Category: Government

A Pakistani court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Imran Khan for “threatening” a female judge at a public meeting in August, local media said.

 

The warrant was issued by a magistrate in the capital Islamabad after the former premier failed to appear before him for a hearing on the case.

 

Khan had initially been booked under the country’s anti-terrorism law. However, the Islamabad High Court later ordered the revocation of terror-related clauses in the case.

 

The high court also ordered the cricketer-turned-politician to appear before the magistrate, which he failed to do.

 

There was no immediate word from the government on whether the ex-premier would be arrested, though local broadcaster Dunya News reported that Islamabad police have yet to receive any such orders.

 

In his speech during a rally on Aug. 20, Khan said he would take legal action against Islamabad’s police chief, as well as a judicial official who ordered the physical remand of his chief of staff, Shehbaz Gill.

 

Gill is facing sedition charges for remarks that allegedly aimed to incite mutiny within Pakistan’s powerful military.

 

Khan is also facing a contempt of court hearing in the Islamabad High Court for “threatening” the female judge.

 

Since his ouster from power in a no-confidence vote in April, Khan has staged a series of anti-government rallies and called for early elections, which are otherwise due in late 2023.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Members of the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) secured roles chairing four commissions in the Nordic country’s parliament, the Riksdag on Saturday.

 

While the leader of the center-right Moderate Party continues efforts to form a coalition government, members of the SD will chair four parliamentary commissions, reported local broadcaster SVT Nyheter.

 

Deputies of the SD, who are preparing to support the minority right-wing government expected to be formed next week under Moderate Party leadership, will assume chair the justice, business, labor market, and foreign affairs commissions.

 

SVT cited SD deputy Richard Jomshof saying that this was a milestone in the party’s history and an indication that it is Sweden’s second-largest party.

 

The SD are the largest party in the right-wing bloc and insist on a place in the government.

 

On Sept. 19, the country’s parliament speaker officially asked the leader of the center-right Moderate Party “to explore the possibilities of forming a government.”

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said Wednesday Washington opposes Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

 

“We do not support settlement growth. I made that position quite clear to the government, to all the players…including the Prime Minister,” Nides told a press conference in Jerusalem.

 

“We will continue to working with the Israeli government to limit any settlement growth outside of green line Israel,” he added.

 

The US envoy lauded Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s speech at the United Nations last week in which he affirmed his support for a two-state resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

 

He was vague, however, when asked about Lapid’s refusal to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

 

“We encourage any bit of dialogue that occurs. Our hope is that it will lead to more conversations. We obviously encourage those conversations to happen. We support his [Lapid’s] continuation of the articulation of the hope of a two-state solution,” Nides said.

 

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Jewish settlement-building activities there illegal.

 

Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate there are about 650,000 settlers living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the West Bank, including in occupied Jerusalem.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Early elections on Sunday may not yield results that can allow Bulgaria to overcome its political crisis.

 

According to the polls, at least eight of the political parties in Bulgaria will be able to pass the 4% electoral threshold and be represented in parliament.

 

A poll by Mediana research revealed recently, former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) would win around 27% of the votes and hence be the biggest party in parliament.

 

As this percentage is not enough for Borisov to form a single-party government, he will need the support of other parties, none of which explicitly stated such intention so far.

 

Meanwhile, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HOH) continues to command vast support of the country’s Turkish minority and is forecast to receive over 10% of the votes.

 

HOH, which in the past took part in the coalition governments led by GERB, did not present a clear position so far.

 

On the other hand, GERB’s prominent political rival, We Continue the Change party, is expected to gather around 17% of the votes. As such, even with the likely support of the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria party, it will not be able to form a government.

 

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which used to be the country’s second-largest party, is expected to gather only over 9% of the vote.

 

BSP, along with the far-right Revival party, is also known for its pro-Russian stance in Bulgaria.

 

The elections will be the fourth in two years for the country, which has been marred by political instability since Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s government was toppled in a no-confidence vote in June.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Separate referenda on joining Russia are complete in three of four breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, according to the pro-Russian authorities.

 

Voting has come to an end in Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, while in Donetsk, the work of some polling stations was extended until 8 p.m. local time (1700GMT) due to security concerns in an effort to avoid large concentrations of people that separatist officials say may become targets of shelling.

 

Election commissions, organized by separatist authorities, said the preliminary results of the vote will be announced on Tuesday evening.

 

The Russian-installed head of the Zaporizhzhia region, Evgeny Balitsky, said the final results could be ready by Wednesday morning.

 

The question put to the vote will be considered approved if more than half of all voters included on the lists respond in favor of becoming part of Russia.

 

In all four regions, the referendums were recognized as valid by the end of the third day of voting, when turnout everywhere exceeded 50%.

 

As of Monday evening, 86.89% of residents were reported to have taken part in the referendum in Donetsk, 63.58% in Kherson, and 66.43% in Zaporizhzhia, while in Luhansk, 90.64% of voters cast their ballots by Tuesday afternoon.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Italy, after Sunday’s elections, has been working on the number of seats to be represented by the parties and alliances to form its new parliament, according to local media on Tuesday.

 

The far-right Brothers of Italy (FdI) won 26% as a party, and the right alliance that FdI lead received the 44% of the votes, winning the absolute majority in both houses of the parliament.

 

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the right-wing alliance will have 112 seats in the 200-seat Senate, while the left alliance will have 39 seats.

 

The 5-Star Movement (M5S), which did not enter the election with any alliance, will have 28 seats, while the “Third Pole” formed by Azione and Italia Viva will have nine seats.

 

In the 400-seat Lower House, the right alliance will be represented with 235 seats. In contrast, the center-left will receive 80 seats, the 5 Star Movement 51, and the Third Pole 21.

 

1st session to be held on Oct. 13

 

The country’s new parliament is expected to hold its first session on Oct. 13.

 

New heads of both houses of the parliament will be elected in the first sessions.

 

Italian media reported that President Sergio Mattarella intends to initiate political consultations for the formation of a government without delay, following the presidential elections in both houses of the parliament.

 

Meloni, expected to become premier, working on Cabinet

 

Reports said the far-right leader and head of FdI Giorgia Meloni, likely to become the prime minister, is working on the names that will take seats in her government.

 

Italian daily La Repubblica reported that Meloni did not think of giving key ministries such as the Ministry of Interior to Lega leader Matteo Salvini, who fell short of expectations in the elections.

 

Discussions on change of leadership within Lega also started after the elections where the party got 8.8% of the votes and fell short of expectations.

 

Although Salvini wants to stay in the party’s leadership, former Lega heavyweight Roberto Maroni said: “It’s time for a new leader.”

 

Despite becoming the second political party in the elections with 19% of the votes, center-left Democrat Party leader Enrico Letta also said he will not be a candidate for the party leadership at the upcoming party congress.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Germany’s opposition leader Friedrich Merz came under heavy criticism on Tuesday after accusing Ukrainian refugees of taking advantage of the country’s social welfare system by collecting benefits and then returning to Ukraine.

 

“What we’re seeing is welfare tourism on the part of these refugees: to Germany, back to Ukraine, to Germany, back to Ukraine,” Merz, the leader of the conservative Christian Democrats, told Bild TV in an interview.

 

Ukrainian refugees were initially supported under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, but since June they are entitled to an increased amount of social assistance as well as assistance from employment centers.

 

The leader of the center-right party was sharply criticized for his remarks, especially by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and its coalition partners.

 

The SPD’s parliamentary group accused Merz of adopting the rhetoric of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

 

“He deliberately wants to unleash a political culture war and shift the discourse to the right,” SPD’s chief whip said in a statement.

 

Green Party’s co-chair Ricarda Lang also slammed the opposition leader, saying the Christian Democrats long called for more solidarity with Ukraine, but now their leader is speaking of ‘welfare tourism,’ while referring to people fleeing a terrible war.

 

The liberal Free Democrats said Merz was endangering public support for Ukraine through such rhetoric.

 

“People from Ukraine come to us because they are fleeing Putin’s brutal war. Many of them have lost everything and fear for their loved ones,” the party’s parliamentary group leader, Christian Durr, said in a statement.

 

Merz later apologized for his choice of words, tweeting: “If my choice of words is perceived as hurtful, then I formally apologize.”

 

He said he regretted using the word “welfare tourism,” and that his choice of words had been an inaccurate description of a problem that can be observed in individual cases.

 

Germany is bracing for a tough winter amid skyrocketing gas prices and growing public frustration over the handling of the looming energy crisis. Thousands of people rallied in several eastern states on Monday against the government’s energy policy and sanctions on Russia.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner defended herself Friday against alleged graft charges in awarding public works and criticized the “incredible lies” by federal prosecutors.

 

De Kirchner spoke to the court via Zoom for an hour and 20 minutes from her office in the Senate as she raised questions about the “arbitrariness” of the trial and labeled the allegations “nonsense.”

 

The vice-president also hit out at federal prosecutors, accusing them of lying and described the allegations as “profoundly unconstitutional, anti-republican and anti-federal. “She described the trial as “a clear case of malfeasance” and rebuffed claims of criminality during her and her husband’s presidency.

 

“The people elected the governments, the three governments, the one headed by Nestor Kirchner and those headed by me — we were elected by the people. We cannot be an illicit association,” she said.

 

De Kirchner previously argued that the trial is a political witch-hunt and on Friday appeared to cast doubts on the judiciary. “From Sept. 1 (the day of the attempted assassination) I realized that there may be another thing behind all the stigmatization and attempts to ban me,” said de Kirchner. “Suddenly, it’s as if the judicial sphere is giving social license so that anyone can think and do anything.”

 

Federal prosecutors accuse de Kirchner of awarding fraudulent and overpriced public works contracts in the southern province of Santa Cruz during her two-term tenure as president from 2007 – 2015 and have been pushing for a 12-year jail sentence and a lifetime ban from holding public office.

 

Many of the contracts allegedly benefitted close allies of the Kirchner family, with some already convicted of corruption.

 

The sentence against Kirchner is expected in months, although some say she could appeal to higher courts, which would likely extend the time considerably in reaching a final verdict.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob proposed to the UN on Friday to establish an international monetary cooperation mechanism amid rising global inflation.

 

The mechanism, said Yaakob, will be able to “build a more effective and just system that is able to balance the needs of global development.”

 

Yakoob was addressing the UN General Assembly in New York — the first to speak in the native Malaysian language, Bahasa Melayu.

 

“A major lesson that COVID-19 pandemic taught us — we cannot run away from every challenge that confronts us,” he said, adding that not caring about the effect on others “will only generate mistrust in international cooperation.”

 

In an interconnected world “the policies and decisions of some countries can affect other nations,” said Yaakob.

 

Pointing to tackling inflation by UN member states, the Malaysian premier said: “The monetary policy and determination of interest rates by one country also has impact on other countries.”

 

“This is where cooperation and coordination among countries needs to be stepped so as to achieve the goal of a more just economic well-being for all,” he said.

 

“In an international financial and monetary structure that is still dominated by a few major powers, as well as during the world economic recovery, domestic monetary decisions have to be adjusted by considering the reality and needs of the developing countries,” said the Malaysian premier, proposing that UN member states establish a new international monetary cooperation mechanism.

 

Source: Anadolu Agency