ISLAMABAD: Pakistan stepped up lobbying as it vies for a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), reported state media on Wednesday, with the General Assembly set to meet tomorrow, on June 6, to elect five non-permanent members to the world body’s most significant and powerful institution.
The UNSC comprises 15 countries, five of which are permanent members with veto-wielding authority, including China, France, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The council’s primary responsibility is the maintenance of international peace and security.
Pakistan’s previous terms as a non-permanent member arrived in 2012-13, 2003-04, 1993-94, 1983-84, 1976-77, 1968-69 and 1952-53.
“The UNGA is set to meet on Thursday to elect five non-permanent members of the Security Council,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said on Wednesday. “Pakistan and other candidates have stepped up their lobbying activities for a seat.”
The report said the Asian seat was being vacated by Japan this year, adding the countries elected now would serve for two years from Jan 1, 2025, through the end of 2026. Other outgoing countries include Ecuador, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland whose terms end on December 31, 2024.
The APP said the seven-term candidate Pakistan was likely to get elected unopposed following endorsement by the 53-member Asian group.
“If elected, Pakistan will devote its efforts to promoting the maintenance of international peace and security and the peaceful resolution of conflicts and disputes per the principles and purposes of the UN Charter,” the news agency quoted Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, as saying.
The voting for the non-permanent members is conducted by a secret ballot and candidates need to receive a two-third majority, or 128 votes, even if they run uncontested. Re-polls are conducted if the required number of polls are not secured by a country.
In the same contest, Somalia and Mauritius are candidates for the African seat, while Denmark and Greece are contesting for the Western European seat.
Panama is the sole candidate for the Latin American seat.
Pakistan’s diplomatic push for UNSC seat gains momentum ahead of tomorrow’s General Assembly meeting
https://arab.news/ptwzm
Pakistan’s diplomatic push for UNSC seat gains momentum ahead of tomorrow’s General Assembly meeting
- Ambassador Munir Akram says the South Asian state will devote its efforts to world peace and security if elected
- Pakistan is striving for the non-permanent Asian seat and has received endorsements from the 53-member group
Pakistan’s Sindh orders inquiry after clashes at Imran Khan party rally in Karachi
- Khan’s PTI party accuses police of shelling to disperse its protesters, placing hurdles to hinder rally in Karachi
- Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah vows all those found guilty in the inquiry will be punished
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has ordered an inquiry into clashes that took place between police and supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Karachi on Sunday, as it held a rally to demand his release from prison.
The provincial government had granted PTI permission to hold a public gathering at Karachi’s Bagh-i-Jinnah Park and had also welcomed Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Khan’s party is in power, when he arrived in the city last week. However, the PTI cited a delay in receiving a permit and announced a last-minute change to a gate of Mazar-i-Quaid, the mausoleum of the nation’s founder.
Despite the change, PTI supporters congregated at the originally advertised venue. PTI officials claimed the party faced obstacles in reaching the venue and that its supporters were met with police intervention. Footage of police officers arresting Khan supporters in Karachi were shared widely on social media platforms.
“A complete inquiry is being held and whoever is found guilty in this, he will be punished,” Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said while speaking to a local news channel on Sunday.
Shah said the PTI had sought permission to hold its rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah in Karachi from the Sindh government, even though the venue’s administration falls under the federal government’s jurisdiction.
He said problems arose when the no objection certificate to hold the rally was delayed for a few hours and the party announced it would hold the rally “on the road.”
The rally took place amid rising tensions between the PTI and Pakistan’s military and government. Khan, who remains in jail on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated since August 2023, blames the military and the government for colluding to keep him away from power by rigging the 2024 general election and implicating him in false cases. Both deny his allegations.
Since Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, the PTI has complained of a widespread state crackdown, while Khan and his senior party colleagues have been embroiled in dozens of legal cases.
