A bill seeking amendments to the Elections Act 2017 was passed by the Senate on Friday. As per the amendment, in cases where the duration of disqualification has not been specifically outlined, a person’s disqualification to run for provincial or central legislatures will not exceed five years.
Any individual who is disqualified by a court ruling shall be excluded for a maximum of five years from the day the judgment is made public. The period of disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) cannot exceed five years.
The Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023 was moved by State Minister Shahadat Awan .
Another key amendment brought forth by the bill is the revision of 57(1) and 58(1)57(1) and 58(1) of the Election Act. The amendments give power to the Election Commission of Pakistan to announce election dates on its own.
The amendments are as follow:
Section 57(1): The commission shall announce the date or dates of the general elections by notification in the official gazette and shall call upon the constituencies to elect their representatives.
Section 58: Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 57, the commission may at any time after the issuance of notification under subsection (1) of that section make such alterations in the election programme announced in that notification for the different stages of the election or may issue a fresh election programme with fresh poll date(s) as may in its opinion to be recorded in writing be necessary for the purposes of this act.
According to a report by Moody’s Investors Service, Pakistan’s ability to secure loans from bilateral and multilateral partners will be severely limited until a new programme is negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The report suggests that it may only become clear whether Pakistan will join another IMF programme after the elections, which are scheduled to take place by October 2023. Furthermore, even if negotiations for a new IMF programme are successful, they are expected to take some time.
Moody’s warns that Pakistan is unlikely to access affordable market financing from sources such as Eurobonds or commercial banks in the foreseeable future. In fiscal year 2023, the government did not issue any Eurobonds and fell significantly short of its target by raising only Rs521 billion ($2.8 billion) from commercial banks, compared to the target of Rs1.4 trillion set in the fiscal year 2022-23 budget.
The report also highlights the high external debt repayment burden for Pakistan in the coming years, with approximately $25 billion of repayments (principal and interest) due in fiscal year 2024. Additionally, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are very low at $3.9 billion as of June 2.
Moody’s further expresses uncertainty about Pakistan’s external funding prospects for fiscal year 2024 and beyond, noting that it is not guaranteed that Pakistan will secure the $2.4 billion from the IMF as budgeted. The IMF has been in talks with Pakistan regarding the ninth tranche of a $6.5 billion bailout package, with the current programme set to expire at the end of June.
Regarding debt rescheduling, the report mentions that the government is considering rescheduling bilateral debts but has no plans to approach the Paris Club or multilateral partners for debt rescheduling. Moody’s states that a suspension of debt service obligations only to official creditors is unlikely to have direct rating implications, as it would provide the government with additional fiscal resources for essential expenditures in health, social, and infrastructure sectors.
Moody’s criticises Pakistan’s newly announced budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, noting that it lacks significant revenue-raising or spending-containment measures to alleviate intense government liquidity pressures. The report suggests that the deficit estimates and growth projections in the budget may be overly optimistic, given the economic stresses faced by the country, including government liquidity and external vulnerability pressures, which have been exacerbated by severe floods in August 2022, expected to impact economic activity throughout fiscal year 2024.
The budget does provide relief measures for households and businesses, including a reduction in fuel and electricity prices, an increase in the minimum wage, and a one-time cash transfer to low-income households. However, a substantial portion of the increased expenditure is allocated to salaries and pensions for government employees, with total employee-related expenses budgeted at Rs1.2 trillion, compared to an estimated spending of Rs960 billion in fiscal year 2023. The government has also earmarked Rs2.8 trillion for grants and subsidies in fiscal year 2024, compared to an estimated Rs2 trillion in fiscal year 2023.
Pakistan’s low revenue-to-GDP ratio is identified as a major constraint on the government’s debt affordability and debt burden. The budget aims to achieve tax revenue of Rs9.2 trillion in fiscal year 2024, representing a 28 per cent increase from the estimated Rs7.2 trillion in fiscal year 2023. However, Moody’s sees significant downside risks to this revenue projection, given the lack of significant revenue-raising measures and the current economic context.
Lahore High Court (LHC) Multan bench on Friday directed all session judges and special courts to complete the identification parade process of suspects involved in May 9 riots within the next 48 hours.
Justice Tariq Saleem Shaikh issued a 13-page decision on the petition of Citizen Muhammad Ramzan, stating that the petitioner has been waiting in jail for identification parade since May 25.
Delay in identification parade is against fundamental human rights, Justice Shaikh further said in the decision, adding that the registrar should send a copy of the decision to all the session judges and IG Punjab.
The court has said that the delay in the identification parade makes the whole process doubtful and it is a violation of basic human rights and fair trial.
On May 9, supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and law enforcement agencies engaged in violent clashes as protests to mark the arrest of former Prime Minister turned into riots.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has received a duplicate graduate degree from The Punjab University (PU), Geo has reported.
The degree was issued by the examination department of the university, upon the request of the former prime minister.
Punjab University’s examination branch issued Nawaz’s duplicate degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA).
The former premier filed for his duplicate bachelor’s degree through a third person, a PU official revealed on condition of anonymity.
He said that a fee of Rs 2,990 for the degree was submitted on June 7 in the university’s bank account. The degree was issued after following the due process.
Honda Atlas Cars Limited (HACL) has not sold a single Civic in the last three months, Autojournal.pk has reported.
It is proving to be a difficult year for HACL in production and sales. Due to supply network issues, the company’s productivity had wanted, with increased prices making the car untenable for consumers.
Honda, one of the biggest car companies of Pakistan, sold just 87 cars last month.
According to a recent notification, Honda will restart production very soon despite the fact that there are no dates mentioned related to production resumption.
The government has drafted a bill to increase the travel allowance of parliamentarians from Rs10 per kilometer to Rs30 per kilometer.
The bill has been drafted on the request of parliamentarians who requested to increase travel allowance which has not been increased since 1980. Based on their request, if the parliamentarian owns a civic or corolla or a smaller car, their petrol will be free.
Here is how:
Lets see how much it would cost if a Parliamentarian is traveling from Lahore to Islamabad.
How much is the distance between Lahore to Islamabad?
The distance from Lahore to Islamabad is approximately 380 kilometers.
If we go by previous allowance the parliamentarians would get Rs. 3,800 to travel between Lahore and Islamabad.
If the allowance is increased to Rs30 per kilometer they will get Rs. 11,400 for the same route.
If a person is using a civic, corolla or a smaller car to travel from Lahore to Islamabad they will consume around 47 liters of petrol which will cost around Rs. 12,000.
Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday during a two-day official visit. During the meeting, he had an informal conversation with the president in Russian language, which left many shocked.
Earlier, when the Premier’s videos of conversing in other languages went viral, The Current reached out to Prime Minister (PM) Focal Person on Digital Media, Muhammad Abubakar Umer, to confirm exactly how many languages the premier can speak.
He said that the premier is fluent in German, Arabic and English along with Punjabi and Urdu. According to him, PM Shehbaz can speak basic level Turkish, Chinese, Russian, Pashtu and Sindhi.
The focal person revealed that PM Shehbaz learned Arabic formally while in exile during former President General Pervez Musharraf’s era. To our surprise, we also got to know that the premier holds a diploma in Arabic.
According to Abubakar, PM Shehbaz knows a total of ten languages.
“He learned Chinese and Turkish during his tenure as Chief Minister (CM) Punjab from 2013 to 2018 as at the time he had to engage with Chinese and Turkish officials for China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” said Abubakar.
He learned German and Russian during the 1970s and 80s for his business dealings. “At the time, he was not in government”, said Abubakar. Abubakar also revealed that before going to any foreign country, PM Shehbaz hires an instructor who informs him about the cultural aspects of the country, how people greet each other and what social norms are appreciated there.
Yes, you’ve heard of ‘Tere Bin’. Your momma has too, as has the paros walli aunty. Even bechara Irffan Khan ka beta apnay aap ko iss say bacha nahi saka.
‘Tere Bin’ has us all in a trance, but perhaps we don’t want to remain in it. Yet there we are, every Wednesday and Thursday, hooked to our screens. These two days could be now renamed ‘Tere Bin days’ and we’re honestly thinking this drama should be studied by psychologists because no matter what absurd plot twist is thrown in, the fanbase remains dedicated as ever. Is it because of the appeal of the main leads, Wahaj Ali and Yumna Zaidi? Or is it because as a post-colonial nation, we’re addicted to hate watching? Does any scientist out there care to explain how we’ve gone from this couple fighting to falling back in love to faking a pregnancy to then back to shouting and crying and going all over again back to lovers? We’re 53 episodes in, give us a break!
But we did as a nation get some hilarious plot twists and pearl clutching moments that even got PEMRA looped in. So let’s break down some of the ways Tere Bin decided to throw logic out of the window
1 Starting with the more recent: Meerab’s pregnancy announcement.
Episode 53 opens with a mind blowing twist: that apparently doing it only once in your marriage with your frenemy husband gets you immediately pregnant. Fans first got to watch their favorite couple in torment because they broke their rules and decided to have sex, and then mope around when Meerab decides to run away, and now the cherry on top is her realising that the same husband she ran away from is the one who got her pregnant?
2 Abba saying shaba khair
There is a hilarious trope in Pakistani dramas that every time a daughter decides to rebel by divorcing the man she’s been forced to marry, the dad immediately becomes an obstacle in her path by dying from a heart attack. Ye abba je ko convenient waqt nahi milta apni manmani karwanay kay liye? And why play up the daughter’s guilt when she is escaping an unhappy marriage? We saw this with ‘Mujhay Pyaar Hua Tha’, that the father immediately passes away, guilt shaming Maheer further for not wanting to remain married to her cousin, Saad.
In episode 50, after finding out that his daughter Meerab has run away from her home and left her belongings behind, her father searches for her and then passes away outside her friend’s house.
3 Haya dancing at Murtasim’s wedding
If a villain goes down in history for messing with the nation’s mind so much that even the actress performing this role was sent hate mail, it would be Haya, palyed by Sabeen Farooq. We have to give credit to Farooq’s brilliant acting that makes Haya such a hateful character, and yet someone whom the audience can’t turn away from despite how cringey she looks trying to trap Murtasim. Perhaps the most Haya she has ever been was in episode 8, when she dances in a seductive manner at Meerab and Murtasim’s mehendi, something we’d not even do even if a gun was put to our head.
4 Malik Zubair aka Anas
Sirf Meerab, Murtasim aur Haya kaafi nahi thay, that even Mariam bechari had to be dragged into such a messed up love affair with the man who attempted to harm her brother? We discover in episode 40, that Anas is actually Malik Zubair, Murtasim’s biggest enemy. The episode also drew a lot of backlash from audiences for portraying the female characters of the show as helpless and clueless about the person whom Murtasim repeatedly refers to throughout the show as his biggest enemy.
5 The pregnancy confusion
‘Tere Bin’ did everything in its power to win the ‘most brainless show’ competition and they led the polls with episode 24. Murtasim promising his wife that he doesn’t think of Haya as anything but a sister, and then deciding to go to the village with her? Maa Begum becoming gynecologist and deciding Meerab is pregnant, without our headstrong lead even bothering to correct this assumption? Allah madad kar.
The former Director General Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed is not under detention or arrest, Geo has reported.
In the past few days, unconfirmed news reports were doing the rounds on social media that the former DG ISI is under house arrest in his village near Chakwal, while being investigated in the matter of May 9 riots.
Geo’s sources have refuted the social media reports, saying that Gen Faiz is not arrested. One of the sources added that he has met one of the former spymasters.
One of the correspondents tried to contact the former DG ISI but his phone was switched off. Before his retirement, Gen Faiz remained a central figure during the previous government’s tenure and in political discussions. He had been criticized by opponents of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for unduly favouring the ruling party.
Gen Faiz was also believed to be very close with former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has previously said that an inquiry can be conducted against Gen Fiaz Hameed but it would be the responsibility of investigative agencies as the interior ministry has nothing to do with it.
Murtaza Wahab of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been elected as Mayor Karachi, defeating Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) candidate Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman.
He won by securing 173 votes, whereas the JI candidate secured 160 votes.
The electoral process for Karachi Mayor and Deputy Mayor was held at Karachi Arts Council (KAC). The election was held on show of hand basis. The voting started at 11:00 am. As pet the orders of ECP live cameras were not allowed during the voting.
He is PPP’s first leader to get elected as Karachi’s mayor.
On the other hand, Salman Abdullah Murad of PPP and Saifuddin Advocate of JI are also contesting today for the post of deputy mayor.
