of Pakistan vis-à-vis exports, skills development and employment generation,” Syed added.
“In addition to this, it will be extremely demoralizing and discouraging for our IT companies, their workforce, start-up entrepreneurs, freelancers, and everyone involved in the sector – who are working very hard to bring Pakistan at the forefront of global technology destinations.”
Pakistan’s IT and ITeS exports have been growing at an average of 30 percent per year, and are on the way to achieve over $15 billion in the next 5 years, according to industry data, provided the government ensures continuity in export, fiscal, financial, SME, infrastructure and IT policies.
“If the VPNs are blocked, most of IT companies, Call Centers, BPO [business process outsourcing] organizations of Pakistan will lose all the major Fortune 500 clients, as well as others – as data protection and cybersecurity are of paramount importance to our clients, and connecting to client systems through VPN is a global norm and standard, and is a basic requirement and expectation of clients around the world,” Syed said.
“Additionally, no international company of any size tolerates any intrusion into their security protocols by any private or public institution.”
He said the estimated financial losses from the moves did not include the inevitable loss of livelihoods of remote workers and freelancers, urging authorities to engage with P@SHA, industry leaders, and relevant stakeholders to develop a “balanced and secure framework” that safeguarded national security without compromising the operational needs of the IT and other economic sectors of Pakistan.
Saudi hotel industry sees 11.4% spending surge, amid overall weekly POS decline: SAMA
RIYADH: Spending in Saudi hotels saw a week-on-week increase of 11.4 percent between Nov. 10 and 16, reaching SR399.7 million ($106.4 million), according to the Kingdom’s central bank.
The weekly point-of-sale transactions bulletin from SAMA showed that restaurants and cafes recorded the second largest sectoral increase with a 4.3 percent rise to reach SR2.07 billion, which also equated to the biggest share of the overall value.
Spending on furniture came in third place, registering a 2 percent increase to SR304.8 million.
Overall, Saudi Arabia’s POS transactions registered a weekly decrease of 1.5 percent, with the education sector leading the decline.
SAMA recorded SR13.2 billion in transactions over the week, with the education industry posting the highest sectoral decrease at 47.9 percent to reach SR89.5 million.
The central bank’s figures showed that the electronics sector saw the second-largest dip, with a 10.9 percent slide to SR198 billion.
Spending on telecommunication recorded the third most significant decrease, at 7.4 percent, reaching SR117.1 million.
Expenditure on food and beverages saw a 0.6 percent negative change this week, reaching SR1.9 billion, claiming the second-biggest share of this week’s POS transaction value.
Spending on miscellaneous goods and services followed, accounting for the third largest POS share with a 4.1 percent dip, reaching SR1.5 billion.
Spending in the leading three categories accounted for 42 percent or SR5.5 billion of the week’s total value.
At 0.02 percent, the smallest increase occurred in spending on recreation and culture, boosting total payments to SR309.5 million. Expenditures on public utilities surged by 0.2 percent to SR52.9 million.
Geographically, Riyadh dominated POS transactions, representing 34.06 percent of the total, with expenses in the capital reaching SR4.5 billion — a 3.5 percent decrease from the previous week.
Jeddah followed with a 0.04 percent surge to SR1.8 billion, and Dammam came in third at SR641.4 million, down 4.6 percent.
Madinah experienced the most significant rise in spending, increasing 6.9 percent to SR567 million.
Tabuk recorded a decline of 7.5 percent, reaching SR235.9 million, and Abha dropped 3.4 percent to stand at SR149.4 million.
Myanmar led world in land mine victims in 2023: monitor
- Myanmar’s military has been repeatedly accused of atrocities and war crimes during decades of internal conflict
BANGKOK: Landmines and unexploded munitions claimed more victims in Myanmar than in any other country last year, a monitor said on Wednesday, warning the true toll could be double or triple its estimate of 1,000 people killed or wounded.
Decades of sporadic conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups have left the Southeast Asian country littered with deadly land mines and munitions.
But the military’s ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in 2021 has turbocharged conflict in the country and birthed dozens of newer “People’s Defense Forces” (PDFs) now battling to topple the military.
Anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war killed or wounded 1,003 people in Myanmar in 2023, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said on Wednesday.
There were 933 land mine casualties in Syria, 651 in Afghanistan and 580 in Ukraine, the ICBL said in its latest Landmine Monitor report.
With conflict and other restrictions in Myanmar making ground surveys impossible, the true casualty figure was likely far higher than reported, said Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan of the ICBL.
“How many more? Double? Triple? Quite possibly... There’s no medical surveillance system in the country that can provide official data in any manner or form,” he told a press conference in Bangkok.
“No armed group in Myanmar, not the military, not any of the ethnic armed groups, not the PDFs have provided us with any data on the number of casualties they have.”
“And we know from anecdotal evidence that it’s massive.”
Myanmar is not a signatory to the United Nations convention that prohibits the use, stockpiling or development of anti-personnel mines.
The ICBL said there had been a “significant increase” of anti-personnel mines use by the military in recent years, including around infrastructure like mobile phone towers and energy pipelines.
Such infrastructure is often targeted by opponents of the military.
Myanmar’s military has been repeatedly accused of atrocities and war crimes during decades of internal conflict.
The ICBL said it had seen evidence of junta troops forcing civilians to walk in front of its units to “clear” mine-affected areas.
It said it had reviewed photos that indicated supplies of anti-personnel mines manufactured by Myanmar were captured by the military’s opponents every month between January 2022 and September 2024, “in virtually every part of the country.”
More than three million people have been displaced in Myanmar by the post-coup conflict, according to the United Nations.
All sides in the fighting were using land mines “indiscriminately,” the UN children’s agency said in April.
Rebel groups have told AFP they also lay mines in some areas under their control.
The ICBL said at least 5,757 people had been casualties of land mines and explosive remnants of war across the world last year, 1,983 of whom were killed.
Civilians made up 84 percent of all recorded casualties, it said.
Last year’s figures are considerably higher than 2022, when the ICBL recorded at least 4,710 casualties including 1,661 fatalities.
