ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, led by three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, anticipates it would win a “clear majority” in the upcoming general election, a senior leader of the party said this week, despite the surging popularity of its chief rival, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Sharif, 74, was born into a wealthy, industrialist family in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore. In the 1980s, Sharif was a protégé of Pakistan’s third military dictator, General (retired) Zia-ul-Haq, and became the dominant politician in Pakistan’s most populous and prosperous province, Punjab. The province is allocated the highest number of seats, meaning whichever party wins the most seats in Punjab is better placed to form its government in the center as well.
The party has won general elections in Pakistan thrice, in 1990, 1997 and 2013, but also has a troubled history with the country’s powerful military.
Sharif’s last three terms as prime minister in 1990-93, 1997-99, and 2013-17 ended before he could complete his tenures as he was removed by a military-backed president in 1993, ousted in a military coup in 1999, and disqualified by the Supreme Court in 2017.
In 2013, the PML-N bagged 166 seats in the general elections that year to form its government at the center. It lost the 2018 elections to the PTI, led by Sharif’s rival and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, after bagging only 82 seats. Sharif and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz, were jailed on graft allegations in 2018, less than two weeks before polls were held. The party claims the elections were heavily rigged.
Sharif went abroad in 2019 after a court allowed him to seek medical treatment and returned in October 2023, marking the end of four years of a self-imposed exile to lead his party in the elections. The PML-N believes Sharif will once again lead the party to victory.
“We are anticipating securing a clear majority in the upcoming elections, forming the government at both the federal and Punjab level,” Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, the party’s chairman, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“Sharif’s legacy of effective governance, particularly in addressing economic challenges, is unmatched and his recent tenure from 2013-17 exemplified his ability to navigate economic issues successfully.”
It was under Sharif’s premiership in 2015 that China and Pakistan signed an agreement relating to a multi-billion-dollar economic corridor, which is part of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Sharif’s party has always positioned itself as one that champions development, and takes credit for building a vast network of roads and launching state-of-the-art mass transit projects.
Haq said if the PML-N wins the national polls, its primary focus would be crisis management and to address Pakistan’s primary challenges such as inflation and lack of security.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Islamabad-based think tank PILDAT, said the PML-N’s prospects of winning polls in Punjab and at the center were bright. He cited the results of a recently held survey by Gallup Pakistan, which said Sharif was catching up to Khan in approval ratings.
“This survey was done much before the PTI’s election symbol was taken away,” Mehboob told Arab News, referring to a decision by Pakistan’s election regulator last month to strip the party of its election symbol, a cricket bat.
The decision was a setback as the PTI’s candidates can only contest polls as independents.
“And now, this disadvantage will also impact them [PTI],” he explained.
Mehboob explained that “swing voters,” who are not traditionally aligned with a political party, tend to vote for the party they perceive is favored to win elections.
“In these elections, that party is the PML-N,” he noted.
Mehboob said relatively, the PML-N’s previous performances in terms of governance were better than other political parties.
“Economy is the key challenge and improving relations with India is a key factor for Pakistan to improve its economy, to divert its spending away from India which Sharif always propagated,” he said.
The PML-N was a part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of parties that ousted Khan from the prime minister’s office in a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022. After Khan’s ouster, Sharif’s younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, remained prime minister till August 2023.
Once close to Pakistan’s powerful military, Khan accuses the army of colluding with his rivals, the PML-N among them, to oust him from office in 2022. The military denies the allegation.
Public surveys and a string of by-elections proved Khan’s PTI surged in popularity as Shehbaz Sharif governed a country steeped in overlapping economic, security and political crises. Analysts have predicted PTI candidates pose the most serious challenge to the PML-N in the hotly contested Punjab province.
Political analyst Aasiya Riaz agreed that the PML-N’s chances of winning the upcoming elections were bright. She said it enjoyed better relations with the military than Khan’s PTI.
“How much that translates into seats for the PML-N would depend on voters on Feb. 8,” Riaz told Arab News.
However, she said Sharif’s decision to soften his stance toward the military, with whom he has had bitter relations in the past, could haunt the PML-N in terms of popularity with the masses.
His government was toppled by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in October 1999 after Sharif attempted to sack the army general. In 2013, after Sharif was disqualified by Pakistan’s top court on corruption charges, he once again blamed the military for orchestrating his ouster from office.
Mehboob touched on the PML-N’s past relations with the military, noting that the party had had bitter disagreements with the institution. He said that could prove to be a challenge if the PML-N emerged victorious on Feb. 8.
“And I don’t know whether this will happen this time also or not, but that is something which they need to manage better,” he said.
The other flaw, he said, was that the PML-N had a history of appointing Sharif family members to key positions of power.
Riaz agreed.
“The party has historically neglected parliament and the provincial assemblies,” she said. “It has been unable to invest in institutional building and consensus forums which remained the party’s major weakness.”
Ex-PM Sharif’s party eyes ‘clear majority’ in upcoming Pakistan elections
https://arab.news/bmywt
Ex-PM Sharif’s party eyes ‘clear majority’ in upcoming Pakistan elections
- Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party has traditionally held sway in Pakistan’s biggest Punjab province
- Analysts believe the PML-N’s prospects of winning elections at the center, Punjab are ‘bright’
Earthquake hits upper parts of Pakistan, no losses reported
- Tremors were felt in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar and other cities at around 2am
- The earthquake had its epicenter in Farkhār, Afghanistan at a depth of 122.6 kilometers, the USGS reported
ISLAMABAD: A 5-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan early Saturday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported, with no loss of life or property reported in its wake.
Tremors were felt in several cities in the northern parts of Punjab province and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as well as the federal capital of Islamabad.
The quake hit at 2:03am on Saturday, with its epicenter located in Farkhār, Afghanistan at a depth of 122.6 kilometers, the USGS reported.
“We were asleep when a sudden jolt woke us up around 2 in the morning,” Kanwal Khan, a resident of Islamabad, told Arab News on Saturday.
Tremors were felt in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi and several other Pakistani cities.
“Reports of earthquake in different cities of Pakistan, including Lahore and capital Islamabad,” Dr. Ahmad Rehan Khan, a Pakistan X user, wrote in a post. “May God protect everyone.”
Several other people posted about the quake on X.
There was no immediate confirmation of any losses of life or property by authorities in the wake of the earthquake.
Minister urges swift launch of Pakistan’s first ferry service, licensing reforms
- Pakistan has been mulling routes for a ferry service connecting its southwestern Gwadar port with the Gulf region
- The country also plans to cut container dwell time at seaports by up to 70 percent to improve trade competitiveness
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry on Friday called for a swift launch of the country’s first service, immediate reforms in licensing procedures and financial facilitation for operators to ensure affordable sea travel and boost maritime connectivity.
Pakistan has been mulling routes for a ferry service it plans to launch to connect its southwestern Gwadar port with the Gulf region, according to the country’s maritime affairs ministry.
Five privately-owned firms submitted their proposals, showing growing interest of the private sector, as officials reviewed technical and financial aspects of ferry operations last month.
Highlighting broader benefits of sea travel, Chaudhry pointed out that ferry services could provide an affordable and reliable travel solution for pilgrims aspiring to visit Iran and Iraq.
“Beyond tourism and business, this service can greatly facilitate religious travel. We can offer pilgrims a new, secure, and cost-efficient option for their journeys,” he was quoted as saying by his ministry.
“Every year, 700,000 to 1,000,000 Pakistani zaireen (pilgrims) travel to Iran and Iraq. If even 20 percent opt for ferries in the first three years, that’s 140,000 to 200,000 passengers annually, representing significant economic potential.”
The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost transit trade as it slowly recovers from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
The country also plans to cut container dwell time at its seaports by up to 70 percent to improve trade competitiveness and ease congestion, while it last month reduced port charges for exporters by 50 percent at the second largest Port Qasim.
During a briefing by Ports and Shipping Director-General Alia Shahid on Friday, Chaudhry directed digitization of the ferry licensing process and its integration into the Pakistan Single Window platform, similar to existing ship registrations, to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He specifically ordered the reduction of the current six-month license issuance period to just one month.
“There’s no justification for a half-year delay. We must eliminate red tape and act decisively,” the minister said.
He called for exploring flexible financial models for ferry operators to attract private sector participation.
“We must assess whether a bank guarantee, insurance guarantee, or a hybrid model is most viable,” Chaudhry said. “Our aim is to support not hinder entrepreneurs who wish to invest in this sector.”
Pakistan is currently holding consultations with stakeholders, including private operators and regional maritime authorities, regarding the ferry service, according to the maritime affairs ministry.
A pilot launch is expected in the coming weeks after the finalization of feasibility studies and regulatory frameworks.
“If implemented effectively, this service could become a vital new transport link across the region,” Chaudhry added.
Three cars of a passenger train derail in Pakistan, injuring 27 people
- Emergency responders, paramedics were quickly dispatched to site, all injured were listed in stable condition
- An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident, railways spokesperson Babar Raza says
LAHORE: Three cars of a passenger train derailed near Lahore in eastern Pakistan on Friday, injuring at least 27 people, including women and children, officials said.
The Islamabad Express was en route to Lahore when three of its cars went off the tracks in the town of Kala Shah Kaku, railways spokesperson Babar Raza told reporters.
He said emergency responders and paramedics were quickly dispatched to the site, and all the injured were listed in stable condition.
Raza did not provide further details but said an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident.
Train accidents are relatively common in Pakistan, where the railway system has suffered from decades of underinvestment, outdated tracks, and aging signal infrastructure.
In 2023, at least 30 people were killed when a passenger train derailed in the southern city of Nawabshah in Sindh province.
Pakistan says decision to roll back digital tax on foreign retailers to boost e-commerce sector
- Government introduced a five percent levy on foreign digital platforms in the federal budget
- Local retailers link the tax reversal to US trade deal, say the decision favors global tech giants
KARACHI: A senior Pakistani finance official said on Friday the government had decided to roll back a recently imposed digital tax on foreign retailers in an effort to promote e-commerce in the country.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the government’s tax collection body, reversed this week a set of measures introduced in the federal budget that were aimed at regulating cross-border online purchases and affected international firms like China’s Temu, Shein and AliExpress.
These included a five percent fixed tax on digital platforms and a sharp reduction in the duty-free threshold for imported parcels, slashing it from Rs5,000 ($18) to Rs500 ($1.8).
“The government plans to continue expanding the e-commerce sector by keeping the market open to international players,” Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad told Arab News.
The move has sparked backlash from local retailers, who argue that the policy puts them at a disadvantage.
“The removal of the five percent levy on foreign goods is likely to negatively affect domestic sellers, including small businesses and established retailers,” Asfandyar Farrukh, Chairman of the Chainstore Association of Pakistan (CAP), said.
According to CAP, foreign platforms, primarily those belonging to China, are sending as many as 30,000 parcels daily to Pakistani consumers, up from just 1,000 two years ago. Internal courier company data shared by CAP shows this as a nearly 2,900 percent surge in parcel volumes.
Farrukh also questioned the timing and motivation behind the policy reversal, linking it to Pakistan’s recent trade negotiations with the United States.
“The government’s decision to withdraw the digital proceeds levy appears to have been heavily influenced by the US trade deal,” he said, pointing out that American tech giants such as Google and Meta were also affected by the tax and are now exempt.
“The five percent levy should have been maintained on foreign goods, even if removed for services, where it arguably didn’t apply.”
Still, Farrukh acknowledged parallel budgetary measures, such as the reduction in the duty-free threshold and stricter customs enforcement, may temper some of the impact.
“Authorities are now more vigilant in ensuring that foreign e-commerce goods aren’t under-invoiced to evade taxes at import,” he added.
Economist Shankar Talreja echoed some of these concerns.
“This tax withdrawal encourages the use of imported products at the cost of domestic manufacturing,” he said. “It promotes a trading culture rather than production.”
Talreja, who heads research at Karachi-based Topline Securities, added the domestic industry is losing competitiveness as local products are taxed through sales and income levies, while foreign goods bypass the same regulatory burden.
He agreed with the CAP chairman about the circumstances of the tax withdrawal.
“The government, according to reports, reversed the tax under pressure from trade talks with the US,” he said.
Pakistan’s retail sector includes about five million shops generating an estimated Rs20 trillion ($71 billion) annually, but only 10 percent of this comes from the tax-compliant formal sector that CAP represents.
Temu did not respond to Arab News’s request for comment. Shein and AliExpress could not immediately be reached.
Pakistan PM orders damage review in GB, AJK as monsoon deaths reach 299
- Torrential downpours in both regions triggered landslides, left hundreds of tourists stranded
- Authorities warned of glacial lake outburst floods as water levels surged in glacier-fed areas
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday directed authorities to carry out immediate assessments of the loss of life and property caused by recent monsoon rains in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) regions that have been hit hard by flash floods and landslides.
Sharif issued the instructions while chairing a meeting amid rising concerns over the severity of the monsoon season that started in the country on June 26.
While casualties in GB and AJK have so far been reported to be comparatively lower than in Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, torrential downpours triggered devastating landslides and stranded hundreds of tourists.
Authorities also issued glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) warnings as water levels rose rapidly in glacier-fed catchments.
“The federal government stands shoulder to shoulder with the people, administration and governments of AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by his office said in a statement.
“All relevant federal agencies should coordinate with local authorities to estimate the damages incurred in the affected areas,” he added.
Sharif said he will also visit Gilgit-Baltistan soon and roll out a relief package.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has reported 299 fatalities in its latest situation report on August 1, with maximum casualties in Punjab (162) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (69).
The NDMA data show 10 fatalities in GB and two in AJK, though several tourists were said to be missing in these area since the beginning of the monsoon season.
