ISLAMABAD: The chief of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Thursday announced a “Black Day” and protests on the one-year anniversary of last year’s Feb. 8 general elections that the party says were rigged.
The national polls were marred by a countrywide shutdown of cellphone networks and delayed results, leading to widespread allegations of election manipulation by opposition parties like jailed ex-premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the JI headed by Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman.
The caretaker government which oversaw the electoral exercise and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) deny the charges, saying mobile networks were shut down to maintain law and order. The US House of Representatives and several European countries have called on Islamabad to open a probe into the allegations, a move that Pakistan has thus far rejected.
“JI will observe Youm-e-Siyah [Black Day] on Feb. 8 over the stolen mandate and rigged elections last year,” Rehman said at a press conference in Karachi. “We have planned to stage a protest outside the ECP office in Karachi and will observe the Youm-e-Siyah throughout the country.”
The JI party did not win any National Assembly seats in the general elections but managed to clinch two provincial seats in the Sindh Assembly and one in the Balochistan Assembly.
On Jan. 20, PTI founder Khan also called on his supporters nationwide to stage protests on Feb. 8 against the rigging of the polls. He directed Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the PTI is in power, to lead caravans from across the province for a public gathering in Peshawar, the provincial capital.
The PTI has also sought permission, yet to be granted by the local administration, to hold a political rally at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan monument on Feb. 8.
Khan’s PTI candidates contested the Feb. 8 elections as independents after the party was barred from the polls. They won the most seats but fell short of the majority needed to form a government, which was made by a smattering of rival political parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections
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After Imran Khan’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami announces protest on one-year-anniversary of general elections
- Countrywide mobile network shutdown, delayed results led to allegations of manipulation in Feb. 8, 2024 election
- Jamaat-e-Islami party to stage protest outside office of Election Commission of Pakistan in the port city of Karachi
IMF hails Pakistan privatization drive, calls PIA sale a ‘milestone’
- Fund backs sale of national airline as key step in divesting loss-making state firms
- IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce fiscal burden posed by state-owned entities
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday welcomed Pakistan’s privatization efforts, describing the sale of the country’s national airline to a private consortium last month as a milestone that could help advance the divestment of loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The comments follow the government’s sale of a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group for Rs 135 billion ($486 million) after several rounds of bidding in a competitive process, marking Islamabad’s second attempt to privatize the carrier after a failed effort a year earlier.
Between the two privatization attempts, PIA resumed flight operations to several international destinations after aviation authorities in the European Union and Britain lifted restrictions nearly five years after the airline was grounded following a deadly Airbus A320 crash in Karachi in 2020 that killed 97 people.
“We welcome the authorities’ privatization efforts and the completion of the PIA privatization process, which was a commitment under the EFF,” Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, said in response to an Arab News query, referring to the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility.
“This privatization represents a milestone within the authorities’ reform agenda, aimed at decreasing governmental involvement in commercial sectors and attracting investments to promote economic growth in Pakistan,” he added.
The IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce the fiscal burden posed by loss-making state firms, which have weighed public finances for years and required repeated government bailouts. Beyond PIA, the government has signaled plans to restructure or sell stakes in additional SOEs as part of broader reforms under the IMF program.
Privatization also remains politically sensitive in Pakistan, with critics warning of job losses and concerns over national assets, while supporters argue private sector management could improve efficiency and service delivery in chronically underperforming entities.
Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises said on Friday that SOEs recorded a net loss of Rs 122.9 billion ($442 million) in the 2024–25 fiscal year, compared with a net loss of Rs 30.6 billion ($110 million) in the previous year.
