The leader of the Pakistan Muslim league (PML) and former prime minister of Pakistan, Choudhary Shujat Hussein, says that his country's elections will be held on time, but the real challenge will lie in trying to form a new government after the polls. Speaking at the Pakistani Journalist Forum in Jeddah on Sunday, Hussein also claimed that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a former ally and leader of a breakaway part of the party is supporting groups "which can create riots."
"We will make sure that the elections are not canceled unless and until the order comes from the court or military,” he said.
On the issue of his party deciding to join the government of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) recently, he said that the PPP government was fed up with the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM). He said that the PML would have divided into two competing factions if it had not joined up with the government.
“If we had not taken steps to join the government our party members would have divided into two groups, half joining the PPP and the other half joining the Nawaz Muslim League." He added that there were ongoing talks with religious groups including the Sunni unity group. “If any National Unity Forum occurs, we will think about it. We had a problem with the PPP, not with (Asif Ali) Zardari (Pakistani President).
Isn’t it a great victory for us that the PPP has 22 ministers in the government and our party has 17 ministers in which the prime minister and others are included?”
He also called on all parties and role players to bring peace and stability to Karachi. “The whole city is burning and the blood of innocent people are being spilled on the streets. If the people can’t stop this killing in the city, how will they ensure the national elections can take place on time and in peace,” he said.
He added that his party has strong support in Punjab province, particularly among religious groups. He said it was not yet time to seek cooperation with Nawaz Sharif.
Hussein said the proposed Kala Bagh hydroelectric dam in Punjab province was "history" because three provisional governments are against the project.
‘Pakistan faces fight over post-election government’
‘Pakistan faces fight over post-election government’
French minister pledges tight security at rally for killed activist
- Deranque’s death has fomented tensions ahead of municipal elections next month and presidential polls next year
- Macron has said there was no place in France “for movements that adopt and legitimize violence“
LYON: French police will be out in force at a weekend rally for a slain far-right activist, the interior minister said Friday, as the country seeks to contain anger over the fatal beating blamed on the hard left.
Quentin Deranque, 23, died from head injuries after being attacked by at least six people on the sidelines of a protest against a politician from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party in the southeastern city of Lyon last week.
His death has fomented tensions ahead of municipal elections next month and presidential polls next year, in which the far-right National Rally (RN) party is seen as having its best chance yet at winning the top job.
President Emmanuel Macron, who is serving his last year in office, has said there was no place in France “for movements that adopt and legitimize violence,” and urged the far right and hard left to clean up their act.
Deranque’s supporters have called for a march in his memory on Saturday in Lyon.
The Greens mayor of Lyon asked the state to ban it, but Interior Minister Laurent Nunez declined to do so.
Nunez said he had planned an “extremely large police deployment” with reinforcements from outside the city to ensure security at the rally expected to be attended by 2,000 to 3,000 people, and likely to see counter-protesters from the hard left show up.
“I can only ban a demonstration when there are major risks of public disorder and I am not in a position to contain them,” he told the RTL broadcaster.
“My role is to strike a balance between maintaining public order and freedom of expression.”
- ‘Fascist demonstration’ -
Jordan Bardella, the president of anti-immigration RN, has urged party members not to go.
“We ask you, except in very specific and strictly supervised local situations (a tribute organized by a municipality, for example), not to attend these gatherings nor to associate the National Rally with them,” he wrote in a message sent to party officials and seen by AFP.
LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard backed the mayor’s call for a ban, warning on X it would be a “fascist demonstration” that “over 1,000 neo-Nazis from all over Europe” were expected to attend.
Two people, aged 20 and 25, have been charged with intentional homicide in relation to the fatal beating, according to the Lyon prosecutor and their lawyers.
A third suspect has been charged with complicity in the killing.
Jacques-Elie Favrot, a 25-year-old former parliamentary assistant to LFI lawmaker Raphael Arnault, has admitted to having been present at the scene but denied delivering the blows that killed Deranque, his attorney said.
Favrot said “it was absolutely not an ambush, but a clash with a group of far-right activists,” he added.
Italy’s hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday said the killing of Deranque was “a wound for all of Europe.”
Referring to her comments, Macron said everyone should “stay in their own lane,” but Meloni later said that Macron had misinterpreted her comments.
Opinion polls put the far right in the lead for the presidency in 2027, when Macron will have to step down after the maximum two consecutive terms in office.
