Pakistani opposition leaders Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto set their parties to work yesterday on a list of demands for the government, a day after joining forces to threaten a boycott of elections.
After meeting on Monday for the first time since both returned from exile, the former prime ministers said they would consider boycotting the vote on Jan. 8 if President Pervez Musharraf does not meet their requirements.
Musharraf last week pledged to lift a month-old state of emergency by Dec. 16, ahead of the key polls on Jan. 8, but the opposition says the vote will still be unfair.
PHOTO: AP
A commission set up by the parties of the two former prime ministers held its maiden session yesterday, said Raja Zafarul Haq, chairman of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.
"They start the work today," Haq said. "It has been left to the committee members to formulate the demands on the basis of discussions held between the leaders last night."
But he said that "we are talking about free and fair elections."
"The committee is expected to finalize its work soon, I think in two or three days," he said.
Senator Raza Rabbani, a senior official from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, stressed the need for an independent election commission and said that local authorities were giving "undue favor" to pro-Musharraf candidates.
"Obviously the core issue is ensuring free and fair elections," Rabbani said.
Meanwhile, Sharif's brother faced possible arrest yesterday over murder charges dating back to 1998 after both brothers were excluded from upcoming parliamentary elections.
An anti-terrorism court in Lahore issued contempt notices to two police officers for not arresting Shahbaz Sharif for having allegedly ordered security forces to kill suspected criminals in a shootout eight years ago, when he was chief minister of Punjab Province, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported yesterday.
The move against Shahbaz Sharif came after election officials on Monday rejected Nawaz Sharif's own candidacy for Jan. 8 parliamentary elections on the ground that he had been convicted in two cases stemming from a 1999 military coup in which Musharraf overthrew his government.
Since returning last week to Pakistan after eight years in exile, Sharif has emerged as Musharraf's most vociferous opponent. He has called Musharraf's presidency illegal and refuses to deal with the newly retired army general.
He has also demanded the reinstatement of Supreme Court judges fired by Musharraf after it appeared likely they would rule against his attempt to secure a new presidential term.
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS