ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition leader and former cricket star who has set his hopes on becoming the country’s next prime minister unveiled Monday his party’s ‘manifesto’ ahead of this month’s parliamentary elections.
Imran Khan is promising 10 million new jobs, better health and education facilities if he wins the July 25 vote. Titled “Road to New Pakistan,” the manifesto is similar to other ambitious past pledges by political parties that ended up unable to make good on them.
But Khan told reporters in Islamabad he was only making commitments that he believes can be implemented — including tackling the widespread poverty by turning Pakistan into an Islamic welfare state.
“An easy solution to the problems that Pakistan is faced with does not exist,” he said.
Khan also used the venue to criticize former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was sentenced last week in absentia by an anti-graft tribunal to 10 years in prison over purchases of luxury apartments in London.
Sharif, who is in London with his ailing wife, has promised to return to Pakistan.
Khan asserted that Sharif indulged in corruption and promised to ensure justice for all and improve the country’s ailing economy.
The same court that sentenced Sharif also sentenced his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, to seven years in absentia in a case stemming from documents leaked from a Panama law firm. Her husband, Mohammad Safdar, was sentenced to one year for giving false information to investigators.
Safdar, who was formally arrested on Sunday, was sent to prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on Monday.
Analysts say Pakistan will likely have a coalition government after the elections, as no single political party is expected to get a two-third majority in parliament. Any party that gets a simple majority in the 351-seat house can form the government.
Pakistan opposition leader Khan unveils plan for elections
Pakistan opposition leader Khan unveils plan for elections
- Imran Khan promises 10 million new jobs, better health and education facilities if he wins the July 25 vote
- Analysts say Pakistan will likely have a coalition government after the elections, as no single political party is expected to get a two-third majority in parliament
Rating firm S&P says it won’t rush Iran war downgrades, sees risks for countries like Pakistan
- Agency says it is monitoring indebted energy importers as higher oil prices strain finances
- Gulf economies seen better placed to weather shock, though Bahrain flagged as vulnerable
LONDON: S&P Global said it would not make any knee-jerk sovereign rating cuts following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, but warned on Thursday that soaring oil and gas prices were putting a number of already cash-strapped countries at risk.
The firm’s top analysts said in a webinar that the conflict, which has involved US and Israeli strikes against Iran and Iranian strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, was now moving from a low- to moderate-risk scenario.
Most Gulf countries had enough fiscal buffers, however, to weather the crisis for a while, with more lowly rated Bahrain the only clear exception.
Qatar’s banking sector could also struggle if there were significant deposit outflows in reaction to the conflict, although there was no evidence of such strains at the moment, they said.
“We don’t want to jump the gun and just say things are bad,” S&P’s head global sovereign analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo, said.
The longer the crisis was prolonged, though, “the more difficult it is going to be,” he added.
Sifon-Arevalo said Asia was the second-most exposed region, due to many of its countries being significant Gulf oil and gas importers.
India, Thailand and Indonesia have relatively lower reserves of oil, while the region also had already heavily indebted countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka whose finances would be further hurt by rising energy prices.
“We are closely monitoring these (countries) to see how the credit stories evolve,” Sifon-Arevalo said.
