(Vox) One of Pakistan’s twin crises was resolved this week. The other one, not so much.
On Thursday, the country’s supreme court delivered a historic ruling that resolved a constitutional crisis that took shape last week. The court rebuked Prime Minister Imran Khan, a self-fashioned populist leader and former cricket star who is more celebrity than statesman. Khan, the court ruled, had acted unconstitutionally when he dissolved Pakistan’s Parliament last week in order to avoid losing power through a no-confidence vote.
It was a surprising and reassuring decision, experts in the country’s politics said, given the supreme court’s checkered record as a sometime political ally of Khan. On Thursday, the court sided with the rule of law.
But the underlying political crisis that led to the court’s landmark order endures.
Khan outlandishly blamed the opposition parties’ efforts to oust him on a US-driven foreign conspiracy. Now, the Parliament has been restored and will continue with its no-confidence vote against Khan’s premiership Saturday, likely leading to his ouster and extraordinary elections later this year. Khan, for his part, said that he would “fight” back.
Pakistani lawmakers elect Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister
Source: Axios
Pakistan's parliament voted Monday to elect opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif as the country's new prime minister, after lawmakers from ousted leader Imran Khan's party walked out, AP reported.
Driving the news: Khan was removed as prime minister Sunday in a no-confidence vote after weeks of political turmoil.
The country's Supreme Court said last week that a vote on the no-confidence motion should go ahead, after finding Khan's ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's effort to block the vote was unconstitutional.
Members of Khan's party resigned en masse ahead of Monday's vote to elect a new prime minister, with more than 100 walking out of the National Assembly.
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) Pakistan's lawmakers voted in opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif as the country's new prime minister on Monday, after Imran Khan was ousted at the weekend in a no-confidence vote over allegations of poor governance.
Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party and younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, received 174 out of 342 votes in Monday's vote in parliament and is set to serve as prime minister until the next general election, which is expected to take place in 2023.
All of Khan's lawmakers from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party resigned en masse in protest ahead of Monday's vote, and there will now have to be urgent elections to replace them. Following the vote, Khan called on his supporters to take to the streets. His next rally is scheduled for April 16 in Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan.
In a speech to parliament ahead of his swearing in, Sharif spoke of unity across the country, including his coalition government.
Last edited by caltrek on Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
(The Conversation) What do we know about the new prime minister?
Shahbaz Sharif for a long time had been chief minister of Punjab, and the general perception is that he was an effective administrator there. He comes from a political family – his brother Nawaz Sharif served as prime minister of Pakistan on three separate occasions. And like his brother, who has been convicted of corruption and is banned from public office, Shahbaz has faced allegations of cronyism and corruption. But this is not unusual in Pakistani politics, where opposition leaders tend to face such charges. Nothing has been proved in court against Shahbaz Sharif.
Sharif has come into office making a number of populist promises, offering relief to hard-pressed Pakistani families, such as a raise in the minimum wage.
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The danger is that Khan will not accept an election loss. The now-former prime minister is a superstar with a massive ego and a loyal base of support. You have to remember he was a superstar before he was prime minister, having been the captain of the country’s national cricket team and a global jet-setter. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Imran Khan is a legend to many Pakistanis, and Khan will be trying to mobilize his supporters in street protests.
So who is likely to win an election?
Khan certainly has a base of support that is very loyal. But it isn’t clear whether it outweighs that of the other parties put together – and a coalition of opposition parties could gain enough seats to oust Khan in an election. Indeed, Khan never governed with a large mandate – his party did not win a majority of seats in Parliament and required the support of smaller parties. And his own members have been disavowing him in light of the recent events. I also doubt many people in Pakistan are buying the conspiracy that it was the U.S. that toppled him.
Pakistan Hit With Power Blackouts As It Struggles With Fuel Shortages And Technical Problems
April 18, 2022 NEWS
A once-in-a-generation inflation shock is rippling worldwide and has become a significant source of social and political instability in the weakest countries. Pakistan is the latest country to experience paralyzing inflation.
Bloomberg reports almost a fifth of electricity generation capacity is offline in the South Asian country because some power plants struggle to purchase liquefied natural gas and coal due to record high prices.
Pakistan’s energy costs have doubled to $15 billion in the last nine months ended February from a year earlier. The country has struggled with purchasing energy products to fuel its power plants since the conflict in Ukraine exacerbated commodity shortages, sending prices to record highs.
Fear for democracy in Pakistan as ISI gets power over civil service
Sun 12 Jun 2022
Pakistani politicians and activists have raised fears about the military increasing its control over the country’s public life after the new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, gave the ISI spy agency vetting power over civil service appointments.
The move has placed the verification and screening of government officials in charge of postings, appointments and promotions in ISI hands, leading to concerns of a shrunken civilian space.
Pakistan’s powerful military, which ruled the country directly for three decades, and its premier intelligence agency have a long history of meddling in politics and controlling politicians.
It is widely perceived in Pakistan that politicians need the military’s backing to come to power, but many now fear that bureaucrats could also need the same support for their appointment and postings.
Imran Khan: Pakistan police charge ex-PM under terrorism act
Source: BBC
Pakistan's police have charged the country's former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, under anti-terror laws.
Their investigation comes after he accused the police and judiciary of detaining and torturing a close aide.
Mr Khan's supporters gathered outside his house vowing to "take over" if he was arrested. However, he has now been granted pre-arrest bail until Thursday.
Since being ousted from power in April, Mr Khan has been a vocal critic of the government and the country's army.
Satellites Reveal a Third of Pakistan Underwater by Lizzy Davies
September 2, 2022
Introduction:
(Mother Jones) Aid workers have appealed for urgent donations to fight the “absolutely devastating” impact of flooding in Pakistan, as new satellite images appeared to confirm that a third of the country is now underwater.
As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal to raise funds for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data captured by its Copernicus satellite. Those pictures appear to confirm the Pakistani government’s assessment that more than a third of the country—an area roughly the size of the UK—has been submerged by monsoon rainfall, estimated to have been 10 times more severe than usual.
“The Indus River has overflowed, effectively creating a long lake, tens of kilometers wide,” Esa said in a statement.
The floods have claimed more than 1,100 lives, including 399 children, destroyed more than a million homes and swept away crops, livestock, and major infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
Further extract:
Speaking from the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Ahmad said he had been in the country for the 2010 floods, which killed nearly 2,000 people, but this was worse. “The situation…is absolutely chaos everywhere. People are on the roadside, waiting for humanitarian assistance, like water, food, shelter—and this is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan. In 22 years of my experience as [a] humanitarian aid worker, I never saw such destruction caused by floods.”
