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Rs 20.00 | Vol XIV No 311 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
27 PUNJAB MPAS ON RESERVED SEATS SUSPENDED FOLLOWING SC ORDER ‘BLOW TO RULING ALLIANCE’
Speaker de-seats 24 members on women reserved seats, three on minorities’ seats
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LAHORE
PPP also dashes ruling party’s hopes about joining federal cabinet
SALEEM JADOON
HAT is being described as a major blow to the ruling PML-N, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan on Friday suspended the membership of 27 MPAs of the ruling coalition elected on reserved seats. The development comes in view of the Supreme Court’s verdict whereby it had suspended the Election Commission and Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decisions to deny reserved seats for women and minorities to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — the new home for PTI lawmakers-elect. A three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah issued the order while admitting the SIC appeal against the PHC order. As proceedings of the Punjab Assembly began on Friday, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan read the decision in the House, citing the apex court’s ruling, and ordered the de-seated members to vacate their seats immediately. The Speaker upheld the point of order tabled by opposition member Rana Aftab on certain reserved seats, leading to the de-seating of the Punjab ruling alliance members.
SIC’s Malik Aftab raised objections and read out the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the members elected on reserved seats. At which, the speaker validated the opposition member’s point of order and ordered the suspension of the membership of the nominated members on the reserved seats of the ruling alliance immediately. Following the speaker’s ruling, 24 women reserved seats and three minorities’ seats fell vacant in the Punjab Assembly. The suspension of 27 members also decreased the number of seats of the ruling party to 200 while the Sunni Itte-
PM directs formulation of trade policies to boost exports, business sector PROFIT APP
had Council holds 106 seats, and the PPP is the third-largest party with 15 seats in the provincial assembly. Similarly, the PML-Q has 11 seats, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) has 7 seats, while the PML-Z, Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), and Tehreeke-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) each hold one seat in the Punjab Assembly. Among those suspended from reserved minority seats are Tariq Masih Gul, Waseem Anjum, and Basruji. Meanwhile, members of the Sunni Ittehad Council lauded the speaker’s decision by thumping the table.
On December 22, 2023, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had stripped the PTI of its election symbol due to irregularities in its intra-party elections. The Supreme Court later upheld the ECP’s order, leading the party to field its candidates as independents in the February 8 general elections. Subsequently, independent candidates supported by the PTI joined the SIC and applied to the ECP for allocation of seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial legislatures. However, on March 4, the ECP dismissed the request, citing the SIC’s failure to submit a priority list of candidates for reserved seats prior to the polls. The SIC challenged the order in the PHC, which on March 14 upheld the ECP’s decision. The SIC later appealed to the Supreme Court, which suspended the PHC ruling in favour of PTI. ‘PPP dashes PML-N hopes’ Meanwhile, the PPP dashed the ruling party’s hope about the former joining the federal cabinet and its chairman Bilawal Bhutto becoming the foreign minister again. According to PPP insiders, the party is not in a hurry to join the federal cabinet before the budget or even after it. Referring to the recent meeting between PM Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal, they claimed there was no discussion on joining the federal cabinet.
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iCube-Qamar unveils first image of Moon from lunar orbit ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed the authorities concerned to formulate the trade policies with a core objective of facilitating the business sector, calling for urgent measures to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s exports. The prime minister, chairing a meeting on the trade sector, called for steps to promote exports of non-traditional goods and instructed for immediate payment of the certified duty drawback of the exporters. Highlighting the significance of the private sector, he instructed to ensure consultation with them during the policy-making and implement the deletion policy to uplift the auto sector. Shehbaz directed the relevant ministry to devise a comprehensive strategy to scrutinize the performance of trade and investment officers posted in Pakistan’s missions abroad, by rewarding the good performers and removing the incompetent ones. The prime minister told the meeting that he would personally carry out the fortnightly review of the export sectors. In the meeting, the prime minister was told that the discussion on the Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and the Gulf states was in the final stage and transit trade agreements with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan had already been materialized. It was told that during the recent Pak-Saudi Business Conference, around 450 business-to-business meetings were held and that the volume of e-commerce trade was witnessing a constant increase with the enlisting of over 3,000 firms on the Pakistan Trade Portal. The meeting was also apprised of the strict monitoring of Afghan Transit Trade, double-digit premium growth of public sector insurance companies, finalising Gem Export Framework, and in-principle approval by Pakistan and Russia to operationalise the barter trade. It was told that consultation with the stakeholders was in progress on Preferential Trade Agreements with Azerbaijan and Afghanistan, as well as on the New Strategic Trade Policy. Moreover, necessary legislation was also being made to establish the Technology and Innovation Fund for industrial development.
The iCube-Qamar, Pakistan’s inaugural lunar satellite mission, unveiled the premiere snapshot of the moon taken within its lunar orbit, announced by the Institute of Space Technology on Friday. Previously, the satellite relayed an image while traversing the lunar orbit. This marks a significant milestone as per the IST, with Qamar being Pakistan’s pioneer satellite to venture into lunar orbit, completing a full rotation every 12 hours. “The iCube-Qamar will capture images of the lunar orbit from a vantage point 200 kilometers above the moon’s surface,” stated the IST. It added that the signals of iCube-Qamar will be received on Earth by covering a distance of 360,000 to 400,000 km. iCube-Qamar has made three rounds around the moon,” the IST said. The first image was received two days after IST announced that the satellite was successfully deployed in orbit on May 8 at 1:14pm Pakistan time. The scientist termed the development “a great success overall”.
Downside risks for Pakistan’s economy remain exceptionally high, says IMF g
FUND STRESSES NEED FOR TIMELY POST-PROGRAM EXTERNAL FINANCING DISBURSEMENTS PROFIT
REUTERS
Downside risks for the Pakistani economy remain exceptionally high, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday, in its staff report on the country, ahead of talks with the fund on a longer term progamme. An International Monetary Fund mission is expected to visit Pakistan this month to discuss a new programme, ahead of Islamabad beginning its annual budget-making process for the next financial year. “Downside risks remain exceptionally high. While the new government has indicated its intention to continue the SBA’s policies, political uncertainty remains significant,” said the fund in its staff report following the second and final review under the standby arrangement (SBA). The fund added that political complexities and high cost of living could weigh on policy, adding that policy slippages, together with lower external financing, could undermine the narrow path to debt sustainability and place pressure on the exchange rate. The IMF also said higher commodity prices and disruptions to shipping, or tighter global financial conditions, would also adversely affect external stability for the cash-strapped nation. The fund stressed the need for timely post-program external financing disbursements. Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion programme, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer term programme. Pakistan narrowly averted default last summer, and its $350 billion economy has stabilised after the completion of the last IMF programme, with inflation coming down to around 17% in April from a record high 38% last May. It is still dealing with a high fiscal shortfall and while it has controlled its external account deficit through import control mechanisms, it has come at the expense of stagnating growth, which is expected to be around 2% this year compared to negative growth last year. Pakistan is expected to seek at least $6 billion and request additional financing from the Fund under the Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
LHC bars Punjab govt from distributing bikes to students LAHORE
STAFF REPORT
Following its deployment, the satellite will take images of the desired lunar surfaces in a carefully selected 12-hour elliptical orbit. The iCube-Qamar was launched on board China’s Chang’e-6 from Hainan, China, on May 3. Ahead of the launch of the satellite last week, Dr Khurram said that the Pakistani satellite will take different pictures of the surface of the moon after which Pakistan will have its own satellite images of the moon for research.
The satellite was designed and developed by the Islamabad-based Institute of Space Technology (IST) in collaboration with China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and Pakistan’s national space agency Suparco. iCube-Qamar orbiter carries two optical cameras to image the lunar surface. Following successful qualification and testing, the orbiter was integrated with China’s Chang’e6 mission — the sixth in a series of lunar exploration missions.
The Lahore High Court on Friday refrained the Punjab government from distributing motorcycles to students, emphasizing that the government should instead promote electric buses as the provision of buses to educational institutions will help in reducing traffic pressure. Issuing the order, LHC’s Justice Shahid Karim stated that the provincial government should not distribute motorcycles until a new policy is formulated. The court also sought a detailed report from the Punjab government on May 13. The court observed that the initiative of distributing motorbikes to could lead to misuse by male students, noting the vehicles could be used for one-wheeling and female harassment. Justice Karim voiced concerns about male students potentially congregating outside girls’ colleges and indulging in unruly behaviour if students are provided with these bikes. The court has also ordered action against those who extract sand from the river with heavy machinery. Justice Karim has long heard different petitions about how smog could be controlled, society could be made pollution free and groundwater could be protected from wastage. During proceedings, a Judicial Water & Environment Commission member complained that the crop’s remnants were still being set ablaze.
UN General Assembly backs Palestinian bid for membership UNITED NATIONS REUTERS
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably.” The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member – a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state – after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month. The assembly adopted a resolution with 143 votes in favor and nine against – including the US and Israel – while 25 countries abstained. It does not give the Palestinians full UN membership, but simply recognises them as qualified to join. The resolution “determines that the State of Palestine … should therefore be admitted to membership” and it “recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favourably.” The Palestinian push for full UN mem-
bership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the UN considers to be illegal. “We want peace, we want freedom,” Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the assembly before the vote. “A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state. … It is an investment in peace.” “Voting yes is the right thing to do,” he said in remarks that drew applause. Under the founding UN Charter, membership is open to “peace-loving states” that accept the obligations in that document and are able and willing to carry them out. “As long as so many of you are ‘Jew-hating,’ you don’t really care that the Palestinians are not ‘peace-loving’,” UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who spoke after Mansour, told his fellow diplomats. He accused the assembly of shredding the UN Charter – as he used a small shredder to destroy a copy of the Charter while at the lectern. “Shame on you,” Erdan said. An application to become a full UN member first needs to be approved by the 15member Security Council and then the Gen-
eral Assembly. If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a US veto. ADDITIONAL UN RIGHTS Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told the General Assembly after the vote that unilateral measures at the UN and on the ground will not advance a two-state solution. “Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood; we have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will only come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties,” he said. The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognised borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighbouring Arab states. The General Assembly resolution adopted on Friday does give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from September 2024 – like a seat among the UN members in the assembly hall – but they will not be granted a vote in the body.
The Palestinians are currently a nonmember observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. They are represented at the UN by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank. Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power
in Gaza in 2007. Hamas – which has a charter calling for Israel’s destruction – launched the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered Israel’s assault on Gaza. Erdan said on Monday that, if the General Assembly adopted the resolution, he expected Washington to cut funding to the United Nations and its institutions.