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
Thai and Cambodian leaders agree to renew a ceasefire after days of deadly clashes, Trump says
- “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening,” Trump said
- Thai and Cambodian officials offered no immediate comment following Trump’s announcement
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders have agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes had threatened to undo a ceasefire the US administration had helped broker earlier this year.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump said in his Truth Social posting.
Thai and Cambodian officials offered no immediate comment following Trump’s announcement. Anutin, after speaking with Trump but before the US president’s social media posting, said he reiterated to Trump that Thailand’s position was to keep fighting until Cambodia no longer poses a threat to its sovereignty.
Trump, a Republican, said that Ibrahim played an important role in helping him push Thailand and Cambodia to once again agree to stop fighting.
“It is my Honor to work with Anutin and Hun in resolving what could have evolved into a major War between two otherwise wonderful and prosperous Countries!” Trump added.
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.
Trump has repeatedly made the exaggerated claim that he has helped solve eight conflicts, including the one between Thailand and Cambodia, since returning to office in January, as evidence of his negotiating prowess. And he’s not been shy about his desire to be recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize.
In an exchange with reporters on Wednesday, he expressed confidence that he could get the two sides back to a truce.
“Every once in a while,” Trump said, “one will flame up again and I have to put out that little flame.”
Another ceasefire that Trump takes credit for working out, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, is also under strain — just after the leaders of the African nations traveled to Washington to sign a peace deal.
A joint statement released by the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes expressed “profound concern” over the situation in Congo’s South Kivu region, where new deadly violence blamed on the Rwandan-backed M23 militia group has exploded in recent days.
The Great Lakes contact group — which includes Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the European Union — has urged all sides “to uphold their commitments” under the deal signed last week and “immediately de-escalate the situation.”
And Trump’s internationally endorsed plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is still not finalized and in limbo, with sporadic fighting continuing while a critical second phase remains a work in progress.
