ISLAMABAD: A court in Pakistan has overruled the decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan to ban the Milli Muslim League (MML) from registering as a political party.
Islamabad High Court’s Justice Amir Farooq ordered the commission to review its decision, effectively clearing the way for the party to field candidates.
MML was launched by Jamaat-ud-Dawah founder Hafiz Saeed in August 2017, but its registration application was rejected in October. Pakistan’s Interior Ministry had asked the ECP to take into account that the US had placed a $10 million bounty on the head of Saeed.
MML appealed on the grounds that the country’s constitution allows anyone to engage freely in political activities.
The MML welcomed the March 8 high-court decision, saying: “Our supporters across the country are very happy. In the 2018 general elections MML will emerge as major political force.”
Court ruling clears way for Hafiz Saeed’s Milli Muslim League to field candidates in Pakistan elections
Court ruling clears way for Hafiz Saeed’s Milli Muslim League to field candidates in Pakistan elections
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
