Tag: government

PTI-linked independents take Pakistan election lead as counting nears end | Elections News

Candidates linked to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party are in the lead in Pakistan’s election, ahead of two dynastic parties believed to be favoured by the military, as vote counting enters its final leg.

In an AI-generated “victory speech” posted on the social media platform X on Friday, Khan described the vote as an “unprecedented fightback from the nation” that resulted in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “landslide victory”, despite what he calls a crackdown on his party.

Khan’s PTI candidates were forced to run as independents after they were barred from using the party symbol – a cricket bat – to help illiterate voters find them on ballots.

Election results started to trickle in nearly 12 hours after polling for national and provincial assemblies ended on Thursday, showing PTI-affiliated candidates taking a narrow lead, followed by Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) contenders.

Independent candidates, most backed by the PTI, have won 99 seats so far out of 266 total in the National Assembly. The PMLN has won 69, and the PPP 52. Results are still due for about two dozen more seats.

Meanwhile, another former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who heads the PMLN, said he would seek to form a coalition government after his party trailed the independent candidates backed by Khan.

Pakistan’s Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, centre, his brother Shehbaz Sharif, right, and daughter Maryam Nawaz wave to their supporters following initial results of the country’s parliamentary election, in Lahore, Pakistan [KM Chaudary/AP]

Earlier, Sharif had claimed victory in the elections while the votes were still being counted.

But he later backtracked, saying, “We don’t have enough of a majority to form a government without the support of others and we invite allies to join the coalition so we can make joint efforts to pull Pakistan out of its problems.”

Sharif said he would approach the PPP of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as a coalition partner.

He also added that he wants to sit together in harmony with other parties to “change” Pakistan.

‘Made history’

In his AI address, Khan decried the PMLN leader as a “petty man”, adding, “No Pakistani will accept him” or his claim of victory.

Speaking to voters, he said, “My fellow Pakistanis, you have made history. I am proud of you, and I give thanks to God for uniting the nation”.

Pakistan’s vote happened just more than a week after Khan, who has been in jail since August, faced back-to-back sentences in several cases he has said were politically motivated.

Last month, the 71-year-old former leader was handed his longest sentence yet: 14 years for corruption in a case related to the selling of state gifts he received as prime minister. A day earlier, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets.

With Khan in jail and PTI members facing a crackdown, their election lead came as a surprise to many.

Maya Tudor, associate professor at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera that a win for PTI-backed candidates in the elections would be remarkable but the road ahead is rocky.

“A shaky economy, conflict on almost every border, and soaring inflation, which is being felt every day by ordinary Pakistanis,” Tudor said.

‘Political engineering’

Thursday’s elections were marred by violence by armed groups and a widely criticised suspension of mobile phone services also prompted accusations of “political engineering”.

The delay in election results on Friday also raised eyebrows, with PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan accusing authorities of tampering with the results, saying votes had been “stolen”.

Reporting from the city of Lahore earlier on Friday, Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig said that on the streets, people had been openly saying that votes had been rigged.

“Some of the forms coming out from those polling stations show that there are in fact discrepancies and there is a real fear among people that if their votes are not respected, in terms of reflecting who they voted for, then that frustration could boil over into the streets, like we’ve already seen in some places,” Baig said.

He added that two people have been reportedly killed and 20 injured, because of violence over the election results in northwestern Pakistan.

Meanwhile, The Pashtoonkhuwa Mili Awami Party (PKMAP) announced protests across the Balochistan province against the election results, and party chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai called the 2024 polls rigged, Al Jazeera’s Saadullah Akhter reported.

Lengthy delays to the start of polling also put people off.

Muhammad Hussain, 67, said polling at a particular station in Karachi’s Malir area did not start until 3pm, seven hours after the scheduled start time.

“We voted for change. But the way it’s going, it doesn’t seem that would be the case,” he told Al Jazeera.

Elsewhere, several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have called for authorities to investigate reported irregularities in Pakistan’s general elections as the final vote count is still under way.

The final tally is due later on Friday night.



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Government Said to Seek an End to WTO’s 1998 Tariff Freeze on Digital Trade

India is seeking to end a freeze on countries taxing electronic trade, a move that would allow tariffs to be imposed on anything from software downloads to video games.

New Delhi will ask World Trade Organization members to lift a moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the discussions aren’t public. The issue will come up for discussion at the WTO’s ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi in February.

The WTO has had a moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions since 1998, and members have extended the rule every two years. India and other developing nations like South Africa say the restriction leads to a loss of tariff revenue and affects their trade competitiveness.

India wants to be able to tax goods that are embedded in digital trade, the person said. It will also push the WTO to bring clarity on the definition of goods in e-commerce, the person said.

Global businesses have opposed the lifting of the moratorium, urging WTO members to keep the restrictions in place in order to help the post-pandemic recovery of the industry and to preserve supply chains.

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Arrests within hundreds of Senegalese protestors after election postponed | Government

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After Senegalese President Macky Sall postponed the presidential vote, hundreds of Senegalese demonstrators gathered in Dakar to protest. Police threw tear gas as several demonstrators were arrested.

Published On 5 Feb 2024

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Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill appointed Northern Ireland’s first minister | Government News

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill has been formally appointed Northern Ireland’s first minister by the regional parliament, the first time an Irish nationalist is leading the United Kingdom territory’s devolved government.

O’Neill’s appointment, confirmed by the speaker, on Saturday came after the rival Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the biggest pro-UK party, ended a two-year boycott of the region’s power-sharing government after striking a deal with the UK government to ease trade frictions.

“This is an historic day and it does represent a new dawn,” she told fellow legislators after her selection.

O’Neill’s ascent to the role is the latest sign of the increasing popularity across the island of her Sinn Fein party that now believes its ultimate dream of a united Ireland may be “within touching distance”.

The 47-year-old leader was nominated as the first minister in the government that, under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, shares power between Northern Ireland’s two main communities – British unionists who want to stay in the UK, and Irish nationalists who seek to unite with Ireland.

‘Days of second-class citizenship gone’

Northern Ireland was established as a unionist, Protestant-majority part of the UK in 1921, following independence for the Republic of Ireland.

“The days of second-class citizenship are long gone. Today confirms that they are never coming back,” O’Neill said.

“As an Irish republican, I pledge cooperation and genuine honest effort with those colleagues who are British, of a unionist tradition, and who cherish the Union. This is an assembly for all – Catholic, Protestant and dissenter.”

Neither side can govern without agreement from the other. Government business ground to a half over the past two years after the DUP walked out to protest trade issues related to Brexit.

O’Neill will share power with Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP, who has been named the new deputy first minister. The two will be equals, but O’Neill, whose party captured more seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2022 elections, will hold the more prestigious title.

Former DUP leader Edwin Poots was elected as speaker of the chamber.

O’Neill was elected to the Stormont Assembly in 2007 and comes from a family of Irish republicans.

Her party, Sinn Fein, was affiliated with the armed group, Irish Republican Army, during the so-called “Troubles”, a period of about 30 years of violent conflict over the future of Northern Ireland which ended with the Good Friday Agreement.

Former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, who helped broker the historic peace agreement, was in the gallery at the assembly to see O’Neill’s nomination.

‘Good day’

The return to government came exactly two years after a DUP boycott over a dispute about trade restrictions for goods coming into Northern Ireland from the UK. Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people were left without a functioning administration as the cost of living soared and public services were strained.

An open border between the north and the republic was a key pillar of the peace process that ended the Troubles, so checks were imposed instead between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

An agreement a year ago between the UK and the EU, known as the Windsor Framework, eased customs checks and other hurdles but did not go far enough for the DUP, which continued its boycott.

The UK government this week agreed to new changes that would eliminate routine checks and paperwork for most goods entering Northern Ireland, although some checks for illegal goods or disease prevention will remain in place.

The new changes included legislation “affirming Northern Ireland’s constitutional status” as part of the UK and gives local politicians “democratic oversight” of any future EU laws that might apply to Northern Ireland.

The UK government also agreed to give Northern Ireland more than 3 billion pounds ($3.8bn) for its battered public services once the Belfast government is back up and running.

“I believe that my party has delivered what many said we couldn’t,” DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said outside the assembly chamber in Stormont.

“We have brought about change that many said was not possible, and I believe that today is a good day for Northern Ireland, a day when once again our place in the United Kingdom and its internal market is respected and protected in our law and restored for all our people to enjoy the benefits of our membership of the union.”



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Argentina’s lower house approves Milei’s ‘omnibus’ reform bill | Government News

The president introduced the divisive reform package in an attempt to transform the economy and the state.

Legislators in Argentina have approved President Javier Milei’s divisive “omnibus” reform bill after days of debate, paving the way for a decisive vote in the Senate.

The lower chamber of deputies approved the package in principle by 144 votes to 109 in a vote on Friday. The sweeping bill, meant to start transforming the state and the economy, may undergo changes before heading to the Senate.

While the vote took place, crowds of demonstrators gathered outside Congress to protest. Critics have said the government will use the bill to increase the exploitation of natural resources, benefit the private sector and cut resources for the environment and culture.

“We have two clear options – become the largest slum in the world, or continue this path towards prosperity and freedom,” said Lorena Villaverde, a lawmaker from Milei’s far-right Freedom Advances party in support of the bill.

Shortly before the vote, Milei said on social media that legislators had “the opportunity to show which side of history” they wanted to be on.

“History will judge them according to their work in favour of the Argentines or for the continued impoverishment of the people,” a presidential statement said.

Risks of reform

Milei, 53, won a resounding election victory in October, riding a wave of anger about decades of economic crises in the South American nation, where annual inflation stands at more than 200 percent and poverty levels are at 40 percent.

He began his term by devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent, cutting state subsidies for fuel and transport, reducing the number of ministries by half, and scrapping hundreds of rules to deregulate the economy.

His reform package touches on many areas of public and private life, from privatisations to cultural issues, the penal code, divorce and the status of football clubs.

But opposition deputy Leandro Santoro pointed to the economic and social crisis of 2001 as an example of the risks of free-market reforms.

“We Argentines already know what happens when the economic model focuses on adjustment and deregulation,” he said.

‘The nation is not for sale’

On Friday, police fired tear gas at crowds of demonstrators outside Congress while the vote took place.

Reporting from Buenos Aires, Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo said that this bill is a big political test for Milei and his hopes to reform Argentina’s economy.

“Thousands of people have gathered outside to express concerns with Milei’s plans for Argentina,” Bo said, adding that people chanted, “The nation is not for sale”, outside Congress.

Vanina Biasi a left-wing Front lawmaker, told Al Jazeera that the rights that Argentians have are at risk.

“The bill touches fundamental issues that affect people,” she said.

These protests come just over a week after tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets in a major challenge to Milei’s budget-slashing policies.

In a vote of confidence behind Milei’s reforms, however, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday approved the disbursement of about $4.7bn to Argentina.

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German upper house approves bill easing citizenship rules | Demographics News

Lawmakers in the upper house of parliament passed the legislation that will simplify the process of naturalisation.

German lawmakers have passed a bill that makes the process of obtaining citizenship easier, and moved to simplify repatriations.

The naturalisation reform, approved by the upper house of parliament on Friday, allows people to become German citizens while keeping their original citizenship.

People will be able to apply for citizenship after living in Germany for five years rather than eight years. Children of parents from abroad will also be granted German citizenship at birth if one parent has been legally residing in Germany for five years rather than eight.

If applicants demonstrate “special integration achievements” through particularly good performance at school or work or civic engagement, they may be able to be naturalised after only three years.

One important aspect of the new law is that people who obtain their German citizenship will not have to give up the citizenship of their native country, previously only possible for residents from other EU countries in Germany.

This will allow tens of thousands of German-born Turks to become voters.

Likewise, Germans who wish to become citizens of another country will no longer need special authorisation from German authorities.

The bill was put forward by centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s socially liberal coalition. The main centre-right opposition bloc had criticised the project, and argued it would cheapen German citizenship.

The bill was approved by Germany’s lower house two weeks ago. At the time, Scholz hailed the legislation and said it was for those who had lived and worked in Germany for “decades”.

“With the new citizenship law, we are saying to all those who have often lived and worked in Germany for decades, who abide by our laws, who are at home here: You belong to Germany,” Scholz said.

Filiz Polat, a Green Party migration expert, welcomed the prospect of dual citizenship and slammed parties opposing the law as failing to understand the “modern immigration society that has long existed in Germany”.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said there were “speeches in favour and there were speeches against” the bill in the state’s house of parliament.

“But in the end, the house decided not to vote in favour, but also, not to vote against,” Kane said. This means that the law goes through because of Germany’s constitution.

“The elected house of parliament had already voted in favour of it,” he explained.

The legislation still has to be approved by Germany’s upper chamber of parliament, and by the president as a formality, before it becomes law.

It will come into effect by mid-May at the earliest, Kane said.

Hundreds of thousands of people are already in the system, meaning there will likely be a massive backlog before new applications are processed, our correspondent added.

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Progressive US lawmaker Omar faces censure over mistranslated speech | Government News

Washington, DC – A new Republican firestorm has ignited around United States Congress member Ilhan Omar — this time over alleged statements she made during a speech to Somali Americans.

The only problem, according to two independent analyses of the speech, is that the words that fuelled the uproar appear to be mistranslated.

Omar is accused of saying in Somali that she would put foreign interests before those of the US — but multiple news outlets have since debunked the accusations, pointing to major flaws in a viral translation of her speech.

That, however, did not stop firebrand Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from seizing on the speech. On Thursday, she introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives to censure Omar, who is the first Somali American and first former African refugee to serve in the US Congress.

Greene accused Omar of “serving as a foreign agent for a foreign country”. In an apparently intentional gaffe, she referred to Omar as the representative from “Somali — I mean, Minnesota”.

Her resolution comes one day after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer demanded an ethics investigation into Omar. Florida governor and former Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis also called for Omar to be “deported”.

For her part, Omar quickly rejected the attacks, saying they were only the latest attempt by Republicans to weaponise her ethnicity and religion.

In a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Omar called the attacks “not only completely false, they are rooted in xenophobia and Islamophobia”.

“This is a manufactured controversy based on an inaccurate translation taken entirely out of context,” she said.

Critics also see the controversy as the Republican Party’s latest attempt to attack a group of progressive Democrats known as the “Squad”.

In February 2023, Omar was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a vote divided along party lines, amid accusations that she had voiced “anti-Semitic” and “anti-Israel” rhetoric. At the time, Omar said she was being targeted because of her identity as an African Muslim woman.

In November, the House also voted to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib for comments critical of Israel. Tlaib has stood by her remarks, rejecting claims they were anti-Semitic.

Mistranslated speech

The Star Tribune — a newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota — and another publication, the Minnesota Reformer, have both independently translated Omar’s speech, which was delivered to Somali Americans in the state on January 27.

Both found the words that stoked the Republican ire were not actually what Omar said.

The flawed translation, which spread widely on social media, read: “The US government will only do what Somalians in the US tell them to do. They will do what we want and nothing else. They must follow our orders, and that is how we will safeguard the interest of Somalia … Together we will protect the interests of Somalia.”

According to the more accurate translation, verified by the Star Tribune, Omar expressed a different message, one that encouraged civic engagement among Somali Americans.

“My answer was the US government will do what we tell the US government to do. We as Somalis should have that confidence in ourselves. We live in this country. We pay taxes in this country. It’s a country where one of your own sits in Congress … The woman you sent to Congress is aware of you and has the same interest as you,” she said.

According to the Star Tribune, Omar used the speech to recount how she had responded to constituents’ concerns over a new agreement between Ethiopia and the self-governing region of Somaliland, which Somalia claims as its own. The agreement would see Ethiopia lease a portion of Somaliland’s coastline, a move vehemently opposed by Somalia.

Observers have noted the Congress member was also speaking in support of longstanding US policy. The US maintains some ties with Somaliland — but does not recognise its independence or its authority to unilaterally strike a deal with landlocked Ethiopia.

While that position has stoked condemnation from Somaliland officials, Democrats have roundly rejected the notion that it indicates Omar is working on behalf of Somalia or that she puts her Somali roots before her congressional duties.

On Thursday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned Greene’s move to censure Omar as “frivolous”. He called it “designed to inflame and castigate and further divide us”.



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Argentina lawmakers debate Milei’s ‘omnibus’ economic reform bill | Business and Economy News

Opposition has pledged to block the president’s mega-bill to reform the economy, politics and even some aspects of private life.

Argentina’s lower house of Congress has begun what is expected to be a marathon debate on libertarian President Javier Milei’s mega-bill to reform the economy, politics and even some aspects of private life.

The government raced to secure votes for the key “omnibus” reform bill on Wednesday, even as the left-leaning opposition pledged to block it.

The bill initially contained 664 articles, but has lost almost half of these in tough negotiations with the opposition, which largely outnumbers Milei’s Libertad Avanza party that has just 38 of the 257 seats in the lower house of Congress.

The bill is one the main planks in Milei’s reform push to tackle the South American country’s worst economic crisis in decades, with inflation over 200 percent and state coffers running dry.

It marks the president’s first major test since the self-described “anarchocapitalist” took office in December after a shock election win in which he campaigned with a chainsaw pledging to slash spending and the size of the state.

Milei, 53, faces a challenge to win over allies and push the bill through. His government yanked a divisive fiscal section from the bill last week to boost support.

“Today, politicians have the chance to start reversing the damage they’ve caused the Argentine people,” Milei’s office said, urging lawmakers to support the bill.

In a sign of the challenge ahead, the main Peronist opposition bloc Union por la Patria, which is the largest single grouping in the National Congress of Argentina, said it would reject the bill, posting a picture with a slogan: “No to the Omnibus bill” on X.

“We reject the Omnibus bill because it puts fuel in Milei’s chainsaw to hurt the daily lives of Argentines,” wrote Peronist politician and former Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, a reference to his austerity plans to undo a deep fiscal deficit.

Milei began his term in office by devaluing the peso by more than 50 percent, cutting state subsidies for fuel and transport, reducing the number of ministries by half, and scrapping hundreds of rules so as to deregulate the economy.

His massive reform package touches on all areas of public and private life, from privatisations to cultural issues, the penal code, and divorce, to the status of football clubs.

On Wednesday, outside the legislature, hundreds of protesters gathered to express their unhappiness with the reform bill, the AFP news agency reported.

Moderate opposition lawmakers have warned they will seek further changes to the bill, in particular on the touchy issue of the delegation of special powers to the executive in an economic emergency, and on the scope and extent of privatisations.

If the law is approved in the lower chamber – a debate that will likely extend beyond Wednesday – it would move next week to the Senate.

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CEOs of Meta, X, TikTok grilled about online child safety at US hearing | Social Media News

Parents and lawmakers say executives are not doing enough to thwart dangers, including sexual exploitation and bullying.

CEOs from Meta, TikTok, X and other companies have been grilled by United States lawmakers over the dangers that children and teens face using the social media platforms.

On Wednesday, the executives testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee amid a torrent of anger from parents and lawmakers that companies are not doing enough to thwart online dangers for children, such as blocking sexual predators and preventing teen suicide.

“They’re responsible for many of the dangers our children face online,” US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the committee, said in opening remarks. “Their design choices, their failures to adequately invest in trust and safety, their constant pursuit of engagement and profit over basic safety have all put our kids and grandkids at risk.”

Durbin cited statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children non-profit group that showed financial “sextortion”, in which a predator tricks a minor into sending explicit photos and videos, had skyrocketed last year.

The committee also played a video in which children spoke about being victimised on the social media platforms. “I was sexually exploited on Facebook,” said one child in the video, who appeared in shadow.

“Mr Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, referring to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. “You have a product that’s killing people.”

Zuckerberg testified along with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Discord CEO Jason Citron.

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg looks at X Corp’s CEO Linda Yaccarino and TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew as they raise their hands to be sworn in during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol in Washington, DC [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]

X’s Yaccarino said the company supported the STOP CSAM Act, a bill introduced by Durbin that seeks to hold tech companies accountable for child sexual abuse material and would allow victims to sue tech platforms and app stores. The bill is one of several aimed at addressing child safety. None have become law.

X, formerly Twitter, has come under heavy criticism since Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bought the platform and loosened moderation policies. This week, the company blocked searches for pop singer Taylor Swift after fake sexually explicit images of Swift spread on the platform.

Wednesday also marked the first appearance by TikTok CEO Chew before US lawmakers since March, when the Chinese-owned short video app company faced harsh questions, including some suggesting the app was damaging children’s mental health.

“We make careful product design choices to help make our app inhospitable to those seeking to harm teens,” Chew said, adding that TikTok’s community guidelines strictly prohibit anything that puts “teenagers at risk of exploitation or other harm – and we vigorously enforce them”.

At the hearing, the executives touted existing safety tools on their platforms and the work they’ve done with non-profits and law enforcement to protect minors.

Ahead of their testimony, Meta and X also announced new measures in anticipation of the heated session.

Yet, child health advocates say the social media companies have failed repeatedly to protect minors.

“When you’re faced with really important safety and privacy decisions, the revenue in the bottom line should not be the first factor that these companies are considering,” said Zamaan Qureshi, co-chair of Design It For Us, a youth-led coalition advocating for safer social media.

“These companies have had opportunities to do this before. They failed to do that, so independent regulation needs to step in.”

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Chaos during Maldives parliament session | Government News

NewsFeed

MPs went after each other, throwing punches, pulling hair and blowing toy trumpets during a session of parliament in the Maldives. The fight came after the opposition party refused to approve 4 new cabinet ministers – who are members of the newly-elected president’s party.

Published On 29 Jan 2024

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