Page 9 - Election

China asks Pakistan's political parties to work together to form govt

Beijing is also bankrolling Pakistan, which is in the throes of an economic crisis, to maintain the balance of payments with periodic loans to maintain the requisite forex reserves

PML-N, PPP fail to decide power-sharing formula for govt formation

The talks between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party on a power-sharing formula for a coalition government remained inconclusive, though both sides claimed significant progress in the discussions, according to a media report on Sunday. The third meeting between the Contact and Coordination Committees (CCCs) of the two parties, which took place on Saturday, remained inconclusive and both decided to meet again on Monday to finalise the power-sharing formula. A brief announcement issued by the PML-N after the meeting said that there had been significant progress in talks with both sides, stressing the need for a strong democratic government. "The proposals put forth by both parties were thoroughly discussed, and while substantial progress was achieved, further deliberations are required to finalise the matters at hand," a joint statement read. Nawaz Sharif led PML-N has nominated Shehbaz Sharif for the Prime Minister's post. Independent candidates - a ...

If there's any such thing, will inform you: Nath to media on switch to BJP

Amid speculation that he could cross over to the BJP, senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath arrived in the national capital Saturday afternoon and said if there would be any such thing, he would inform the media first. In his brief interaction with reporters, he asked them not to get excited. Asked if he is joining the BJP, Nath said, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first." When a reporter asked if he was not denying a possible switch, Nath said, "It is not about denying, you are saying this, you people are getting excited. I am not getting excited, this side or that side, but if there would be any such thing, I would inform you first." Over the past few days, Nath had been on a tour of his bastion Chhindwara, from where he had been an MP for nine terms. His son Nakul Nath won the seat in the 2019 polls, even as the BJP swept the remaining 28 seats in the state. Asked about the speculation that Nath could cross over to the

Revamped SEZ law unlikely before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections

The commerce department had sought the Union Cabinet's nod to bring amendments in the existing SEZ Act, 2005 late last year

Jailed ex-PM Imran Khan's party claims his wife Bushra's life is in danger

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party has expressed concern about the health of his wife Bushra Biwi and claimed that there was a "serious threat" to her life and the fascist regime in Pakistan was denying her medical aid. Bushra Biwi, 49, is imprisoned at Khan's Bani Gala residence here after an accountability court sentenced the couple to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case last month. Khan, 71, is lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Both of them have been convicted with multiple years' sentences in the Toshakhana expensive gift case and the iddat case which declared their marriage as un-Islamic. Bushra has already petitioned Islamabad High Court on February 6 against authorities' move to declare her residence as sub-jail and requested to move her to the Adiala Jail citing potential security issues.

Imran's party forms special committees to strategise govt formation

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party has established special committees to strategise the government formation at the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Participants during the party's core committee meeting agreed to early completion of the nomination process for important government and parliamentary positions according to the recommendations and strategies proposed by the committees, Dawn News cited a statement as saying on Monday.

Shehbaz affirms Nawaz Sharif to become Pakistan's PM for record fourth time

Pakistan's former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for a record fourth time. "I had said that Nawaz Sharif would become prime minister for the fourth time. And I maintain today that he is going to be the PM for the fourth time," Shehbaz told a press conference at the party's headquarters here on Tuesday. When asked whether he was no more favourite to grab the top post, he said: "My candidate for the PM slot is Nawaz Sharif." The now 74-year-old leader, Nawaz Sharif first took power in 1990 but was forced out three years later by corruption allegations -- a theme that has dogged his career. He came to power for the second time in 1997 and held the prime minister's post till 1999 when he was deposed in a military coup after plotting to sideline army chief of staff Pervez Musharraf. More than a decade later he was back in power in 2013, but fresh graft allegations emerged when his

Govt plans $9 billion rooftop solar push amid looming Lok Sabha elections

Sluggish deployment of rooftop systems has cast doubt on India's target of almost quadrupling solar power generation capacity from 73 gigawatts by the end of the decade

Ashok Chavan resigns from Congress ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Chavan may join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following his resignation form Congress

Former PM Alexander Stubb wins Finnish presidency, defeats Pekka Haavisto

Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won Finland's election runoff on Sunday against ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in a close race for the presidency and the task of steering the Nordic country's foreign and security policy now that it is a member of NATO, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With all votes counted, centre-right candidate Stubb of the National Coalition Party had 51.6 per cent of the votes, while independent candidate Haavisto from the green left got 48.4 per cent of the votes. The 55-year-old Stubb, who was prime minister in 2014-2015 and started his political career as a lawmaker at the European Parliament in 2004, will become the 13th president of Finland since the Nordic country's independence from the Russian empire in 1917. Haavisto conceded defeat after a projection by the Finnish public broadcaster YLE showing a win for Stubb was released on Sunday night. He shook Stubb's hand and congratulated him at Helsinki City Hall, where the candidates and the

UK Foreign Secy urges Pak to uphold fundamental rights amid poll violence

The ECP has released the provisional results for 134 out of 265 seats in the National Assembly

White Paper record for posterity, a serious document: FM Sitharaman

She said the NDA government has the power and vision, which was lacking during the UPA's term

Readying a detailed road map for third term, says PM Narendra Modi

He said he's preparing a detailed roadmap to make India third-largest economy

Delivery of welfare schemes under Modi govt efficient: White Paper

It said during the 10-year rule of the Modi government, the amount unspent meant for schemes in social and rural sectors was just around Rs 37,064 crore

Voting concludes across Pakistan in election marred by sporadic violence

Voting concluded across Pakistan on Thursday in an election marred by sporadic violence and connectivity issues after the government suspended mobile and internet services to foil terror attacks. The polling started at 8.00 AM and continued without any break till 5.00 PM. A countrywide public holiday was declared to enable a total of 128,585,760 registered voters to cast their ballots. The time for voting ended but the people present inside the premises of the polling stations were allowed to cast their votes. There were reports of voting process facing delays at certain polling stations across the country and at least one terror attack on security forces performing election duties that killed four policemen. The ballot boxes would be unsealed in the presence of the agents of various candidates present inside the polling stations, and counting would be done in the supervision of the presiding officer of each polling station. The presiding officer would prepare the result and annou

Govt strongly rejects charges of interference in Canadian elections

India on Thursday strongly rejected as "baseless" allegations of its interference in Canadian elections and asserted that the core issue has been Ottawa's meddling in New Delhi's internal affairs. According to Canadian media reports, Canada's federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference is looking to examine allegations of meddling by India in the last two general elections. "We have seen media reports about the Canadian commission enquiring into ...We strongly reject all such baseless allegations of Indian interference in Canadian elections," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The Canadian federal commission's terms of reference is primarily to examine the possible interference by China, Russia and other foreign states or non-state actors in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, the CTV News reported. "It is not the government of India's policy to interfere in democratic processes of other countries. In fact, quite on the reverse, it is Canada .

Pak's CEC assures mobile service suspension cannot hamper agency's work

Amid the suspension of mobile services in Pakistan due to the deteriorating security situation, Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday said its Election Management System is not dependent on the Internet and its work will not be affected due to it. Polling for the general elections started at 8.00 am and will continue without any break till 5.00 PM when a total of 128,585,760 registered voters are eligible to cast their votes. Even when the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had earlier said that internet services would remain functional on the voting day, twin terror attacks that killed at least 30 people prompted the caretaker government to suspend the mobile services due to the deteriorating security situation. Speaking with media persons soon after the polling began, CEC Raja told media persons, Our system is not dependent on it (mobile services). Our system is not independent of the Internet, we have clarified it earlier too. There will

'Outdated' Cong cannot question 'Modi's guarantees', says PM in Rajya Sabha

Modi said his government will strive to provide a "Modi kavach", or shield, to empower the people of India, especially the neo-middle class

Economic pessimism hits record in Pakistan ahead of election on Feb 8

Some 70 per cent of Pakistanis said the economic situation around them is getting worse, the highest level in the 18 years that Gallup has been polling them

Interim Budget 2024: 'Prudence has taken precedence over populism'

Backed by robust collections in both direct and indirect taxes and a growing domestic demand, the finance minister asserted a strong commitment to pursuing the path of fiscal consolidation