LAHORE: A bid to register Milli Muslim League (MML) — a party formed last year to provide a political face for Hafiz Saeed’s banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) party — suffered a major setback when the United States put it on its list of Global Terrorist Organizations on Monday.
The MML, which was formed after an international ban was placed on the JuD, took part in the NA-120 by-elections in Lahore and its candidate came fourth, netting a significant number of votes.
MML contacted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over registration, but was turned down over links to Hafiz Saeed, who is on the list of global terrorists and alleged to have masterminded the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Subsequently, MML’s leadership contacted the Islamabad High Court. The court declared the ECP’s decision was unlawful and told the election body to hear the case again.
“Following the court decision, we appeared before the ECP to get our party registered,” Ahmad Nadeem, MML’s Secretary Information, told Arab News.
The party saw a ray of hope when the ECP asked its lawyer to provide evidence that the office bearers of the party did not belong to a banned outfit.
“We will provide an affidavit to show that the party leaders have no connection with any proscribed group,” lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi told Arab News.
On Monday the MML was ordered by the ECP to produce a clearance certificate from the Ministry of Interior (MoI) to push its case for registration.
However, these efforts foundered move by the US Department of State, which also added Tehreek-e-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK) to its list of terrorist organizations. The State Department also included seven office-bearers of MML on its terrorist lists.
Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department, said the move aimed to crack down on Lashkar-e-Taiba’s attempts to “circumvent sanctions and deceive the public about its true character.”
“Make no mistake: whatever Lashkar-e-Taiba chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group,” he added.
The US state department action complicates MML’s efforts to register — the Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali has previously said the government must act against internationally-designated terrorist organizations.
“Pakistan is a responsible country that adheres to commitments made under various international conventions and treaties. It is the obligation of our country to march with the changing times and enhance our capacity to combat terrorism in any form,” he recently said while talking to Arab News.
US declares MML a terrorist group
US declares MML a terrorist group
- Hafiz Saeed’s political party suffers major setback ahead of Pakistan’s general elections.
- “Whatever Lashkar-e-Taiba choses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group,” said Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department.
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
