ISLAMABAD: Faisal Saleem, first Pakistani senator elected to the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Parliamentary Network board, on Saturday said he would highlight Pakistan’s economic challenges and try to engage global financial institutions to help overcome these woes during his tenure.
The IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network provides a platform for parliamentarians from over 140 countries to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in international financial institutions and multilateral development financing. Founded in 2000, the network seeks to engage lawmakers from around the globe in the common mission of addressing good governance and poverty challenges both at home and abroad.
Directed by a 12-member board elected by their peers, the Parliamentary Network is an independent non-governmental organization with a secretariat in Paris. The organization is open to all elected parliamentarians from World Bank member states, who hold a current mandate. Its members represent themselves and their constituents, and not their countries, parliaments or governments, according to the Network.
“My election to the Parliamentary Network’s board is an honor for Pakistan and I am the only member from Asia on the board [at present],” Senator Saleem told Arab News, adding that he was nominated by the Pakistan parliament and was elected this week as a member of the IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network board by parliamentarians of other countries.
“My mission is to highlight and debate Pakistan’s economic challenges through the forum and try my best to steer the country out of the crisis. I’ll be there with a one-point agenda and that is to work for the betterment of my country.”
Senator Saleem, an industrialist hailing from Pakistan’s northwestern Mardan district, became a member of the upper house of Pakistan’s parliament in March 2021 on the ticket of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
He said he was elected to the IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network board for a period of three years, adding that half of the board members retire every three years and new members are elected in their place. “I have become the first Pakistani parliamentarian in the country’s history to be elected to the coveted position,” Senator Saleem added.
As a board member, he said, he would be discussing with his peers the loan programs, development projects and different initiatives to improve governance and overcome poverty in Pakistan. “I’ll be trying to initiate favorable recommendations to international financial institutions for Pakistan during my tenure,” the senator said.
Economically troubled Pakistan came to the brink of a sovereign default in June last year, but averted it by securing a $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA) from the IMF, which expires next month.
The country urgently needs a fresh IMF agreement to shore up its struggling $350 billion economy, which is suffering from high inflation, low reserves and mounting external financing needs.
Senator Saleem, however, clarified the IMF-World Bank Parliamentary Network had no direct role in loan disbursements or development projects funded by the IMF or the World Bank.
“I’ll be working closely with the government in Pakistan to give my productive inputs at the forum,” he said. “My first priority will be inviting all the board members for an official meeting to Pakistan to highlight a positive image of the country.”
First Pakistani elected to IMF-World Bank parliamentary board vows to highlight country’s economic woes
https://arab.news/jvmht
First Pakistani elected to IMF-World Bank parliamentary board vows to highlight country’s economic woes
- Senator Faisal Saleem, who was elected this week for a period of three years, calls it an ‘honor’ for Pakistan
- The parliamentarian says will work closely with the Pakistani government to highlight the challenges facing the country
Pakistan, 21 other countries condemn Israeli West Bank measures, warn of ‘de facto annexation’
- Joint statement says settlement expansion violates international law, cites UN resolutions, ICJ advisory opinion
- Signatories include European and Latin American nations such as France and Brazil , alongside Muslim countries
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and 21 other countries, including France, Brazil, Spain and Denmark, on Tuesday condemned sweeping Israeli measures to expand control over the occupied West Bank, warning the steps risk advancing “unacceptable de facto annexation” and undermining prospects for a two-state solution.
In a joint statement issued by the foreign ministers of countries from the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, as well as the secretaries general of the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the signatories urged Israel to immediately reverse recent decisions reclassifying Palestinian land and accelerating settlement activity.
The statement marks a broadening of international criticism beyond Muslim-majority states that have long denounced Israeli settlement expansion, bringing together countries like Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Finland, Iceland, Ireland and Luxembourg alongside Arab and other Muslim-majority nations.
“Israel’s illegal settlements, and decisions designed to further them, are a flagrant violation of international law, including previous United Nations Security Council Resolutions and the 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice,” the ministers said.
They added the measures were “part of a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation,” warning that they undermine ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability, including a proposed 20-Point Plan for Gaza, and threaten prospects for broader regional integration.
The ministers called on Israel “to reverse them immediately, to respect its international obligations, and to refrain from actions that would result in permanent changes to the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The latest statement follows mounting concern over Israel’s land and settlement policies in the West Bank.
Last week, Pakistan and seven other Muslim nations condemned Israel’s decision to approve land registration procedures in parts of the West Bank for the first time since 1967, a move widely seen as easing the path for settlement expansion and potential annexation.
Members of the Israeli cabinet have backed measures to tighten administrative control over areas of the West Bank, including Area C, which makes up around 60 percent of the territory and remains under full Israeli security and administrative control under the Oslo accords.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, alongside around three million Palestinians.
Settlements are considered illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes.
In the latest statement, the foreign ministers reiterated their rejection of “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,” and said they oppose “any form of annexation.”
“In view of the alarming escalation in the West Bank, we also call on Israel to put an end to settler violence against Palestinians, including by holding those responsible accountable,” they added.
The ministers pledged to take “concrete steps, in accordance with international law,” to counter the expansion of illegal settlements and policies or threats of forcible displacement and annexation.
Highlighting sensitivities around Jerusalem during Ramadan, they stressed the importance of preserving the historic and legal status quo at the city’s holy sites, recognizing the special role of the Hashemite custodianship of Jordan.
Reaffirming support for a negotiated settlement, the signatories said they remain committed to achieving “a just, comprehensive and lasting peace” on the basis of a two-state solution, in line with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant UN resolutions, based on the June 4, 1967 lines.
“As reflected in the New York Declaration, the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is imperative for regional peace, stability and integration,” the statement said, adding that only the realization of an independent, sovereign and democratic Palestinian state would allow coexistence among the region’s peoples and states.
