ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s lawmakers will elect a new prime minister on Tuesday to replace ousted leader Nawaz Sharif, with ruling party stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expected to become interim leader until Sharif’s own brother is eligible.
The confirmation from Parliament came after Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain convened a special session following Sharif’s decision to put forward his ally Abbasi as interim leader and named his brother Shahbaz, 65, as long-term successor.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party holds a majority with 188 seats in the 342-member Parliament, so it should be able to swiftly install its choice, barring any defections from its own ranks.
A quick handover could ease political upheaval sparked by the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to disqualify Sharif for not declaring a source of income. The court also ordered a criminal investigation into him and his family.
“We wanted to make sure there is a smooth transfer of power, and no constitutional crisis,” said Miftah Ismail, a senior PML-N official and Sharif ally.
The turmoil and the premature end to Sharif’s third stint in power has also raised questions about Pakistan’s democracy as no prime minister has completed a full term in power since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Succesion plan
Sharif has lashed out against the court’s decision and opponents who used the Supreme Court to topple him but vowed his party would continue to focus on economic development, touting a faster-growing economy as proof of his success.
“Wheel of development is moving and may God keep it rolling and may it never stop,” he told members of PML-N on Saturday night.
On Sharif’s arrival, supporters chanted: “The Lion is here.”
But his foes slammed PML-N’s plans as dynastic and undemocratic, while opposition leader Imran Khan called it a form of “monarchy.”
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which held street protests until the Supreme Court agreed to investigate Sharif, planned to hold a rally in the capital Islamabad on Sunday to celebrate his removal.
Sharif said the plan is for former Petroleum Minister Abbasi to stay in power for less than two months until Shahbaz, who is the chief minister of the vast Punjab province, wins a by-election to the National Assembly and becomes eligible to be prime minister.
Abbasi and Shahbaz will have to hit the ground running to tackle Pakistan’s worsening ties with the US, frayed relations with India, and persistent attacks by militants including the Pakistani Taliban and Daesh.
They will also need to boost economic growth above the current rate of 5.3 percent to find employment for millions of young people entering the job market every year in a nation of nearly 200 million people.
Economists say this will prove tricky at a time when the current account deficit is ballooning and an overvalued currency is hurting exports.
Court ruling
Sharif, whose (PML-N) party won elections in 2013, said he was shocked by Friday’s Supreme Court ruling disqualifying him from office over unreported income from a company owned by his son in Dubai. Sharif said the monthly salary — equivalent to $2,722 — was nominal and he never actually received any of it.
The Supreme Court employed little-used Article 62 of the Constitution, which calls for the dismissal of any lawmaker deemed dishonest, to dismiss Sharif. His allies believe the verdict smacks of judicial overreach, while others privately say elements of the military were had a hand in the process.
The army has not commented on Sharif’s departure, or on allegations they were involved. It has also dismissed claims in the past that they were behind the Supreme Court’s push.
Sharif’s two previous stints in power were also cut short, the second ending in a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999.
Shahbaz Sharif, who has been in charge of Punjab since 2008, has better relations with the military than his brother. He has built a reputation as a competent administrator focused on building infrastructure.
Pakistan set to elect new PM tomorrow
Pakistan set to elect new PM tomorrow
UK announces compensation package for blood scandal victims
- Damning report blames successive governments, officials and doctors for failures that resulted in more than 3,000 deaths
“The government will be making further interim payments ahead of the establishment of the full scheme,” minister John Glen told parliament, a day after a damning report blamed successive governments, officials and doctors for failures that resulted in more than 3,000 deaths.
“Payments of 210,000 pounds will be made to living infected beneficiaries,” he added.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a “wholehearted unequivocal apology for this terrible injustice” on Monday, adding that those affected would receive “comprehensive compensation.”
More than 14,000 displaced from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region: WHO
- WHO official in Ukraine: Conflict in Kharkiv ‘has significantly increased the number of trauma patients’
- UNHCR voices concerns that conditions in Kharkiv could become even more difficult if the ground assault and aerial attacks continue
GENEVA: More than 14,000 people have been displaced in recent days from Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, where Russia launched a ground offensive on May 10, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The assault has seen Russian forces achieve their largest territorial gains in Ukraine in the last 18 months.
“Over the past two weeks, fighting in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine has severely escalated,” Jarno Habicht, the WHO’s representative in Ukraine, told a press briefing in Geneva, via video-link from Kyiv.
“Over 14,000 people have been displaced in a matter of days, and nearly 189,000 more still reside within 25 kilometers of the border with the Russian Federation, facing significant risks due to the ongoing fighting,” he said.
He said the UN health agency was using these figures after speaking with local authorities.
“With the worsening security situation, humanitarian needs in the region are growing, and growing fast,” Habicht said.
The conflict in Kharkiv “has significantly increased the number of trauma patients,” he added.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Since then, more than 20,000 amputations have been carried out, said Habicht.
And 200 ambulances per year, on average, have been damaged or destroyed in shelling attacks, “depriving the Ukrainian people of urgent care,” he added.
The UNHCR voiced concerns that conditions in Kharkiv — already home to 200,000 internally displaced people — could become even more difficult if the ground assault and aerial attacks continue.
“UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, is extremely worried about the worsening situation and resulting spike in humanitarian needs and forced displacement owing to the new ground offensive,” spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told the Geneva briefing.
She said the Ukrainian authorities had evacuated more than 10,300 people from villages in the Kharkiv region’s border areas, while others have left by their own means.
“The majority of the evacuees, who had to escape their homes with only a few belongings, are already highly vulnerable and include mainly older people and those with low mobility or disabilities who were not able to flee earlier,” Mantoo said.
Those registered at a transit center in Kharkiv city have been given basic relief items and advised on accommodation options.
“The vast majority of evacuees have expressed a clear wish to stay with family members or in rental accommodation and collective sites in Kharkiv and not move further from their homes, to be able to return when the situation allows,” Mantoo said.
The United Nations’ 2024 humanitarian plan for Ukraine amounts to $3.1 billion this year. UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said that it was thus far only 23 percent funded.
1 dead, others injured after London-Singapore flight hit severe turbulence, Singapore Airlines says
- The airline said the aircraft was a Boeing 777-300ER with a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board
BANGKOK: Singapore Airlines says a person has died aboard and others were injured when a London-Singapore flight encountered severe turbulence.
Singapore’s Flight SQ321 from Heathrow was diverted to Bangkok and landed at 3:45 p.m. local time at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the airline announced in its Facebook page. The airline said the aircraft was a Boeing 777-300ER with a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew on board.
Local emergency crews from Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital were on site to transfer injured people off the runway for treatment. Videos posted on the LINE messaging platform by Suvarnabhumi Airport showed a line of ambulances streaming to the scene.
Britain’s new protest laws unlawful, London court rules in rights group’s challenge
- Civil rights group Liberty took the government to court over changes to public order laws made last year
- Judge rules new regulations gave the police almost unlimited powers to shut down protests
LONDON: Britain unlawfully gave police wider powers to impose conditions on peaceful protests which cause “more than minor” disruption to the public, London’s High Court ruled on Tuesday.
Civil rights group Liberty took the government to court over changes to public order laws made last year, which it says gave the police almost unlimited powers to shut down protests.
The case was heard in February amid a wider crackdown on protest movements in Britain and across Europe, as environmental activists have used direct action protests to demand urgent government action against climate change.
Judges David Bean and Timothy Kerr ruled in the group’s favor on Tuesday, finding that the regulations granting the new powers were unlawful.
The High Court granted the government permission to appeal and suspended its decision that the new powers should be quashed pending the outcome of the appeal.
Liberty’s legal action focused on the Public Order Act, under which the police can impose conditions on a protest if it could cause “serious disruption to the life of the community.”
The law was amended last year, so police could impose conditions in cases where a protest could cause “more than minor” disruption, which Liberty said was unlawful.
Government lawyers argued that ministers were given express powers to amend the law on what amounted to serious disruption.
But the High Court ruled that the government exceeded its powers, which “did not extend to lowering the threshold for police intervention.”
Thai minister quits over legal complaint seeking PM’s dismissal
- Pichit Chuenban says his resignation would allow the country ‘to move ahead and not impact the administrative work of the prime minister that needs continuity’
BANGKOK: A Thai minister at the center of a pending legal complaint seeking the dismissal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin resigned on Tuesday, in an effort to insulate the premier from possible repercussions.
A group of 40 senators lodged a complaint to the Constitutional Court last week against Pichit Chuenban, 65, saying his appointment last month as minister to the prime minister’s office breached the constitution, as he has a criminal record.
The court was due on Thursday to decide whether or not to accept the case, which could lead to Srettha’s suspension.
“Even though I have been vetted and honestly believe that I am qualified by law, this matter is linked to the prime minister,” Pichit said in his resignation letter, shared with media by Srettha’s office.
He said his resignation would allow the country “to move ahead and not impact the administrative work of the prime minister that needs continuity.”
It was not immediately clear whether the resignation would have any impact on the complaint submitted to the court.
Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 for contempt of court after an alleged attempt to bribe court officials with 2 million baht ($55,000) hidden in a paper grocery bag.
His law license was suspended for five years by the Lawyers Council of Thailand after the incident. The government has said it carefully vetted Pichit’s qualifications and was confident it could defend his appointment before the court.
Pichit becomes the third minister to quit Srettha’s cabinet, after his foreign minister and deputy finance minister resigned following a cabinet reshuffle last month.
The senators, whose term has ended, are currently lawmakers in a caretaker capacity pending the selection of a new chamber. They have accused Pichit of lacking integrity and ethical standards to hold a ministerial post.
Government critics say Pichit was appointed due to his close relationship with a client, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who returned to Thailand last year after 15 years in exile. Thaksin, an ally of Srettha, still wields considerable political influence, despite officially being retired.
The government has insisted Pichit was appointed due to his capabilities.
