Opposition PTI says will cooperate with Pakistan government but continue protests against ‘rigging’ 

Special Opposition PTI says will cooperate with Pakistan government but continue protests against ‘rigging’ 
Omar Ayub Khan (3R), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party's nominee for prime minister and Gohar Ali Khan (3L), PTI's chairman and barrister arrive before the start of the inaugural session of the National Assembly, at the parliament house building in Islamabad on February 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 04 March 2024
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Opposition PTI says will cooperate with Pakistan government but continue protests against ‘rigging’ 

Opposition PTI says will cooperate with Pakistan government but continue protests against ‘rigging’ 
  • Coalition partner PPP says supporting government for sake of democracy and but will hold it to account
  • PM Sharif’s PML-N says he will prioritize fixing the economy, creating jobs for young unemployed Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the country’s main opposition party, said on Sunday it would cooperate where ‘required’ with the new government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif but would continue protests against what it says was the rigging of last month’s elections and manipulation of vote counts.
Sharif beat Omar Ayub Khan, the candidate backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI, who secured 92 votes. The PTI and a spattering of others parties have rejected the result of the Feb. 8 elections, alleging widespread rigging and carrying out nationwide protests since. The election commission denies the vote was manipulated in the run up to polls or during the counting process. 
“We would be putting the government to account for its deeds and we will cooperate with the government where it is so required,” PTI chairman Gohar Khan, who is also Imran Khan’s lawyer, told Arab News, saying his party would participate in all assembly sessions and “actively” play the role of the opposition. 
He said the PTI would not obstruct the functioning of parliament.
“We say we will definitely participate in the process and would actually like the government to move forward and we would like to actually participate in the legislation,” Gohar said. “But what we say is, until and unless our mandate is restored, we will continue our protests.”
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a coalition partner of Sharif’s government, stressed the need for the new government to hold a dialogue with “all of Pakistan.”
“I ask the PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of ex-PM Khan] to fight for their rights legally and not to fight democracy,” the MQM’s Aminul Haque said, saying the country needed political stability for economic stability.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a coalition partner of the government which has so far refused to take any cabinet positions, said it was supporting the government for the sake of democracy and rule of law but would hold it to account where needed.
“We know that we are facing many challenges in the country like internal and external law and order issues. We have a big issue of inflation and millions of people are suffering below the poverty line,” Dr. Mahreen Bhutto, a member of the PPP Central Executive Committee, said. 
“We are supporting the PML-N right now but we will raise all these issues of the people of Pakistan in parliament with confidence and we will try to convince the government to take measures that are necessary to address all these relevant issues.”
Sharif is set to take oath on Monday. This will be his second term as PM, with the first one running from April 2022 to August last year.
The new PM’s PML-N party said Sharif had helped save the country from sovereign default in June last year by negotiating an IMF deal and would work again to improve the economy. 
“This is good news for all Pakistanis and for Pakistan,” Marriyum Aurangzeb, the party’s information secretary, told Arab News. “The youth who were unemployed will get employment again as the journey of progress will begin, the economy will prosper.”


Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company

Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company
Updated 44 min 53 sec ago
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Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company

Pakistan’s national airline attracts $36 million bid from real estate company
  • Sole bidder Blue World City refuses to match government’s minimum price for Pakistan International Airlines
  • Pakistan plans to sell over 51 percent of its stake in loss-making PIA as envisaged under an IMF deal this year

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national flag carrier received a Rs10 billion [$36 million] bid from real estate development company Blue World City on Thursday for sixty percent of its stakes during a televised auction, much below the minimum price for the airline set by the government.
Pakistan plans to sell more than 51 percent of its stake in the loss-making Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as part of economic reforms Islamabad agreed to with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a critical 37-month $7 billion bailout deal approved in September.
Pakistan’s government had pre-qualified six groups in June, but only real estate development company Blue World City met a Tuesday deadline to submit final documents to participate in the auction.
The state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV) broadcast the bidding process live, with Blue World City as the sole bidder. The bid for $36 million was read out in front of government officials and financial advisers. The government had set a minimum price of Rs85 billion [$305 million] for the airline.
“We have considered your match price option,” Blue World City Chairman Saad Nazir said during the event. “We have decided to stand with the price we have already submitted.”
 Nazir refused to match the government’s offer of Rs85 billion, saying that as per the company’s assessment, “this was the best decision.”
“If the government doesn’t privatize [PIA], we wish the government all the best,” he said.
 Pakistan’s privatization commission has allowed some time for potential bidders to see if any would outmatch Blue World City’s bid.
“The government couldn’t get the fair price of the PIA through the auction due to the single bidder,” Haroon Sharif, a former member of the cabinet committee on privatization, told Arab News.
“There was no competition to purchase stakes of the national carrier.”
The government’s initial plan was to finalize the deal to sell PIA on the country’s Independence Day, Aug. 14, but the plan was delayed following requests from bidders waiting for the airline’s latest audited accounts, aircraft lease agreements and clarity on flights to Europe, which are currently banned.
This auction was delayed to September and October but those also did not materialize.
Sharif said the government should have extended the auction’s deadline to involve more bidders in the process.
“Now it looks like the government is privatizing the PIA in desperation,” he noted.
Official data available with Arab News shows there are 88 commercially operated state-owned enterprises in Pakistan, with collective losses of up to Rs730.258 billion ($2.61 billion) in the fiscal year 2022 (FY22).
In its five-year privatization plan ending in 2029, the government has approved 24 state-owned enterprises for sale, including the PIA.
With a fleet of 34 aircraft comprising 17 Airbus A320s, 12 Boeing B777s and 5 ATRs, the PIA loses traffic to Middle Eastern carriers who have a market share of 60 percent, because of an absence of direct flights to destinations.
The carrier has air service pacts with 87 countries, and landing slots at key destinations such as London Heathrow.
The reorganization plan of the business will separate the aviation-related aspects from non-core components, so freeing the operating subsidiary of a large portion of legacy debt.


Pakistan says IMF cut its inflation forecast for the country for this year to 9.5%

Pakistan says IMF cut its inflation forecast for the country for this year to 9.5%
Updated 31 October 2024
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Pakistan says IMF cut its inflation forecast for the country for this year to 9.5%

Pakistan says IMF cut its inflation forecast for the country for this year to 9.5%
  • No need for government to introduce mini-year budget, says finance minister
  • Aurangzeb says IMF revised down import projections for Pakistan for current fiscal year

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund has lowered its inflation forecast for Pakistan for the current year by 3.2% points to 9.5%, the country’s finance minister said on Thursday.

The IMF’s revised projection bring it closer to Pakistan’s own projections, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said.

He said there was no need to introduce a mid-year budget, responding to local media reports saying the government needed to revise its budget to stay on track with an ongoing $7 billion, 37-month program with the IMF.

Aurangzeb said the IMF also revised down its import projections for Pakistan in the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2025.

Pakistan has been struggling with boom-and-bust economic cycles for decades, leading to 22 IMF bailouts since 1958. Currently the country is the IMF’s fifth-largest debtor, owing the Fund $6.28 billion as of July 11, according to the lender’s data.

The latest economic crisis has been the most prolonged and has seen Pakistan facing its highest-ever inflation rate, pushing the country to the brink of a sovereign default last year before an IMF bailout. Inflation has since eased.


Pakistan flag carrier PIA attracts $36 million bid from real estate company

Pakistan flag carrier PIA attracts $36 million bid from real estate company
Updated 31 October 2024
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Pakistan flag carrier PIA attracts $36 million bid from real estate company

Pakistan flag carrier PIA attracts $36 million bid from real estate company
  • Pakistan is looking to offload 51-100 percent stake in debt-ridden airline to raise funds to reform state-owned assets
  • Pakistan pre-qualified six groups but only Blue World City company met deadline to submit documents for auction

KARACHI: Pakistan’s state-owned airline PIA has received a 10 billion rupee ($35.99 million) bid from real-estate development company Blue World City, the Privatization Ministry said on Thursday without disclosing the size of the stake.
The cash-strapped country is looking to offload a 51-100 percent stake in debt-ridden Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to raise funds and reform bleeding state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
The government had pre-qualified six groups in June, but only one — real estate development company Blue World City — met a Tuesday deadline to submit final documents to participate in the process.
Officials from three groups that chose not to bid told Reuters on condition of anonymity that there were concerns about the government’s ability to stand by agreements made for the flag carrier in the long term.
One executive voiced concern about policy continuity once a new government came in. The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has relied on a coalition of disparate political parties.
The disposal of PIA is a step former governments have steered away from as it has been highly unpopular given the number of layoffs that would likely result from it.
Underpinning these concerns over policy continuity and honoring contracts was the government’s termination of power purchase contracts with five private companies earlier this month, as well as the process of re-negotiating other sovereign guaranteed pacts.
Changes in Pakistan’s decade-old agreements with private Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects, largely financed by foreign lenders, to address chronic power shortages, “raises the risk of investing as well as doing business in Pakistan, even in the presence of sovereign contracts as well as guarantees,” said Sakib Sherani, an economist who heads private firm Macro Economic Insights.
Other concerns raised by potential bidders included inconsistent government communication, unattractive terms and taxes on the sector, in addition to PIA’s legacy issues and reputation.
 ($1 = 277.8500 Pakistani rupees)


Pakistan’s Noman Ali, Saud Shakeel move into top 10 Test rankings after England heroics

Pakistan’s Noman Ali, Saud Shakeel move into top 10 Test rankings after England heroics
Updated 31 October 2024
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Pakistan’s Noman Ali, Saud Shakeel move into top 10 Test rankings after England heroics

Pakistan’s Noman Ali, Saud Shakeel move into top 10 Test rankings after England heroics
  • Saud Shakeel moves to seventh spot in Test batters ranking while Noman Ali secures ninth spot in bowlers ranking
  • Shakeel scored match-winning 134 against England in Rawalpindi Test in which Ali took nine wickets to script Pakistan win

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani cricketers Saud Shakeel and Noman Ali moved into the top 10 Test batter and bowlers’ rankings for the first time in their careers, the International Cricket Council (ICC) reported this week, based on their heroic performances against England this month. 
Pakistani spinner Noman Ali and Sajid Khan spun Pakistan to a series victory against England this month, taking 39 wickets in two Test matches against the visiting side. 
In Rawalpindi, Ali took nine wickets to spin Pakistan to victory over England in the series decider while Shakeel bagged the Player of the Match award for his stellar knock of 134 that helped Pakistan pile on an impressive lead. 
“Left-handers Saud Shakeel of Pakistan and Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand have moved into the top 10 for the first time in their careers,” the ICC wrote on its website on Wednesday. 
“Shakeel has advanced 20 slots to reach seventh position after his knock of 134 won him the Player of the Match award.”
Ali also made “huge progress” in the ICC bowlers’ rankings, as per the ICC. 
“Noman is in the top 10 for the first time, moving up eight slots to ninth position after finishing with nine wickets in Rawalpindi as Pakistan won by nine wickets to clinch the WTC series 2-1,” the ICC said. 
Pakistan’s series victory over England came after the South Asian side suffered a humiliating 2-0 loss to Bangladesh at home. This marked the first time Pakistan won a Test series at home after defeating South Africa in 2021 nearly four years ago.


Pakistan Navy rescues 23 stranded Iranian fishermen from Gulf of Aden

Pakistan Navy rescues 23 stranded Iranian fishermen from Gulf of Aden
Updated 31 October 2024
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Pakistan Navy rescues 23 stranded Iranian fishermen from Gulf of Aden

Pakistan Navy rescues 23 stranded Iranian fishermen from Gulf of Aden
  • Iranian vessel issued distress call after its engine broke down, crew member was injured, says Pakistan Navy
  • Pakistan Navy says administered first aid to the injured crew member and repaired Iranian vessel’s engine

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy rescued 23 Iranian fishermen on Thursday from a sailing vessel that reported problems in its engine and injury to a crew member in the Gulf of Aden, the navy said in a press release. 
Pakistan Navy Ship PNS Zulfiquar deployed on the Regional Maritime Security Patrol responded to a distress call made by Iranian fishing dhow, Al Muhammadi, which was stranded over 1,200 nautical miles from its home port, the navy said. 
“PNS Zulfiquar promptly responded to a distress call of Fishing Dhow Al Muhammadi,” the Pakistan Navy said. “Upon communication with the Pakistan Navy ship, fishing dhow reported a seriously injured crew member as well defective engine and requested for necessary assistance.” 

This combination of handout photograph, taken and released by Pakistan Navy on October 31, 2024, shows Iranian fishing Dhow “Al Muhammadi” with 23 fishermen onboard which was rescued by Pakistan Navy Ship Zulfiqar during Regional Maritime Security Patrol in Gulf of Aden, according to the navy. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Navy)

The Pakistani ship dispatched medical and technical teams to provide first aid to the fisherman who had injured his hand while repairing the boat’s engine. Two more sick crew members were provided medical assistance, the navy said. 
The Iranian vessel’s engine was also repaired by the Pakistani team. 
“In line with the national objective of ensuring peace and stability in the region, Pakistan Navy regularly deploys its assets on Regional Maritime Security Patrol,” it added. “During deployment, Pakistan Navy ships also provide assistance to ships operating at sea.”
The timely and successful rescue operation was an expression of the Pakistan Navy’s determination to ensure the safety of human life at sea, the Pakistan Navy said. 
Pakistan has requested Iranian vessels and their crew members in the past. In March, the Pakistan Navy rescued eight Iranian fishermen after their boat caught fire in the open sea.