Page 12 - Pakistan Link - March 17, 2023

P12 - PAKISTAN LINK - MARCH 17, 2023 PAKISTAN

Clashes Erupt in Lahore as Police Try to Pakistan’s dollar bonds due in 2031 Council of Pakistan Newspaper Edi- Expressing his concern over the reek-i-Taliban Pakistan], but not with
Arrest Imran Khan rose 0.2 cents on the dollar on Friday, tors (CPNE) at the PM House. grim state of affairs in the country, the thieves,” said Mr Iqbal, adding if
(Continued from page 1) snapping seven days of losses. However, PM Shehbaz had also President Arif Alvi has already, on a Mr Khan is backtracking from this
the country’s major cities, including A pact with the IMF would also lamented that he had invited PTI for number of occasions offered his servic- previous stance then it was good for
Karachi, Islamabad, the garrison city open up access to other financing av- talks on two occasions in the recent es for mediation to cool down political the country.
of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and enues for Pakistan, which only has re- past, but the party did not turn up. temperatures in the country. However, he warned, talks could
elsewhere in Pakistan. serves for a few weeks of imports and “Though politicians always resort to “We are in a very grim and chaotic not be held on gunpoint. He said if Mr
For 18 hours, police were firing whose currency is one of the weakest dialogue, PTI has a history of not re- situation. The onus is now on the gov- Khan wanted talks only on his own
tear gas at the house as the 70-year-old performers in Asia. sponding positively in this regard,” he ernment, and on those who have guns terms and conditions, then it would
opposition leader’s supporters hurled Dar didn’t the name the countries noted… - Dawn and sitting in power, whether they have become difficult for them to hold po-
rocks and bricks at the officers. The up- who made commitments but Saudi acquired it legally or illegally, this is litical dialogue.
scale area of Zaman Park where Khan Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Court Declines to Suspend Imran Khan’s another debate,” said Mr Faraz, adding: Mr Iqbal refuted the impression
lives was under siege since Tuesday. Qatar and China have helped in re- Arrest Warrant “It is not only the responsibility of the that the government wanted to arrest
The government was sending addition- cent months and weeks by rolling over (Continued from page 1) government [to respond positively], Mr Khan, stating that had the govern-
al police to tackle the situation after debts and giving dollar deposits and oil It further said that many people had it is incumbent upon it in view of the ment been following an agenda of po-
hundreds of Khan’s supporters showed on credit. In early March, the Indus- been injured and vehicles had been country’s political, economic and so- litical vendetta it would have arrested
unexpected perseverance. trial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. damaged in executing the arrest war- cial situation.” Mr Khan much earlier.
Early Wednesday, Khan emerged released $500 million to Pakistan as the rant and the PTI chief had “challenged Realizing the gravity of the crisis, Civil society representative and
from his house to meet with his sup- first installment of a $1.3 billion loan. the dignity and writ of the state”. the PTI senator said they had seen civil president Pakistan Institute for Legis-
porters, who faced tear gas and police Pakistan’s government has com- “Brutal force has been used in wars and the fragmentation of other lative Development and Transparency
batons the whole night to save him pleted all IMF demands, Dar said. The obstruction of police officials for dis- countries in the past. (Pildat) Ahmed Bilal Mehboob termed
from arrest. He said he was ready to government has taken tough measures charge of their duty and after creating He also regretted that everything it a “pleasant change” in Mr Khan and a
travel to Islamabad on March 18 under including raising taxes, energy prices such [a] state of affairs, the applicant had become “Imran-centric” in the “positive development” which, accord-
his arrest warrant, but police did not and interest rates to unlock funding may not claim suspension of the war- country. “Be it media, be it courts or ing to him, was long overdue.
accept the offer. from its IMF loan program. rant […],” the order said. the whole state machinery”, he said, all “I think, it should be reciprocated
The confrontation outside Khan’s The government’s popularity has It further said: “Keeping in view are focused only on Imran Khan, in- by each other and they should start
house continued. plummeted in an opinion survey with [the] law and order situation created by stead of paying attention to the other talks immediately,” he said, adding that
The former premier has avoided the majority of respondents blaming the applicant, he has lost some of the major public issues, like devaluation of no one should discourage Mr Khan
appearances before the court since prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his normal rights granted by procedural as currency, inflation and unemployment. over this “change” and he should not
November, when he was wounded in a ministers for the economic crisis while well as substantive laws and he has to Responding to a question, Mr be taunted for his previous U-turns.
gun attack at a protest rally in the east- showing support for his arch-rival Im- actually surrender before the court due Faraz said the government needed to Instead, he said, Mr Khan should be
ern Punjab province, claiming he was ran Khan. The former premier’s grow- to his defiance of [the] court process. take some concrete confidence build- encouraged.
not medically fit to travel from Lahore ing popularity may force Sharif’s coali- Such eventuality is never appreciated ing measures (CBMs) to show its sin- The Pildat chief was of the view
to Islamabad to face indictment. tion to boost welfare spending to woo by the court and it is regarded as will- cerity. The biggest CBM, according to that they had “somewhat lucky” to have
Last week, he went to Islamabad to voters ahead of elections later this year, ful default.” him, would be withdrawal of all the averted a “serious mishap” as whatever
appear before three courts, but he failed Bloomberg Economics analyst Ankur The order said that law was equal “bogus and concocted cases” against happened in Lahore over the past few
to appear before the fourth court to face Shukla wrote last month. for the powerful and weak segments of Mr Khan as he said dialogue would not days had the potential to create a “huge
indictment in the graft case, which is a And that would break its com- society and “it is not a fun (sic) to ten- be possible, if the government would tragedy”, adding it would be good for the
legal process for starting his trial. mitments to the IMF on fiscal consoli- der such an undertaking after causing continue to drag Mr Khan in courts. country and democracy if this realiza-
Khan has claimed that the string dation and potentially jeopardize aid such a great loss to the public exche- “How can you push the coun- tion on both the sides is genuine. - Dawn
of cases against him, which includes from the institution, he added. quer as well as damage to persons and try’s biggest political party against the
terrorism charges, are a plot by the The IMF has not indicated that property”. wall?” he added. Pakistan, US Reaffirm Commitment to
government of his successor, Prime political uncertainty is causing any de- The order said a “poor nation” had Promote Economic Growth, Energy Security
Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit lay in reviving the bailout, Sharif told spent millions of rupees for executing ‘Can’t close doors on dialogue’ (Continued from page 1)
the former cricket star turned Islamist reporters earlier this week. “We have the warrant due to Imran’s conduct. It The government responded to Mr He encouraged further investment in
politician. accepted all the conditions, the very ended by saying that the application Khan’s apparent change of heart with a the country’s energy infrastructure,
He said Khan could consider vol- tough conditions set by the IMF,” he was “not justified by law as well as fact” caution, stating that it is ready to en- adding that this would also help the
untarily offering his arrest, “but let us said. – Bloomberg and was hereby rejected. gage the cricketer-turned-politician, transition towards clean energy.
talk first.” The sessions court was set to in- but at the same time warned that it Likewise, Pyatt appreciated Paki-
Fawad Chaudhry, another senior Imran ‘Ready to Talk to Anyone’ dict Imran in the reference on Feb 28, would not allow anyone to challenge stan for its “forward-looking” renew-
party leader, said Khan’s legal team was as PM Calls for Unity but his lawyer had requested the judge the writ of the state. able energy policy.
in the process of submitting a request (Continued from page 1) that he be exempted from the hearing “Can a government say no to PM Shehbaz also welcomed the
to the Islamabad High Court to have democracy,” Imran tweeted today. “In because he had to appear in several talks? No democratic government ongoing dialogue and cooperation be-
warrants against Khan suspended. this regard, I am willing to talk to any- other courts. His indictment was de- can close the doors for dialogue,” said tween the two countries in areas such
Khan’s lawyers were also legally chal- one and take every step towards it.” ferred multiple times before. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader as trade and investment, health, secu-
lenging the warrants before another “I want to express my heartfelt The judge had subsequently is- and Climate Change Minister Sherry rity and climate change.
Islamabad court Tuesday. gratitude to the people of Pakistan who sued non-bailable arrest warrants for Rehman, when contacted. Meanwhile, US State Depart-
From inside his home, Khan joined us in the struggle for true free- Imran and instructed the police to “We need to think of the country ment Assistant Secretary for Oceans,
urged his followers to fight on even if dom and to our workers from all over present him in court by March 7. The and not egos. Political divides are cre- Environment, and Science Monica
he is arrested. “They think this nation Pakistan, including Lahore,” he added PTI chief managed to dodge the arrest ating fault lines which are dangerous Medina, who is also in Pakistan on
will fall asleep when Imran Khan is in another tweet. and later approached the Islamabad for the country particularly at vulner- an official visit, informed the prime
jailed,” he wrote on Twitter. “You need High Court (IHC) for the cancellation able moment,” she said. minister during the meeting that she
to prove them wrong.” Shehbaz calls for unity of the warrants. Ms Rehman, however, showed her was leading a delegation for meetings
Police said reinforcements were Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz called However, when the police reached reluctance in calling Mr Khan’s change of the Pak-US Climate and Environ-
on their way to Khan’s house to bring for national unity among the politi- Imran’s Zaman Park residence in La- in the tone “a welcome development”, ment Working Group.
the situation under control. cal leadership to address the country’s hore to arrest him on Tuesday, they were stating that the PPP would like to see She praised the “commitment and
TV footage showed tear gas shells challenges. He made the remarks while met with resistance, leading to two-day “some consistency” in his behavior, dedication with which the government
falling inside Khan’s house. speaking in the Senate during a session pitched battles between PTI support- keeping in view the past where “one of Pakistan had responded to the con-
Angered over the expected arrest to mark its golden jubilee celebration. ers and law enforcement agencies. The day he says one thing and then in the sequences of the last year’s devastating
of Khan, his supporters took to the In his speech, the premier said clashes ultimately subsided after the next 10 hours he says something else.” floods”.
streets across Pakistan, blocking some economic stability could not be courts intervened on Wednesday. “So, if this is consistent path of Principal Deputy Assistant Secre-
key roads near Islamabad while asking achieved without political stability. He late maturity then we would like to tary for South Central Asia Elizabeth
the government to refrain from arrest- claimed the coalition government had Can Newfound Flexibility Help see some demonstration of it”, said the Horst, Development Finance Corpora-
ing Khan. sacrificed their politics for the sake of Bridge Govt-PTI Gulf? minister, while making it clear that no tion Chief Climate Officer Jake Levine
“We will arrest this man on the the country by taking up the mantle (Continued from page 1) one could be allowed to challenge the and US Ambassador to Pakistan Don-
court order and he ran away to avoid during tough economic times… “uplift, interest and democracy”, se- writ of the state and the “behavior that ald Blome also attended the meeting.
arrest,” said Interior Minister Rana Amid unrest, Shehbaz offers to nior PTI leader Shibli Faraz termed Mr we are above the law is unacceptable.” The senior US diplomats affirmed
Sanaullah Khan, who is not related to parley with Imran Khan’s tweet the result of a “change” in On the other hand, Pakistan Mus- the Biden administration’s desire to en-
the former premier. He said Khan will A day earlier, PM Shehbaz had ex- the party policy, stating that the pres- lim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior hance Pakistan-US cooperation in the
be produced before the court. – AP tended an olive branch to Imran Khan, ent stalemate had paralyzed the coun- leader and Planning Minister Ah- areas of trade and investment, health,
emphasizing that all political forces try which was not moving forward and san Iqbal “welcomed” Mr Khan’s an- security and climate change.
IMF Wants Friendly Nations to Give will have to sit for dialogue to rid the was in “freefall”. nouncement, stating that the present The meeting was attended by Fi-
Funds to Pakistan before Deal country of the ongoing political and Mr Khan’s tweet came a day after government had always stressed the nance Minister Ishaq Dar, Economic
(Continued from page 1) economic crises. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had need for resolving political disputes Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Cli-
stan that’s racing against time to avoid “All political forces will have to sit emphasized that all political forces through dialogue. mate Change Minister Sherry Rehman,
a default. The country needs to repay together to take the country forward,” would have to sit for dialogue to rid the “We welcome it. Previously he Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Power
about $3 billion of debt by June, while the premier had said while addressing country of the ongoing political and [Imran] used to say that he is ready to Minister Khurram Dastgir and other
$4 billion is expected to be rolled over. a meeting held with a delegation of the economic crises. hold talks with India and TTP [Teh- senior officials. - APP
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