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‘Vote is my power’: First-time voters hope elections will bring stability to Pakistan

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Updated 11 January 2024
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‘Vote is my power’: First-time voters hope elections will bring stability to Pakistan

  • Many of the first-timers favor former prime minister Imran Khan over other political leaders 
  • Some, however, remain skeptical of transparency of the elections, scheduled for February 8 
Updated 11 January 2024
Saadullah Akhtar NAIMAT KHAN WASIM SAJJAD Kashaf Rehman

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan gears up for national elections on Feb, 8, first-time voters hope the much-delayed polls would lead to stability in the South Asian country after more than a year of political and economic chaos. 

Pakistan, a country of over 241 million people, has witnessed political turmoil since the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022. Decades of financial mismanagement brought the country to the verge of a default in June 2023, which was averted by a last-gasp $3 billion financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Elections in the country were originally expected to take place in November after Pakistan’s national and two provincial assemblies were dissolved in August before reaching the end of their tenure. However, Pakistan’s election regulator decided to redraw hundreds of national and provincial constituencies based on a digital census carried out in April before arranging the electoral contest. 

Pakistan is currently navigating a tricky path to economic recovery under a caretaker government in the wake of the IMF program and many believe the Feb. 8 elections will pave the way for further stability in the South Asian country. 

“We have no other power, the vote is my power,” Hashmat Ali, a 21-year-old employee of a security company in Peshawar, told Arab News last week. “I expect after the election the country’s situation would become normal and the inflation would be controlled.” 

Ali said he would vote for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the upcoming elections.  

Hassan Ali Butt, a 23-year-old student of journalism who lives in Quetta, said he would be voting for the first time in the upcoming elections and he preferred the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) over others. 

“This is my first time. I am hopeful of voting for the Pakistan Peoples Party because the party is being headed by young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” he said.  

A ballot holds significant power and it can put the country on the path of development as well push it into turmoil if not used wisely, according to Butt. 

“Indeed, with the power of vote, either we can push the country on a development track or push it into turmoil,” he told Arab News in Quetta. “But the power remains in the hands of the public who they want to elect and who they want to keep aside.” 

In the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Shanza Khan, a 23-year-old dentist, said she would be polling her vote in favor of Khan-led PTI as its government supported the masses through various social welfare initiatives, including health cards. 

“During Imran Khan’s government, people were in a much better condition than right now. Like, for example, the health card used to work in all hospitals, including ours, and people were getting a lot of benefits from it,” she said.  

“Now that’s not available anymore. Or people are just confused about it because it doesn’t work in so many places. Also, the inflation has increased so much and the condition that our economy is in right now.” 

Shanza, however, did not expect the election to be fair. 

“I don’t think it’s fair at all,” she told Arab News. “They have been arresting people illegally, they have been abducting people, they are harassing people.”  

Khan’s PTI party has been at the receiving end of a crackdown by authorities since May last year, when its supporters staged violent demonstrations in the country over Khan’s brief detention in a graft case. The crackdown saw several senior figures defect, be arrested or driven underground. 

The ex-premier, who denies any wrongdoing and says the charges against him are “politically motivated,” has accused Pakistan’s powerful military, the caretaker government and his political rivals of colluding to keep him and his party away from elections. All three deny the allegation.  

Abubaker Saeed, a 22-year-old student in Islamabad, said he would be voting for three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party. 

“I personally feel that Nawaz Sharif can handle the country well,” Saeed opined. “He was in power three times before, so he has more experience and we have also seen that during his time the country was booming, the economy was very strong. So, I think he can handle this country better.” 

But Saeed too had doubts about the transparency of the elections. 

“Absolutely not, I don’t think that the electoral process is fair at all,” he said. “Even in the previous elections, we observed that the results were pre-decided and not fair at all.” 

In Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi, first-time voters said the nation needed to understand the significance of a ballot, which could change everything. 

“In my opinion, one vote can bring about a significant change,” Areeba Gul Muhammad Shahzad, a 19-year-old student, told Arab News. “If the nation understands its importance, a lot can happen. One vote can change everything.” 

Topics: elections 2024 Pakistan Election PTI

Bears dominate Pakistan stocks as risk-averse investors wary of India standoff fallout

Updated 9 sec ago
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Bears dominate Pakistan stocks as risk-averse investors wary of India standoff fallout

  • Benchmark index surged to intraday high of 990 point but later succumbed to selling pressure, hitting an intraday low of 683 points
  • Moody’s on Monday warned that India-Pakistan standoff could set back Islamabad’s economic reforms as world powers called for calm
Updated 9 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: Pakistan’s stocks lost more than 500 points on Tuesday after early morning gains as risk-averse investors remained wary of the country’s ongoing tensions with nuclear-armed neighbor India, analysts said. 

The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose as much as one percent or 900 points after trading kicked off at the bourse in the morning, following a surprise move by the central bank on Monday to slash the key policy rate by 100 basis points 11 percent to spur growth amid challenges posed by US trade tariffs and geopolitical tensions with archrival India.

However, as the day progressed, profit-taking emerged across key sectors, gradually eroding the morning gains. The index ultimately succumbed to selling pressure, hitting an intraday low of 683 points and closing the session at 113,568 level, down by 533 points or 0.47 percent.

“Index remained bullish in intraday trade following the State Bank of Pakistan’s 100 basis points policy rate cut [on Monday],” Najeeb Ahmed Khan Warsi, head of international trading at Foundation Securities Ltd., told Arab News in Karachi, adding that the rate cut had lifted investor sentiment and triggered buying across key sectors such as oil, cement, and energy. 

Market participants were optimistic about lower financing costs and improved earnings potential under a more accommodative monetary policy stance, Warsi added.

At 11 percent, the interest rate is at its lowest since December 2021, creating further room for the economy to expand amid easing inflation.

Shankar Talreja, director of research at brokerage firm Topline Securities Ltd., said the market was positive in the morning primarily on the back of reports that banks would release payments to settle energy sector debt, also called circular debt.

Energy scrips like Pakistan State Oil, Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd. and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. rallied more than two percent in daily trade “on the hope of payment disbursement from the banking sector to settle the Rs1.2 trillion circular debt,” said Muhammad Rizwan, director brokerage at Chase Securities Pakistan, in a note to clients.

Talreja said there was a solid ground for the central bank to cut borrowing costs. 

“However, the market was uncertain earlier on the timings just due to geopolitical tensions,” he said in a text message to Arab News.

But Tuesday’s early morning rally proved short-lived as investors started selling their shareholdings to book profits, dragging the benchmark index 0.5 percent to close at 113,568 points.

Cement stocks bore the brunt of profit-taking and dropped as much as three percent.

“Indo-Pak issues (are) clouding the gains actually,” Talreja said. 

“Despite an unexpected cut in the monetary policy statement, investors preferred to book gains in PSX as border tensions are still at a high level,” said Rizwan of Chase Securities.

Warsi said profit-taking, regional uncertainty with India and caution ahead of the new federal budget for FY26 were weighing on investor sentiment despite a supportive monetary stance.

Pakistan is expected to announce its budget for 2025-26 next month. 

On Monday, Moody’s said the standoff with India could hurt Pakistan’s $350 billion economy, which is on a path to recovery after securing a $7 billion bailout program from the International Monetary Fund last year and staving off a default threat.

“Sustained escalation in tensions with India would likely weigh on Pakistan’s growth and hamper the government’s ongoing fiscal consolidation, setting back Pakistan’s progress in achieving macroeconomic stability,” Moody’s said.

“A persistent increase in tensions could also impair Pakistan’s access to external financing and pressure its foreign-exchange reserves,” it added.

The report comes two days after Reuters reported that India has asked the IMF to review its loans to Pakistan.

India’s economy is not expected to see major disruptions since it has “minimal economic relations” with Pakistan — although higher defense spending could weigh on New Delhi’s fiscal strength and slow fiscal consolidation, Moody’s added.

Pakistan on Tuesday also accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan’s control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. 

The stoppage of water is likely to negatively impact Pakistan’s agriculture, which contributes more than 20 percent to gross domestic product.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Pakistan Stock Market Pakistan India Ties

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen anti-narcotics cooperation amid growing drug seizures

Updated 11 min 39 sec ago
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Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen anti-narcotics cooperation amid growing drug seizures

  • Pakistan’s state minister for interior meets Saudi director general of narcotics control in the federal capital
  • He says Pakistan has a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ on narcotics while calling drug trafficking an international issue
Updated 11 min 39 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase bilateral cooperation on anti-narcotics efforts, according to an official statement on Tuesday, as Islamabad described the drug trade as a global problem requiring collaboration among friendly nations.
The issue came up for discussion during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Saudi Arabia’s Director General of Narcotics Control, Major General Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Qarni, who was accompanied by a high-level delegation.
Pakistan has faced a significantly intense drug problem, with Chaudhry saying the government seized narcotics worth $21 billion last year.
“Pakistan has a zero-tolerance policy on narcotics,” the interior ministry statement quoted him as saying during the meeting. “Drug trafficking is an international issue, and only through mutual cooperation between friendly countries can this menace be effectively addressed.”
The meeting was also attended by Saudi envoy to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki and senior Saudi military and narcotics officials.
The Pakistani minister pointed out that over 40 percent of the world’s drug production originates from neighboring Afghanistan.
He also praised his country’s Anti-Narcotics Force for effectively dealing with the challenge despite its limited resources.
Chaudhry linked recent crackdowns on undocumented migrants to broader concerns about drug trafficking and militancy.
Major General Al-Qarni described the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as exemplary and called for joint work to address the “scourge” of narcotics, according to the statement.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Chaudhry presented honorary shields to the Saudi delegation and conveyed his best wishes.

Topics: Pakistan Saudi Arabia ties

Pakistan envoy stresses continued engagement with Afghanistan to secure border with India

Updated 25 min 7 sec ago
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Pakistan envoy stresses continued engagement with Afghanistan to secure border with India

  • Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies in its western regions that border Afghanistan, while Islamabad’s tensions with Indian have also flared up recently
  • Analysts’ term simultaneous pressure on both eastern and western borders a ‘serious challenge’ for Pakistan, warning it could dilute Islamabad’s focus on militancy
Updated 25 min 7 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, said on Tuesday it was important for Islamabad to continue engagement with Afghanistan to better manage the country’s western border with India, amid friction between the neighbors over a surge in militancy in Pakistan.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence since the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off their months-long ceasefire with the government in late 2022. Islamabad has frequently accused that militant groups use Afghan soil to launch cross-border attacks in Pakistan, an allegation the Afghan Taliban deny, maintaining there are no militant groups operating in their territory.
Late last month, Pakistan’s army said it had killed over 70 militants who were attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan. The development came amid Pakistan’s tensions with another neighbor to the east, India, following an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 tourists on April 22. Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tatar has said that New Delhi blamed the attack on Islamabad to divert Pakistan’s security focus from its western border.
“The important thing [for Pakistan] to do, particularly with Afghanistan, is to continuously remain engaged with them, to act when it’s required and act in a required way,” Sadiq said, addressing a regional conference in Islamabad on ‘Pathways to Peace and Prosperity in Turbulent Times.’
“The sooner we act on something, the sooner we engage with Afghanistan and the government and people of Afghanistan, the sooner we will get results and whenever we delay, we actually get into trouble, more and more trouble.”
Pakistan’s focus should be prevention of smuggling and promotion of trade with Afghanistan, according to the envoy. The “one-document regime” should regulate travel between the two countries and not “hinder people-to-people contact.”
“Anybody who’s going to Afghanistan or coming from Afghanistan should take a passport and get a visa, so that we can have a proper record of entry and exits,” he added.
Pakistan implemented the one-document regime with Afghanistan on January 1, 2023, which requires Afghan nationals to present a valid passport and visa for entry into Pakistan, ending the previous practice of cross-border movement showing local identity documents. The regime aims to regulate travel, enhance border security, and maintain a proper record of entry and exit.
Speaking at the event, Faisal Karim Kundi, governor of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province that borders Afghanistan, said Islamabad seeks peace not for political gains, but to unlock the true potential of the region.
“Pakistan always believes in dialogues, but dialogues are not our weakness as we are ready for any adventure from India,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s defense was in “safe hands” which was portrayed in the past as well.
Defense analysts and security expert term simultaneous pressure on both eastern and western borders a “serious strategic challenge” for Pakistan, warning it could dilute the country’s focus in its fight against militancy.
Besides a surge in militancy in the northwest, Pakistan is also facing an intensifying separatist insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province, where separatist militants have mounted their attacks on security forces, police and foreign nationals in recent months.
Dr. Qamar Cheema, a defense analyst, said if India engaged Pakistan through “kinetic means,” it could undermine Pakistan’s ability to effectively combat militancy.
“Any direct attack on Pakistan at the eastern border will definitely challenge [Pakistan’s] capabilities because it will stretch the armed forces,” he told Arab News on the sidelines of the conference.
Muhammad Ali, a security expert, agreed with Cheema.
“It seems that India seeks to divert Pakistan’s attention, resources and force posture to provide relief to TTP and BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) in KP and Balochistan,” he said, adding that Islamabad was “well aware of the challenges” in simultaneously facing rising militancy and an escalation on the Pakistan-India border.
Cheema said Pakistan did not want to be stretched further, which was why it was telling the international community that the transnational militant threat was more important.
“I think this is where the West needs to jump in so that Pakistan’s efforts against the war against terrorism and militant organizations do not get compromised,” he added.

Topics: Pakistan Afghanistan Ties

Seven soldiers killed as separatists attack security vehicle in southwest Pakistan

Updated 42 min 39 sec ago
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Seven soldiers killed as separatists attack security vehicle in southwest Pakistan

  • Pakistan army says IED attack launched in Kachhi District by BLA separatist group, accuses it of being an Indian “proxy”
  • BLA carried out train hijacking in March in which 23 soldiers, three railway employees, five passengers were killed
Updated 42 min 39 sec ago
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: The Pakistan army said on Tuesday seven soldiers were killed after militants attacked a security vehicle in the southwestern Balochistan province, where the military is fighting an intensifying separatist insurgency. 

The army said the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has targeted the vehicle with an improvised explosive device in Mach in Kachhi District.

“Resultantly, seven brave sons of soil embraced shahadat [martyrdom],” a statement from the army said.

The military accused the BLA, the strongest of a number of insurgent groups long operating in Balochistan, of being a proxy of India. 

“Nefarious designs of India and its proxies operating on Pakistani soil will be defeated by the valiant security forces, law enforcement agencies and the brave nation of Pakistan,” the military statement said. 

The latest attack is the worst since March when the BLA carried out a train hijacking that resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.

In what was previously a low-level insurgency, the militants have in recent months stepped up their activities using new tactics to inflict high death and injury tolls and target Pakistan’s military. It has also targeted Chinese interests.

The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province located in Pakistan’s southwest and bordering Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west.

It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the federal government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources. Balochistan’s mountainous border region serves as a safe haven and training ground for the Baloch and other insurgents.

The BLA often targets infrastructure and security forces in Balochistan, but has also truck in other areas — most notably the southern port city of Karachi. 

The insurgents target Pakistan’s army and Chinese interests, in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad to exploit the province.

Militants have killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.

Balochistan is an important part of China’s $65 billion investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, a wing of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative. It is home to key mining projects, including Reko Diq, run by mining giant Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), and believed to be one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. China also operates a gold and copper mine in the province.

The decades-old insurgency has continued to keep the province of some 15 million people unstable and created security concerns around Pakistan’s plans to access untapped resources.

It is Pakistan’s largest province by area, but smallest by population. Balochistan also has a long Arabian Sea coastline, not far from the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane.

Islamabad accuses India and Afghanistan of backing the militants to damage Pakistan’s relations with China, a charge both countries deny.
With inputs from Reuters

Topics: militancy in Pakistan Balochistan Attacks Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA)

Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise

Updated 06 May 2025
AFP
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Pakistan accuses India of altering Chenab River flow as tensions rise

  • Punjab irrigation minister says Pakistan has ‘witnessed changes in the river which are not natural’
  • India recently lowered the sluice gates of the Baglihar dam to restrict water as a ‘punitive action’
Updated 06 May 2025
AFP

LAHORE: Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan’s control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty.
This major river originates in India but was allocated to Pakistan under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, signed by the two nuclear powers.
India suspended the treaty following a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 that killed 26 people.
Islamabad warned that tampering with its rivers would be considered “an act of war.”
“We have witnessed changes in the river (Chenab) which are not natural at all,” Kazim Pirzada, irrigation minister for Punjab province, told AFP.
Punjab, bordering India and home to nearly half of Pakistan’s 240 million citizens, is the country’s agricultural heartland, and “the majority impact will be felt in areas which have fewer alternate water routes,” Pirzada warned.
“One day the river had normal inflow and the next day it was greatly reduced,” Pirzada added.
In Azad Kashmir, large quantities of water from India were reportedly released on April 26, according to the Jinnah Institute, a think tank led by a former Pakistani climate change minister.
“This is being done so that we don’t get to utilize the water,” Pirzada added.
The gates of the sluice spillways on the Baglihar dam in Indian-administered Kashmir which lies upstream of Pakistani Punjab “have been lowered to restrict water flow ... as a short-term punitive action,” a senior Indian official has told The Indian Express.
The Indus Waters Treaty permits India to use shared rivers for dams or irrigation but prohibits diverting watercourses or altering downstream volumes.
Indian authorities have not commented yet but Kushvinder Vohra, former head of India’s Central Water Commission, told The Times of India: “Since the treaty is on pause ... we may do flushing on any project without any obligation.”
Experts said the water cannot be stopped in the longer term, and that India can only regulate timings of when it releases flows.
However, the Jinnah Institute warned: “Even small changes in the timing of water releases can disrupt sowing calendars (and) reduce crop yields.”

Topics: Chenab India Pakistan Ties

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