Month: July 2024

“By gaining majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Iran’s next president,” it said.

The participation was around 50 per cent in a tight race between Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, a staunch advocate of deepening ties with Russia and China.

 

 

The run-off on Friday followed a June 28 ballot with a historically low turnout, when over 60pc of Iranian voters abstained from the snap election for a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, following his death in a helicopter crash.

Videos on social media showed supporters of Pezeshkian dancing in streets in many cities and towns across the country and motorists honking car horns to cheer his victory.

People in the northwestern city of Urmia, Pezeshkian’s hometown, were handing sweets out on the streets, witnesses said.

In a post on X, President Asif Ali Zardari congratulated the newly elected Iranian president. “Pakistan and Iran enjoy fraternal ties & I hope that under your leadership our relations will grow further stronger,” he said.

“Looking forward to work together for the peace and prosperity of the region,” he added.

 

 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also felicitated the Pezeshkian. “As neighbouring countries, Pakistan & Iran enjoy a close & historic relationship. We must ensure a bright future for our two peoples through mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said.

 

 

While the election is expected to have little impact on the Islamic Republic’s policies, the president will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader, who calls all the shots on top matters of state.

Voter turnout has plunged over the past four years, which critics say underlines that support for clerical rule has eroded at a time of growing public discontent over economic hardship and curbs on political and social freedoms.

Only 48pc of voters participated in the 2021 election that brought Raisi to power, and turnout was 41pc in a parliamentary election in March.

The election coincides with escalating Middle East tensions due to the war between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing uranium enrichment programme.

The next president is not expected to produce any major policy shift on the nuclear programme or change in support for militia groups across the Middle East, but he runs the government day-to-day and can influence the tone of Iran’s foreign and domestic policy.

A triumph by Pezeshkian might promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism, analysts said.

However, many voters are sceptical about Pezeshkian’s ability to fulfil his campaign promises as the former health minister has publicly stated that he had no intention of confronting Iran’s power elite of clerics and security hawks.

“I did not vote last week but today I voted for Pezeshkian. I know Pezeshkian will be a lame duck president but still he is better than a hardliner,” said Afarin, 37, owner of a beauty salon in the central city of Isfahan.

Many Iranians have painful memories of the handling of nationwide unrest sparked by the death in custody of young Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in 2022, which was quelled by a violent state crackdown involving mass detentions and even executions.

“I will not vote. This is a big NO to the Islamic Republic because of Mahsa (Amini). I want a free country, I want a free life,” said university student Sepideh, 19, in Tehran.

The hashtag #ElectionCircus has been widely posted on social media platform X since last week, with some activists at home and abroad calling for an election boycott, arguing that a high turnout would legitimise the Islamic Republic.

Both candidates have vowed to revive the flagging economy, which has been beset by mismanagement, state corruption and sanctions reimposed since 2018 after the United States under then-President Donald Trump ditched the nuclear deal.

“I will vote for Jalili. He believes in Islamic values. He has promised to end our economic hardships,” retired employee Mahmoud Hamidzadegan, 64, said in the northern city of Sari.

ASTANA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Thursday that state terrorism should be condemned unambiguously as he stressed that rooting out militancy is a precondition for economic development.

Addressing the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, he said: “Terrorism, whether committed by individuals, groups, or states, must be fought collectively in a comprehensive fashion.”

The prime minister’s remarks came at the regional summit, which was also attended by India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. The Pakistani government has repeatedly said that the neighbouring nation sponsors terrorism in the country.

In a recent breakthrough for the security forces, they arrested two high-value Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one of whom confessed that India provides financial support to the militants in Pakistan.

Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India, also has a New Delhi spy Kulbhushan Yadav in custody since 2016, who sponsored terrorism in Balochistan.

Lending further credence to Islamabad’s claims, the British daily The Guardian reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Indian government “ordered killings” on Pakistan’s soil.

In January, Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Qazi also said that the government has credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killings of two Pakistani citizens on its soil.

In his speech today, Prime Minister Shehbaz said: “Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestation, including state terrorism must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms. There can neither be any justification for the killing of innocent people nor should the bogey of terrorism be used for political point scoring.”

He also called on the summit to combat terrorism collectively and in a comprehensive fashion.

The prime minister also urged the need to ensure respect for the universally recognised principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and, people’s fundamental right to self-determination and said UN Security Council resolutions offered a workable framework to resolve long-standing disputes, including those in the region.

“Failure to implement these resolutions had brought unimaginable sufferings to the people,” the premier noted.

With the summit focusing on the region, the prime minister called upon the forum to engage with the Afghan authorities and also asked the Kabul administration to ensure its role in curbing terrorism.

“The SCO member states have a shared interest in ensuring peace and stability in the region, which is a precondition for any kind of economic development,” PM Shehbaz said.

Shehbaz, a top leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said that achieving lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan is a lynchpin to this common objective.

“The international community must meaningfully engage with the interim Afghan government to help them meet their genuine economic and development needs,” Shehbaz said.

At the same time, he said, the Afghan government must ensure that its soil is not used for terrorism by any entity against other states.

“Recent terrorist activities have been a matter of great concern for all of us,” he added.

‘Forward-looking initiatives’

In his statement, the prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong commitment to the SCO Charter and principles and conveyed Pakistan’s support for the expansion of SCO and reforms in the organisation.

He also welcomed the inclusion of Belarus as a full SCO member state and congratulated President Xi Jinping on assuming the Chair of SCO for the year 2024-25.

The premier said that cooperation with SCO was a high priority in Pakistan’s foreign policy. He called for collective action under the SCO platform for achieving socioeconomic development.

He also advocated for enhanced connectivity within the region through efficient transport corridors and reliable supply chains. In this regard, he said Pakistan was the ideal trade conduit for the region and CPEC supplements SCO’s vision of regional connectivity and integration.

On climate change, Shehbaz reiterated Pakistan’s commitment towards a sustainable and nature-positive world.

He welcomed the SCO Agreement on Environmental Protection and called on developed countries to enhance support to developing countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

On Palestine, the prime minister said Israel’s indiscriminate bombing had killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians.

He called for outrightly denouncing Israel’s barbaric acts and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire leading to realisation of the two-state solution with the establishment of the State of Palestine with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds as its capital.

The prime minister said Pakistan was looking forward to hosting the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Islamabad in October this year.

“Pakistan would strive to adopt forward-looking initiatives to promote steady development and sought active and positive collaboration of all SCO Member States.”

Keir Starmer will be Britain’s next prime minister with his Labour Party set to win a massive majority in a parliamentary election, an exit poll on Thursday indicated, while Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives are forecast to suffer historic losses.

The poll showed Labour would win 410 seats in the 650-seat parliament, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.

Sunak’s party were forecast to only take 131 seats, down from 346 when parliament was dissolved, as voters punish the Conservatives for a cost-of-living crisis and years of instability and in-fighting which has seen five different prime ministers since 2016.

The centrist Liberal Democrats were predicted to capture 61 seats while Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist Reform UK was forecast to win 13.

In the last six national elections, only one exit poll has got the outcome wrong – in 2015 when the poll predicted a hung parliament when in fact the Conservatives won a majority. Official results will follow over the next few hours.

Sunak stunned Westminster and many in his own party by calling the election earlier than he needed to in May with the Conservatives trailing Labour by some 20 points in opinion polls.

He had hoped that the gap would narrow as had traditionally been the case in British elections, but the deficit has failed to budge in a fairly disastrous campaign.

It started badly with him getting drenched by rain outside Downing Street as he announced the vote, before aides and Conservative candidates became caught up in a gambling scandal over suspicious bets placed on the date of the election.

Sunak’s early departure from D-Day commemorative events in France to do a TV interview angered veterans, and even those within his own party said it raised questions about his political acumen.

If the exit poll proves right, it represents an incredible turnaround for Starmer and Labour, which critics and supporters said was facing an existential crisis just three years ago when it lost a parliamentary seat on a 16% swing to the Conservatives, an almost unique win for a governing party.

But a series of scandals – most notably revelations of parties in Downing Street during COVID lockdowns – undermined then prime minister Boris Johnson and by November 2021 the Conservative poll lead, which had been higher than at any time during Margaret Thatcher’s 11 years in government, was gone.

Liz Truss’ disastrous six-week premiership, which followed Johnson being forced out at the end of 2022, cemented the decline, and Sunak was unable to make any dent in Labour’s now commanding poll lead.

While polls have suggested that there is no great enthusiasm for Labour leader Starmer, his simple message that it was time for change appears to have resonated with voters.

Unlike in France where Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party made historic gains in an election last Sunday, the disenchanted British public appears to have instead moved to the centre-left.

A US mid-range missile system deployed in the Philippines for annual joint military exercises — to the annoyance of China — will be pulled out of the country, a Philippine Army spokesman said Thursday.

The US Army said in April it had deployed the Mid-Range Capability missile system which can fire the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile in the northern Philippines.

Philippine troops have been taught how to use and maintain the Typhon missile system, but it was not used in live-fire exercises, Colonel Louie Dema-ala told AFP.

“As per plan… it will be shipped out of the country in September or even earlier,” Dema-ala said.

“The US Army is currently shipping out their equipment that we used during Balikatan and Salaknib (exercises).”

The presence of the mid-range missile system on Philippine soil had angered Beijing.

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun warned in June there were “limits” to Beijing’s restraint on the South China Sea and over the deployment of ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dong’s remarks at a security forum in Singapore were a clear reference to the Philippines and the United States, which have been boosting defence ties in the face of China’s growing military might and influence.

The deployment of “medium-range ballistic missiles” was “severely damaging regional security and stability”, Dong said.

“Acting in this way will ultimately burn oneself.”

The party’s MPs installed the 44-year-old former financier in October 2022, after Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership imploded when spooked markets moved against her tax-slashing plans.

Sunak succeeded to a point in stabilising the country’s economy, but failed to stop bitter Tory infighting or make a dent in the persistent polling lead held by the opposition Labour Party.

Buoyed by rare pieces of economic good news, Sunak called the July 4 election in late May, despite not having to face the voters until early 2025.

He hoped the shock announcement would catch right-wingers Reform UK by surprise, and Labour’s 20-point polling lead would shrink during the campaign. But Sunak’s campaign has lurched from one disaster to another.

By far the most damaging was Sunak’s decision to leave early from D-Day commemoration events in France, provoking unilateral outrage and alienating the right wing whose votes he desperately needs. Now they look set to vote en masse for Reform, led by Brexit talisman Nigel Farage.

He also had to apologise after Conservative candidates and the party’s campaign chief were put under investigation over alleged bets placed on the date of the election before it was called.

All of which has left Sunak cutting an increasingly frustrated figure, shorn of the bullish rhetoric of the early campaign but still insisting the election result is not a foregone conclusion.

The privately wealthy Sunak struggled to connect with regular voters hit hard by a cost-of-living crisis. He was roundly mocked for suggesting he had an austere childhood because his family did not have satellite television and his interactions with voters have often seemed awkward.

His current difficulties are a far cry from his rapid rise to power, becoming Britain’s youngest prime minister of modern times at age 42, as well as the first of South Asian descent.

The observant Hindu was born in Southampton on England’s south coast on May 12 1980 to a family doctor father and a mother who ran a local pharmacy. Sunak’s grandparents were from Punjab in northern India and emigrated from eastern Africa in the 1960s, arriving in Britain with “very little”, he has said.

Sunak was educated at the exclusive private Winchester College, then Oxford and Stanford universities.

During his Tory leadership bid, a video emerged of a 21-year-old Sunak talking about his friends. “I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper-class, I have friends who are, you know, working-class,” he says, before adding quickly: “Well, not working-class.”

After making millions in finance, Sunak won the safe and overwhelmingly white Conservative seat of Richmond in Yorkshire, northern England, in 2015. His Instagram-friendly profile earned him the media nickname of “Dishy Rishi”.

An early backer of Brexit, he took over as finance minister in February 2020 — a baptism of fire as the Covid pandemic erupted. The details-oriented policy wonk was forced to craft an enormous economic support package at breakneck speed, which he regularly touts as one of his proudest achievements in politics.

The pandemic sullied his reputation though, after he received a police fine for breaching Covid rules by joining a birthday gathering for then-prime minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street.

Sunak also faced difficult questions about the tax affairs of his wife Akshata Murty, whose father Narayana Murthy is the billionaire co-founder of IT giant Infosys. In early 2022, newspapers reported she had non-domiciled status, meaning she had not been paying UK taxes on her Infosys returns.

The news hit Sunak’s approval ratings and Murty announced that she would pay UK taxes on her global income.

The Sunaks met while studying in California and have two young daughters. He insists his own family’s experience, and that of his wife, are a “very Conservative” story of hard work and aspiration.

In July 2022, Sunak quit as finance minister, helping to trigger Johnson’s resignation after one scandal too many and public anger at the government’s Covid response. Many Tories have never forgiven him and have harped against his leadership from the sidelines.

He insists only he has a “clear plan” backed by “bold action” to change Britain but voters look set to limit his time in office to less than two years.