PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistan’s opposition Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former cricket hero Imran Khan, swept to a comfortable by-election victory on the edge of the northwestern city of Peshawar, though its majority was trimmed by new hard-line religious parties.
PTI candidate Arbab Amir Ayub clinched 45,631 votes, about 34.8 percent of the total, on Thursday to ensure PTI kept the parliamentary seat in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) that it governs.
The by-election was seen as a litmus test of PTI’s popularity in KP, where it has focused on police, health and education reforms in contrast to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party betting on road and energy infrastructure projects.
Khan, the PTI chairman, touted the victory as a “direct vote of confidence” in his party’s performance governing KP since the 2013 election, when it won the National Assembly seat, known as Peshawar NA-4, with a majority of about 40 percent.
The next general election is due in mid-2018 but Khan has called for early polls after PML-N leader and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was toppled in July by a Supreme Court disqualification over an undeclared source of income.
Analysts say Khan’s chances of becoming prime minister have been boosted by Sharif’s ouster, and the sportsman has doubled down on his populist message by saying he will pull the country away from infrastructure spending toward improving schools, hospitals and the lives of the poor.
“Most of the youngsters like Imran Khan and believe he can steer the country out of crisis and stop corruption,” said Zahid Hussain, a government contractor.
Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Khushdil Khan secured 24,830 votes, or 18.9 percent of the total, to pip PML-N’s Nasir Khan Musazai, who won 23,169 votes to finish third.
Khushdil Khan’s showing will hearten the ANP, whose candidates barely campaigned in 2013 as the Pakistani Taliban targeted and killed many of its leaders and activists in KP.
But it was the performance of two new hard-line religious parties that caught the eye of political observers.
Muhammad Shafiq Ameeni, a candidate for the Tehreek-i-Labaik party, won 7.6 percent of the ballot campaigning on a platform of support for Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws that are already some of the world’s harshest.
Labaik supporters have spread their hard-line message, including the notion that those who commit blasphemy against Islam should be killed, through mosques and seminaries.
Syed Moharram Shah, a Labaik activist, said the party was surprised it captured 9,060 votes because it wasn’t fully prepared for the election.
“This is our first attempt but look at people’s response. It’s very much encouraging,” he said.
AlHajj Liaqat Ali Khan, an independent candidate backed by the Milli Muslim League (MML) party, loyal to Hafiz Saeed, an Islamist under house arrest, obtained 3,557 votes.
Washington accuses Saeed of being the mastermind behind the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people, and has placed a $10 million bounty on his head. Saeed denies the charge.
Last month, candidates backed by Labaik and MML won about 11 percent of the ballot in a by-election for Sharif’s vacated seat in a by-election in the eastern city of Lahore.
Cricket legend Imran Khan’s PTI retains seat in Pakistan by-election
Cricket legend Imran Khan’s PTI retains seat in Pakistan by-election
About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
- A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September
- Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care
TEXAS, USA: Hundreds of immigrant children across the nation were detained for longer than the legal limit this summer, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted in a court filing, alarming legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.
In a court filing Monday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.
The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.
A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September. They also told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.
Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier this year.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government’s data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.
Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.
Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn’t seen by medical staff for two days. Another child’s foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.
“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it,” one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court.
Chief US District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
