Eight security personnel die in separate attacks across KP I Stock exchange records all-time high
In Brief
POLITICS
Lahore administrations grants conditional NOC to PTI for 21 September rally
On 20 September, the Lahore administration issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) to carry out its power show on 21 September between 1500 to hours and 1800 hours in the Kahna area of Lahore. The NOC, however, comes with 43 conditions. One of the conditions directs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to apologize for the “vitriolic” remarks made during the previous rally held on 8 September in Islamabad. Other conditions call for the non-use of anti-state slogans and disallow supporters from outside Lahore from entering the city. Additionally, the rally organizers will be held responsible for any proclaimed offenders attending the rally or any “untoward incidents.” Those PTI leaders and supporters booked for hate speech after the Islamabad rally are also not allowed to attend. This development comes after the high court ordered the district magistrate to decide upon the PTI’s application seeking for permission to carry out its rally. (Rana Bilal & Imran Gabol, “Lahore administration permits PTI Sept 21 rally from 3-6pm at Ring Road ,” Dawn, 20 September 2024)
PTI members declared MNA members of SIC
On 21 September, Dawn reported that the National Assembly Secretariat has recognized all Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) candidates in the NA as affiliated to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in its parliamentary party break-up published on its website. This decision not only disregards the Supreme Court’s 12 July verdict in the reserved seats case which provides reserved seats to minority candidates of the PTI but also evades the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification which calls for the return of 39 Members of National Assembly (MNA) who also belong to the PTI. Further, only eight MNAs such as Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Omar Ayub and others have been recognized as belonging to the PTI. This development comes a day after NA Speaker, Ayaz Sadiq expressed how elected candidates were independent and were restricted from joining the PTI after the notice period for declaring party affiliation had passed. About another 41 lawmaking representatives have been categorized as independents despite the SC judgment. Additionally, a letter has been sent by the Speaker of NA to the ECP, reflecting on how the government was not eager on recognizing them. (Syed Irfan Raza, “National Assembly still sees PTI-backed MNAs as members of ‘SIC’ ,” Dawn, 21 September 2024)
Government mulling extending the incumbent CEC’s term by five years
On 21 September, The News International reported on the probable extension of the current Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Sikander Sultan Raja’s five-year tenure. Sources claim that the federation is seriously considering this matter as only four months remain of his current tenure that ends on 26 January, 2025. In order to achieve this, the government may propose amendments to Article 215 by reappointing him for another five-year term via parliamentary approval. Hence, under the amendment the CEC will remain in office until and unless a new appointment is made by a majority decision in the National Assembly and the Senate. (Rana Ghulam Qadir, “Amendment to extend CEC’s term being considered ,” The News International, 21 September 2024)
JUDICIARY
President authorizes amendments to SC (Practise and Procedure) Act, 2023
On 20 September, Dawn quoted Radio Paksitan which had reported that tPresident Asif Ali Zardari has given his assent to the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told Radio Pakistan that the ordinance had been cleared by the federal cabinet is aimed at serving “public interest and enhance the transparency of the judicial process.” The ordinance aims at amending the previous SC (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 which allows the Chief Justice and two senior judges to decide whether to take up a suo moto issue or not. This was deemed an attempt by the government to curtail the CJP’s power. The amendments state that cases would be heard on a first-come-first serve basis, the apex court has the right to pass judgments under Article 184(3) which are matters relating to questions of public importance and fundamental rights. Additionally, the three judge bench will consist of a senior purine judge, the CJP and any other justice appointed by the CJP from time to time. This development comes as Senior Judge, Justice Akhtar decided to provide the reserved seats to minorities of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) as a part of the 12 July verdict. He and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah also decided to review its short order of 12 July as per the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N’s petition after the summer holidays to ensure all 13 judges are involved in carrying out original jurisdiction. Interestingly, CJP Qazi Faez Isa was seen dissenting to the decision made by the two judges, as per the minutes of the 17th meeting of the committee held on 18 July. (Nida Guramani & Umer Mehtab, “President Zardari signs off on changes to SC (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 ,” Dawn, 20 September 2024)
SC rules against amedment made to tax lawn
On 21 September, an article in Dawn reported Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah's observations on the petitions filed against amendments made to the Section 65B of the Income Tax Ordinance (ITO), 2001 in 2019. The 2001 ITO provision allows a tax credit of 10 per cent to industries which have bought and installed new machinery between the fiscal years of 2010 and 2021. The fresh amendments made to the Finance Act in 2019, changed the timeline to 2010-2019 from 2010-2021 and even the tax credit rate was lowered from 10 per cent to five per cent. As a result, many companies protested this change at the Sindh High Court. The case was ultimately taken up by the Supreme Court as it was challenged by the Inland Revenue commissioner. In his verdict Justice Shah noted its discriminatory in nature and how it violated Article 25, which ensures equality before law. He explained, companies which purchased and installed machines by 30 June 2019 had been discriminated against by the 5 per cent cut. He said: “[They have] not been afforded the equal treatment that was given to other taxpayer companies for the tax years 2010 to 2018.”
In his statement, he mentioned Article 8 which prevents the parliament and provincial legislature from enacting laws that pose a threat to citizens' constitutional rights. He elaborated that this restriction is applied to both prospective and retrospective policies. (“Parliament can’t backdate laws if they affect people’s rights: SC ,” Dawn, 21 September 2024)
ECONOMY
Stock exchange records all-time high
On 21 September, The News International reported that the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) KSE -100 index rose by 615.16 points, or 0.76 percent, a rise from 81,459.29 points to 82,074.45 points in the last session. Commenting on this, an analyst at Arif Habib Corp., Ahsan Mehanti said: “Stocks closed higher amid a slump in Pakistan Investment Bond yields by up to 335 basis points due to receding inflation and improving liquidity, which is likely to invite further cuts in the SBP policy rate.” He explained that the USD 75 million current account surplus, remittances and exports, Roshan Digital Account (RDA) inflows and rupee stability led to the rise. A T0pline Securities analyst opined that this positive development can be linked to the lowered expectations of sales on the rebalancing of the Financial Times Stock Exchange. (“Stocks all-time high, cross 82k mark ,” The News International, 21 September 2024)
PM gives go-ahead to FBR proposal on weeding out wealthy tax evaders
On 21 September, The News International revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)’s proposal of taking action against top one per cent wealthy individuals who also happen to be tax defaulters and fall under the categories of under-filing/null filing, and evaded tax payments of PKR 1.3 trillion on an annual basis. FBR data reveals that the top earners in the country had evaded taxes worth PKR 378 billion. This bill is set to be implemented by via a mini-budget which will freeze accounts, ban purchase of land and vehicles and investments in stock markets by tax evaders. The FBR further proposed that for transactions that involved more than PKR 10 million, a common data sharing system will be put in place with the State Bank of Pakistan. All cash inflows and outflows will be restricted to PKR 30 million each year. In a presentation, FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial highlighted to Prime Minister Sharif and other economy officials the tax gap analysis with the help of data from the Pakistan Bureau Statistics (PBS). It displayed that of the 67 million employed work force, there exist 2.7 million tax filers and among the 30 to 40 per cent of this group have an income range of PKR 650,000 per year, thereby pushing them into the under-filers category as most of them suppressed their actual income. (Mehtab Haider & Rana Ghulam Qadir, “PM approves plan to transform FBR ,” The News International, 21 September 2024)
PIA to be auctioned to meet IMF conditions
On 20 September, the Privatization Commission Board of Pakistan announced that the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was earlier set to be auctioned for privatization by 14 August. However, this timeline for potential bidders was pushed to 1 October, as potential bidders have called for updated audited accounts, lease agreements and information behind the suspension of airlines to Europe. This plan aligns with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s conditions where the government is required to sell its non-profit making state-owned enterprises in order to stabilize the economy. (“Govt to auction PIA on October 1 amid debt crisis ,” The Express Tribune, 21 September 2024)
ENERGY
ADB rejects 100 per cent conversion of power plants to Thar lignite
On 21 September, according to a Dawn report, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has refused to support the government’s plan of transitioning the Jamshoro plant from using imported fuel to using 100 per cent Thar lignite as its primary fuel. The ADB has allowed only 20 per cent of local lignite to be used to run the plant. An ADB official said: “ADB loan and project agreements with Pakistan’s government have been signed based on a specific fuel mix of 80 per cent imported sub-bituminous coal and 20 per cent local lignite.” He stated that the bank no-longer finances fossil fuels-based power generation, in accordance with its Energy Policy 2021. The indigenous Thar lignite has lower heating value and higher emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides which will pose a danger to the national and international air quality standards. This is not the only issue as the conversion will also lead to a restructuring of plant which may have “policy, socio-economic and environmental implications.” An environment activist said: “Lignite coal requires significantly more water than sub-bituminous coal before it can be used for power generation.” “The extraction of either groundwater or river water for this purpose will exacerbate water scarcity already being faced by communities living next to the power station as well as those living downstream in the Indus Delta,” (Nasir Jamal, “Plan to run coal power plants on Thar lignite hits snag ,” Dawn, 21 September 2024)
SECURITY
Eight security personnel die in separate attacks across KP
On 21 September, Dawn quoted an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement which confirmed the death of eight security forces in separate incidents that played out across different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The statement said that five alleged militants were killed , along with six security personnel during a fire exchange in Lady Area of South Waziristan. On 19 September, the statement informed that at least seven terrorists were identified infiltrating into the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan. However, the frontier corps were able to “surround them and eliminate all seven of them. On the same day, an official was left dead after a cross border fire exchange took place between Afghan and Pakistan forces at the Ghulam Khan border in Waziristan. In Bannu, a sub-inspector of the Intelligence Bureau was reported dead after unidentified assailants on motorcycles shot at him and even injured his brother. (“Eight security men martyred across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Dawn, 21 September 2024)
|
The Punjab government has given permission for the rally, but it is trying its best to prevent people from reaching it by putting obstacles - but this rally will be more successful than the previous ones.
- Tehreek-e-Insaaf
Above each bridge, its length is written that a vehicle up to a height of so many feet can pass through this bridge. It was said that the Tehreek-e-Insaf container will pass through here. Provincial Information Minister Uzma Bukhari
- PMLN
As a nation we cannot progress unless we focus on establishing peace, without peace we can neither overcome poverty nor work effectively for our poor people. That is why, on the occasion of this World Peace Day, Pakistan People's Party pledges to continue its struggle to establish peace in the country.
- PPP
|
|
|
|
"The BLA is not working without armed support from foreign powers."
-An opinion in Dawn, ‘Baloch quagmire'
|
|
|
