News Asia
Narendra Modi Set to take PM oath for 3rd time on June 8
(CTN News) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be sworn in for a record-equaling third term on June 8. Key allies reaffirmed their continuous support a day after his party lost its majority in parliament.
Modi, a populist who has dominated Indian politics since coming to power in 2014, will, for the first time, require the cooperation of regional allies whose allegiance has shifted over time, potentially complicating the government’s reform plan.
On Wednesday, Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) agreed to establish a government with coalition partners.
The BJP released a statement on behalf of the alliance, saying, “We all unanimously choose respected National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leader Narendra Modi as our leader.”
“The NDA government, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, is committed to serving the poor, women, youth, farmers, and exploited, deprived, and oppressed citizens of India.”
Earlier in the day, two partners in his NDA coalition, the Telugu Desam Party, a crucial regional actor in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, and the Janata Dal (United), which governs the northern state of Bihar, expressed their support.
“We are with the NDA, and I will be attending the meeting in Delhi today,” Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the TDP, told reporters, alluding to a meeting of the BJP-led coalition slated later that day.
The federal cabinet convened on Wednesday morning and recommended the dissolution of parliament, a constitutional requirement before Modi can establish a new administration.
Local media claimed that Narendra Modi and his new government would be sworn in on Saturday.
The NDA won 293 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament, more than the required 272 to establish a government.
Modi’s BJP won 240 seats, a dismal result that may stall India’s budgetary tightening, according to ratings agency Moody’s. The TDP gained 16 seats, while other allies got the remaining NDA seats.
The opposition India alliance, which Rahul Gandhi’s moderate Congress party led, outperformed expectations by winning 230 seats. Congress alone won 99, nearly doubling the 52 it got in 2019—a surprising increase anticipated to strengthen Gandhi’s standing.
According to ratings firm Fitch, the weaker majority for Modi’s alliance may offer hurdles to the more ambitious components of the government’s reform agenda.
However, it stated: “Despite the slimmer majority, we do expect broad policy continuity to persist, with the government retaining its focus on its capex push, ease of doing business measures, and gradual fiscal consolidation.”
Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday as investors were concerned about Modi’s reliance on regional parties whose political affiliations have fluctuated.
With the party losing power in rural areas, investors believe land and labor reforms, which were anticipated to generate wealth and growth, will be abandoned.
The Indian Express’ header title read, “India gives NDA a third term, Modi a message,” as newspapers reported that Modi’s halo had fallen.
Narendra Modi’s victory in Varanasi, one of Hinduism’s holiest towns, was narrow. His margin fell from nearly 500,000 votes in the previous general election in 2019 to just more than 150,000.
Arvind Panagariya, chairman of a government finance council, stated in an editorial in the Economic Times that a diminished win does not always indicate the end of reform efforts.
“Despite the diminished majority in parliament, the required reforms are entirely possible. Delivering steady growth at an accelerated rate will only improve the government’s position in the future,” he said.
The India Alliance was scheduled to meet in New Delhi on Wednesday to plan their next steps.
However, two of the BJP’s key allies supported Narendra Modi and asserted that their pre-election coalition with the party was still in place, which most likely hindered the opposition’s attempts to form a government.
To a jubilant gathering at the party headquarters late Tuesday evening, Modi promised to work harder in his third term. “The blessings of the people for the third time after 10 years boost our morale, give us new strength,” he stated.
News Asia
Bangladesh Supreme Court to Rule on Controversial Job Quotas Amid Nationwide protests
(CTN News) – The future of public service hiring regulations, which have provoked national conflicts between police and university students that have resulted in at least 133 fatalities so far, is set to be decided by Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday, or today.
Later in the day, the nation’s highest court will meet to declare its decision about the controversial job quotas—either in favor of or against their elimination.
This week’s protests over politically motivated admission quotas for highly sought-after government posts turned into some of the worst instability during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s watch.
Due to the ongoing turmoil, a curfew has been in place since Friday. In addition, the government has declared a two-day holiday during which all offices and institutions would be closed.
After riot police were unable to restore order, soldiers are now policing cities throughout Bangladesh, and since Thursday, there has been a statewide internet blackout that has severely limited the flow of information to the outside world.
SEE ALSO: Nearly 1,000 Indian Students Return from Bangladesh Amid Deadly Unrest Over Job Quota System
Hasina made hints to the public this week that the plan will be abandoned, which comes after her opponents accuse her government of using the judiciary to further its own agenda.
However, a positive decision is unlikely to calm the nation’s simmering rage in the wake of the intensifying crackdown and growing dead toll.
Business owner Hasibul Sheikh, 24, told AFP, “It’s not about the rights of the students anymore,” while observing a Saturday street demonstration in the capital city of Dhaka against a statewide curfew.
“Our demand is one point now, and that’s the resignation of the government,” he stated.
A system that reserves more than half of civil service positions for particular groups, like as children of veterans of the 1971 war, is the driving force behind the upheaval this month.
Hasina, 76, has ruled the nation since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January following a ballot in which there was no real competition, according to critics who claim the program helps families who support her.
Rights organizations accuse Hasina’s government of abusing state institutions, including as the extrajudicial assassination of opposition activists, in order to strengthen its grasp on power and quell dissent.
Bangladesh’s 170 million people lack access to sufficient employment possibilities, therefore the quota system is a major cause of anger for recent graduates who are struggling to find work.
“The government’s actions have made the situation worse, rather than trying to address the protesters’ grievances,” Pierre Prakash, Asia director of Crisis Group, told AFP.
After a week of increasing violence, Hasina canceled her intentions to depart the nation on Sunday for a diplomatic trip to Spain and Brazil.
Source: The Indian Express
News Asia
Pakistani Government Plans to Ban PTI
(CTN News) – The Pakistani government has announced measures to outlaw Pakistan Terheek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar made the declaration on Monday, only days after the Supreme Court declared the PTI eligible for a share of reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies.
After reviewing all relevant information, the government has decided to ban PTI. “We will file a case to ban the party,” he said, citing claims such as inciting violent protests last year and leaking confidential information.
Tarar stated that the case would be moved to the Supreme Court.
He also stated that the government intended to file treason charges against Khan and two other senior party leaders, former President of Pakistan Arif Alvi and ex-Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri, as well as a review appeal against the Supreme Court’s ruling that the PTI should be allocated some assembly seats reserved for women and members of religious minorities.
According to Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, a top PTI politician and party spokesperson, the government’s action “betrays their complete panic”.
“After realizing that they could no longer threaten, compel, or blackmail judges, they decided to make this move through the cabinet. “All of their attempts to stop us have been declared illegal by the courts,” he stated.
Last week, the Supreme Court recognized the PTI as a political party and confirmed that the party’s lack of an electoral emblem did not affect its legal right to field candidates.
The verdict was in response to the PTI being barred from competing in parliamentary elections in February using its party emblem, the cricket bat, forcing it to field candidates as independents.
Despite the setback, PTI-backed candidates emerged as the largest parliamentary bloc, winning 93 seats.
After Khan declined to cooperate with his political opponents, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) formed a coalition government with other smaller parties.
Ex-Governor Sindh Zubair, who formerly served in the PMLN, stated that the government’s action was in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week and warned of political upheaval ahead.
“The powers that be are trying to disenfranchise the largest majority of voters of the country, who voted for PTI,” he disclosed to Al Jazeera.
Khan was appointed prime minister in August 2018 but was dismissed from power in April 2022 after a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.
The cricketer-turned-politician has since faced a slew of legal issues, including charges of misplacing and leaking the contents of a confidential cable delivered to Islamabad by Pakistan’s then-ambassador in the US in 2022.
Khan has continually disputed the charge, claiming that the dossier contained evidence that his resignation as prime minister was orchestrated by his political opponents and the country’s powerful military, with assistance from the US administration. Both Washington and Pakistan’s army deny the accusation.
Despite multiple recent court verdicts in his favor, Khan has been in prison since August of last year.
Source: Aljazeera
News Asia
NAB Re-Arrests Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi After Iddat Case Conviction Overturned
(CTN News) – Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were acquitted in the Iddat case by a sessions court on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the PTI in reserved seats.
However, their relief was short-lived when Imran Khan was detained by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for selling official goods. Bushra Bibi was also rearrested in this case while being released from Adiala Jail’s Gate No. 3.
According to sources, the NAB detained Bushra Bibi after the bureau’s chairman issued arrest warrants for her and Imran Khan. Both are to be investigated in Adiala Jail.
Opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan condemned Bushra Bibi’s imprisonment and criticized the Adiala Jail administration. He also cautioned the jail superintendent of the repercussions and announced that a privilege motion would be filed against him.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were acquitted in the Iddat case after Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Mohammad Afzal Majoka reversed their previous verdict, which sentenced them to seven years in prison on February 3, five days before the general election.
Imran Khan’s lawyers, Usman Gill and Zaheer Abbas, were in court when the verdict was pronounced.
In the 28-page ruling, Judge Majoka rejected Khawar Fareed Maneka, Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband,’s arguments that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s nikah was illegally performed and that Mr. Maneka was denied Buju (reconciliation rights) under religious law.
The court also rejected the allegation of fornication under provision 496-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), stating that no charge was filed under this provision against both Imran Khan and his spouse “because there was no evidence of a second witness”. The trial court heard only one witness, Mr Maneka’s domestic servant.
“In these circumstances, it cannot be said that the appellants committed fornication,” the judge wrote. Regarding the charge of contracting marriage fraudulently during the Iddat period, the judge found that in a video given as evidence during the trial, Mr. Maneka lauded his ex-wife, Bushra Bibi, and “deposed that his ex-wife is a pious lady.”
The magistrate inquired about “how this witness [Mr Maneka] can claim that the appellant No. 2 [Bushra Bibi] committed fraud with him” .
The court announced its decision: “From a perusal of Section 496 PPC and the above-mentioned esteemed citations, this court is of the view that the appellants have not gone through any marriage ceremony fraudulently or with dishonest intention because none of the parties claimed that nikah was not performed and fraudulently he or she was supposed to believe that marriage ceremony was solemnised.”
The court judgment added: “In the instant instance, it is the complainant’s case that the appellants’ nikah was done on January 1, 2018, followed by the second nikah in February 2018. By no stretch of the imagination, it was a marriage with dishonest or deceptive intentions.”
Regarding Mr. Maneka’s claim that he was denied reconciliation rights and so deceived by Imran Khan and Ms. Bibi, the court noted that during cross-examination, Mr. Maneka stated that he learned of the appellants’ marriage on the second day of their nikah.
Before submitting the complaint, the judge questioned why Mr Maneka had been silent on his reconciliation rights for six years.
The judge stated, “The complainant has failed to prove his case against the appellants.” As a result, both appeals filed by appellants No. 1 [Imran Khan] and No. 2 [Bushra Bibi] are accepted, the judgment of the learned trial court of February 3, 2024, is overturned, and both appellants are acquitted of the accusation.”
The court ordered their freedom unless they needed to be imprisoned in other cases.
Source: DAWN
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