Connect with us

Regional

Pakistan’s ex-PM Sharif seeks to wrestle back voters from foe Imran Khan

Published

on

Pakistan's three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif heads back home on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile in London, seeking to wrestle back support for his party three months ahead of a general election.

Sharif's return comes as his main rival, Imran Khan, is in jail, but the cricketer-turned-politician remains popular across Pakistan following his ouster from premiership in 2022, Reuters reported.

Sharif "will need to reenergize a support base at a moment when the party's popularity has taken big hits thanks to Imran Khan's large vote bank," said Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute Director at The Wilson Center.

Sharif, who was ousted in a 1999 coup, is returning to Pakistan for the first time since leaving for London in 2019. He was serving a 14-year prison sentence after being found guilty in two corruption cases before being allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment for a limited time.

The convictions are still in force in Pakistan, but a court on Thursday barred authorities from arresting Sharif until Oct. 24, which is when he is scheduled to appear in court. His lawyer has said he will contest the convictions.

Sharif cannot run again for election or hold public office because of his convictions, even though his party has said he aims to become prime minister for a fourth time.

Khan, too, is disqualified from the elections by virtue of his conviction in August, which he has appealed.

The 73-year-old Sharif has said he was ousted at the behest of the country's powerful military after he fell out with its top generals, who play an outsized role in the politics of the nuclear-armed South Asian nation.

He says the military then backed Khan to help him win the 2018 general election - which both Khan and the military deny.

However, the military and Khan fell out in 2022 and over the last few months the country's top generals have been involved in a bruising showdown with Khan, which has afforded Sharif some political space.

The military denies that it interferes in politics.

"For Sharif, after the immediate euphoria of his return wears off, he will face an uphill battle. The honeymoon won't last long," said Kugelman.

While in exile, Sharif is said to have played a major role in Khan's ouster and installing a coalition government led by his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.

Khan led a relentless campaign against his removal, which helped him win huge public support especially with the coalition government caught in a crippling economic crisis that has seen record-high inflation and massive currency depreciation.

Rising living costs have become unbearable for many Pakistanis after the coalition government had to agree to harsh fiscal adjustments to resume funding from International Monetary Fund (IMF), which had suspended payments after Khan scuttled a deal in his last days in office.

Khan's posture of defying the IMF's stringent reforms only helped his popularity shoot up.

Sharif has had a track record of pursuing economic growth and public sector development policies. When he was removed as premier in 2017, Pakistan's GDP growth rate was at 5.8% and inflation was hovering around just 4%.

In September, inflation registered at over 31% year-on-year, and growth is projected to be less than 2% this financial year.

Author and analyst Ayesha Siddiqa believes the economy is where Sharif will start his campaign.

"He needs a far more robust team to run the economy," she said, but stressed: "His main task is to wipe out Imran Khan's memory from people's minds."

Sharif's arrival has kick-started a campaign for general elections slated to be held in the last week of January.

"Nawaz Sharif will revive the economy yet again," read a banner at a train bringing supporters to a rally which he will address in eastern city of Lahore on Saturday.

Regional

Pakistan dismisses US official’s warning over missile programme as unfounded

Earlier this week, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said Pakistan’s development of long-range ballistic missiles made it an “emerging threat”.

Published

on

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Saturday dismissed as unfounded and "devoid of rationality" assertions by a senior U.S. official that its missile programme could eventually pose a threat to the United States, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said Pakistan's development of long-range ballistic missiles made it an "emerging threat".

Finer's comments, which came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to the ballistic missile programme, underscored the deterioration in once-close ties between Washington and Islamabad since the 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Addressing Finer's remarks, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the perception of an alleged threat was "unfortunate".

"These allegations are unfounded, devoid of rationality and sense of history," the ministry added in a statement.

The ministry said its strategic capabilities were solely for defending its sovereignty and maintaining regional stability, and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.

It also highlighted Pakistan's long history of cooperation with the U.S., particularly in counter-terrorism efforts, and reiterated its commitment to engaging constructively on all issues, including regional security and stability, read the report.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan have seen significant ups and downs. The countries collaborated during the Cold War and in the fight against al Qaeda after 9/11.

However, ties have been strained due to coups in the South Asian country by Pakistan's military, support for the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule in Afghanistan, and over the nuclear weapons programme.

Continue Reading

Regional

Militants in northwest Pakistan kill 16 security personnel

Published

on

Sixteen security personnel were killed in northwest Pakistan in an attack by militants, Reuters reported citing the deputy superintendent of police.

"According to our information, 16 security personnel were martyred and eight injured in this attack. A search operation is under way in the area," said Hidayat Ullah, deputy superintendent of police in South Waziristan.

 

Continue Reading

Regional

Pakistan’s missile program is ’emerging threat’, top US official says

Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Finer said Pakistan has pursued “increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment, that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors.”

Published

on

A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an "emerging threat" to the United States.

Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer's surprise revelation underscored how far the once-close ties between Washington and Islamabad have deteriorated since the 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Reuters reported.

It also raised questions about whether Pakistan has shifted the objectives of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs long intended to counter those of India, with which it has fought three major wars since 1947.

Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Finer said Pakistan has pursued "increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment, that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors."

If those trends continue, Finer said, "Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States."

The number of nuclear-armed states with missiles that can reach the U.S. homeland "is very small and they tend to be adversarial," he continued, naming Russia, North Korea and China.

"So, candidly, it's hard for us to see Pakistan's actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States," Finer said.

His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile development program, including for the first time against the state-run defense agency that oversees the program.

The Pakistani embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Islamabad casts its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs as deterrents against Indian aggression and intended to maintain regional stability.

Two senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the U.S. concerns with Pakistan's missile program have been long-standing and stemmed from the sizes of the rocket engines being developed.

The threat posed to the United States is up to a decade away, said one official.

Finer's comments, the officials said, were intended to press Pakistani officials to address why they are developing more powerful rocket engines, something they have refused to do.

"They don't acknowledge our concerns. They tell us we are biased," said the second U.S. official, adding that Pakistani officials have wrongly implied that U.S. sanctions on their missile program are intended "to handicap their ability to defend against India."

Finer included himself among senior U.S. officials who he said repeatedly have raised concerns about the missile program with top Pakistani officials to no avail.

Washington and Islamabad, he noted, had been "long-time partners" on development, counter-terrorism and security.

"That makes us question even more why Pakistan will be motivated to develop a capability that could be used against us."

Pakistan has been critical of warm ties U.S. President Joe Biden has forged with its long-time foe India, and maintains close ties with China. Some Chinese entities have been slapped with U.S. sanctions for supplying Islamabad's ballistic missile program.

It conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1998 - more than 20 years after India's first test blast - and has built an extensive arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of lofting nuclear warheads.

The Bulletin of the American Scientists research organization estimates that Pakistan has a stockpile of about 170 warheads.

U.S.-Pakistani relations have undergone major ups and downs, including close Cold War ties that saw them support Afghan rebels against the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Pakistan also was a key partner in the U.S. fight against al Qaeda following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and has been a major non-NATO ally since 2004.

But ties also have been hurt by coups staged by the Pakistani military, its support for the Islamic Emirate's 1996-2001 rule and its nuclear weapons program.

Several experts said Finer's speech came as a major surprise.

"For a senior U.S. official to publicly link concerns about proliferation in Pakistan to a future direct threat to the U.S. homeland - this is a mighty dramatic development," said Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center think tank.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Ariana News. All rights reserved!