ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister vowed Tuesday to ensure that former president Asif Ali Zardari and ex-premier Nawaz Sharif are held accountable for wrongdoing, accusing them of being responsible for the financial crisis currently faced by the Islamic nation.
In a televised speech, Imran Khan said Pakistan’s foreign debt increased dramatically during the two men’s tenures. He said he will set up a high-powered body to investigate where foreign loan money obtained by Zardari and Sharif was spent.
“I will not spare them,” he said. “I will go after them.”
Sharif, who served as the country’s premier three times, was ousted from office by the Supreme Court in 2017 because of the corruption charges against him. Sharif, along with other family members, has cases still pending against him.
Zardari, currently a member in the lower house of parliament, and his sister have been accused by the National Accountability Bureau of holding dozens of bogus bank accounts. They have denied any wrongdoing.
Khan’s comments came hours after his government presented its first budget proposal, which calls for additional taxes and increasing electricity and gas tariffs to meet International Monetary Fund conditions for receiving a $6 billion bailout.
His speech also came hours after a Pakistani court handed Zardari over to a national anti-graft body for questions regarding a multi-million-dollar money laundering case.
Asif Ali Zardari will be held for 10 days pending an investigation.
The court order came a day after Zardari was arrested after he and his sister’s bail applications were denied. However, authorities did not arrest Faryal Talpur. No explanation was given.
Zardari’s opposition Pakistan People’s Party claims the charges against him are politically motivated, which the government denies. Several prominent politicians and businessmen have been swept up on corruption charges since Khan took office last year, after winning a narrow majority in parliamentary elections. Khan campaigned heavily on promises to root out graft among the country’s elite.
Zardari, widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was president for five years, until 2013.
Zardari’s Tuesday court hearing was held amid tight security, as his party’s supporters held small rallies across the country to condemn the arrest. Zardari will appear in court again on June 21, when the anti-graft body is expected to press or drop charges.
Also on Tuesday, the anti-graft body arrested Hamza Shahbaz, a politician who is the son of opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, after the rejection of his bail in a corruption case. He is also the nephew of Nawaz Sharif.
Sharif and Zardari are longtime political rivals but their parties recently joined together, vowing to launch a protest campaign against Khan’s government over increasing inflation and a spike in prices of essential food items.
Meanwhile, police in London on Tuesday arrested Altaf Hussain, the self-exiled leader of the ethnic-based Muttahida Qaumi party. Pakistan has sought his arrest since a televised speech in August 2016 condemning the country’s politically influential army, state-run media reported.
It was not immediately clear why British authorities detained Hussain. The London police said in a statement that an investigation was ongoing.
Pakistan PM vows accountability for ex-premier, ex-president
Pakistan PM vows accountability for ex-premier, ex-president
- High-powered body to investigate spending of foreign borrowings
- Both ex-premier and former president have denied any wrongdoing
Pakistan committee discusses development of border areas in inaugural session
- The committee was formed to devise comprehensive strategies for holistic development in Pakistan’s border regions
- Key topics that came under discussion at the inaugural session included tariff rationalization, employment creation
ISLAMABAD: A high-level committee tasked with development of Pakistan’s border regions on Saturday held its inaugural session in Islamabad to discuss the challenges facing communities based in the country’s frontier regions, the Pakistani commerce ministry said.
The inaugural session of the committee, which was formed to devise comprehensive strategies for holistic development in these areas, was presided over by Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, according to the ministry.
Key topics that came under discussion at the meeting included tariff rationalization and employment creation, reflecting the committee’s commitment to addressing border communities’ challenges.
“The committee aims to present its recommendations to the Prime Minister within 10 days, signaling a promising start to collaborative efforts for socio-economic development in the region,” the commerce ministry said in a statement.
Pakistan shares a long, porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, with people live along it relying on cross-border trade with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies or prohibitions.
Islamabad last year announced restrictions on the informal trade to discourage smuggling of goods and currency in order to support the country’s dwindling economy.
Pakistan’s trade with China mostly takes place through formal channels, while the country’s trade ties with India, another neighbor it shares border with, remain suspended since 2019 over the disputed region of Kashmir.
Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years — weather agency
- Pakistan’s metrology department says April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, ‘excessively above’ the normal average of 22.5 millimeters
- There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the ‘wettest April since 1961’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency said in a report.
April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan’s metrology department said late Friday in its monthly climate report.
There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the “wettest April since 1961.”
Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July.
In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.
“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said while commenting on the report.
While much of Asia is sweltering dure to heat waves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) 0.87 degrees lower than the average of 24.54, the report noted.
Fire erupts at Karachi garment factory, no loss of live reported
- The biggest Pakistani city, known for poor fire safety protocols, witnesses hundreds of such incidents annually
- In November last year, a blaze at a shopping mall in Karachi killed around a dozen people and injured several others
KARACHI: A fire broke out at a garment factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Saturday, rescue officials said.
The blaze erupted on the ground floor of the garment factory in Zarina Colony in the New Karachi area, according to Rescue 1122 service.
“One fire truck is actively participating in the operation,” a Rescue 1122 spokesperson said, adding that another fire tender has been called to the site.
No loss of life has been reported in the wake of the fire.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and the main commercial hub, is home to hundreds of thousands of industrial units and some of the tallest buildings in the South Asian country.
The megapolis, known for its fragile firefighting system and poor safety controls, witnesses hundreds of such incidents annually.
In Nov., a blaze at a shopping mall killed around a dozen people and injured several others. In April last year, four firefighters died and nearly a dozen others were injured after a fire broke out at a garment factory, while 10 people were killed in a massive fire at a chemical factory in the city in August 2021.
In the deadliest such incident, 260 people were killed in 2012 after being trapped inside a garment factory when a fire broke out.
Saleem Haider Khan, Faisal Kundi named governors of Pakistan’s Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces
- Nominations come as part of power-sharing deal between PM Sharif’s party and ex-FM Bhutto-Zardari-led faction
- According to the deal, the PPP backed Sharif for the prime minister’s office in return for constitutional positions
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government, has nominated Saleem Haider Khan and Faisal Karim Kundi as governors of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the PPP chairman announced on Friday.
The PPP forged an alliance with PM Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party after Pakistan’s national election on February 8 failed to present a clear winner.
According to the power-sharing deal, the PPP backed Sharif for the prime minister’s office in return for the presidency, chairman of Senate and other important constitutional positions.
In a post on X, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari congratulated Khan and Kundi, and extended his good wishes to them
“I am confident they [Khan and Kundi] will perform their duties with the dignity their new office demands,” he said on X.
In Pakistan, a governor is a representative of the state to a province, who is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.
Such positions may seem ceremonial and symbolic, but they do hold significant constitutional importance.
At present, PML-N’s Balighur Rehman has been serving as the Punjab governor, while JUI-F’s Hajji Ghulam Ali holds the post in KP.
Bhutto-Zardari also called on PM Sharif in Islamabad, following the nominations, Pakistani state media reported.
“During the meeting, views were exchanged on overall political situation in the country and matters of national interest,” the Radio Pakistan broadcaster said.
Pakistan Cricket Board confirms details of national side’s South Africa tour
- The side will depart for Durban on December 2 after returning from Australia in Nov.
- The ODIs will be played from December 17-22 in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced details of the Pakistan men’s cricket team’s tour of South Africa for three Twenty20, three one-day international and two Test matches in the second half of 2024.
Durban, Centurion, and Johannesburg will host the T20Is from December 10-14, according to the PCB. The ODIs will be played from December 17-22 in Paarl, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, while the two ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 matches will be held at Centurion (December 26-30) and Cape Town (January 3-7).
The side will depart for Durban on December 2 after returning from Australia on November 19, having featured in a series of three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4-18. After completing their African safari on January 8, Pakistan will take on New Zealand and South Africa in a three-nation ODI tournament on home turf, which will be followed by the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.
“Prior to the tours of Australia and South Africa, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for two and three Tests, respectively,” the PCB said in a statement. “This means they will play seven Tests, minimum of 10 ODIs, and six T20Is in the six-month period from August 2024 to January 2025.”
This will be Pakistan’s seventh Test tour of South Africa since 1994-95. Their two Test wins were in the 1997-98 and 2006-2007 series.
In the Durban Test in 1997-98, Pakistan won by 29 runs at the back of centuries from Azhar Mahmood (132) and Saeed Anwar (118), match figures of nine for 149 by Mushtaq Ahmed and a first innings five-fer by Shoaib Akhtar. In the 2006-2007 Port Elizabeth Test, Pakistan won by five wickets with Inzamam-ul-Haq being named as Player of the Match for his 92 in the first innings.
In ODIs, Pakistan has won two of the last three series in 2013-2014 and 2020-21, while South Africa triumphed in 2002-2003 (4-1), 2006-2007 (3-1), 2012-2013 (3-2), and 2018-2019 (3-2).
In 12 T20Is to date, Pakistan leads 6-5 in head-to-head encounters, with one match ending in no-result.
Tour schedule:
10 Dec – 1st T20I, Durban
13 Dec – 2nd T20I, Centurion
14 Dec – 3rd T20I, Johannesburg
17 Dec – 1st ODI, Paarl
19 Dec – 2nd ODI, Cape Town
22 Dec – 3rd ODI, Johannesburg
26-30 Dec – 1st Test, Centurion
3-7 Jan – 2nd Test, Cape Town
