The role of president is largely ceremonial in Pakistan, but Zardari is known as a master of reconciliation and could help the governing coalition partners reach a consensus to steer the broken economy on a stabilization path ahead of seeking a new IMF bailout.

As president, Zardari will also be the supreme commander of the country’s armed forces, which play an oversized role in making or breaking governments.

Presiding officer Justice Amir Farooq announced the winner in a live TV broadcast.

Zardari got 411 votes, easily defeating the 181 votes cast for nationalist leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai, according to a statement from the parliament.

Achakzai was backed by jailed leader Imran Khan’s party.

The president is elected by votes in the lower and upper house of the parliament and four provincial legislative assemblies.

Zardari is the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and gained political stature after his wife’s assassination in a suicide bombing in December 2007, taking control of the PPP Party, in line with wishes expressed in her will.

He became president in 2008 and served until 2013, a period in which a US special forces raid inside Pakistan found and killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

Zardari’s greatest achievement during his first term was seen as the building of a rare political consensus on adopting a new legal and political framework to decentralize power and curb the presidential powers wielded by former military leaders.

From the early 1990s to 2004, he spent 11 years in jail on graft charges, which were never proven in any court and that he and his party called military-backed political victimization, a charge the army denies. – Rappler.com

The South Asian nation of 241 million people voted on Thursday in a general election, as the country struggles to recover from an economic crisis and battles militant violence in a deeply polarised political environment.

Both Khan and his main rival, three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, declared victory on Friday, increasing uncertainty over who will form the next government at a time when swift policy action is needed to address multiple challenges.

Gohar Khan, the chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) party who also acts as the former premier’s lawyer, called on “all institutions” in Pakistan to respect his party’s mandate.

At a press conference, he said if complete results of the polls were not released by Saturday night, the party would hold peaceful protests on Sunday outside government offices returning election results around the country.

Sharif said on Friday his party had emerged as the single largest group and would talk to other groups to form a coalition government.

By 5 pm (12:00 GMT) on Saturday, results were still not in for 10 of the 265 seats contested in the election – 48 hours since the polls closed.

The latest tally, posted on the election commission’s website, showed independent candidates had won 100 seats, with Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) taking 72 seats.

At least 90 of the victorious independent candidates were backed by Khan and his party, a Reuters analysis showed – putting them well ahead of Sharif’s party.

Khan’s supporters were running as independents because they had been barred from the polls by the election commission for not complying with electoral laws.

Despite the ban and Khan’s imprisonment for convictions on charges ranging from leaking state secrets to corruption to an unlawful marriage, millions of the former cricketer’s supporters came out to vote for him.

However, under Pakistan’s electoral laws, independent candidates are not eligible to be allocated reserved seats, 70 of which are meant to be distributed according to party strength. Sharif’s party could get up to 20 of these seats.

Khan’s close aide and media adviser, Zulfi Bukhari, told Reuters the party would announce within the next day the party banner they will ask independents to join. In Pakistan, independent candidates cannot form a government on their own and need to join a party.

“And we have no fear of independents going anywhere, because these are the people who have struggled for the last 18 months and endured all kinds of torture and oppression,” Bukhari told Reuters in a WhatsApp voice message.

Whoever seeks to form the next government would need support from other parties with no one close to the seat threshold for a simple majority in parliament.

Beside Khan and Sharif, the Pakistan Peoples Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto, remains a major player with at least 53 seats.

The rest were won by small parties and other independents. This sets up a period of intense political negotiations over the next few days before a parliamentary vote to elect a new prime minister and government can take place.

‘Stable hands’

Pakistan’s army chief congratulated the country on Saturday for the “successful conduct” of the election, saying the nation needed “stable hands” to move on from the politics of “anarchy and polarization.”

The military remains the country’s most powerful institution and has for decades had a huge role in making and breaking governments. Khan accuses the military of a crackdown on him and his party. The military denies this.

From jail, Khan released an audio-visual message created with artificial intelligence rather than having a statement read out by his lawyers, as is usually the case, in which he rejected Sharif’s claim to victory.

In the message posted on social media platform X, he called on his supporters to celebrate what he called a win that had been achieved despite a crackdown on his party and alleged poll rigging to limit the success of PTI-backed candidates.

The United States, Britain and the European Union on Friday each expressed concerns about the electoral process, urging a probe into reported irregularities.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron cited “serious concerns” that raised questions “about the fairness and lack of inclusivity of the elections.”

Pakistan’s foreign office responded to the comments on Saturday, saying they ignored the “undeniable fact” that the election had been successfully conducted.

“It is our hope that the process will be concluded effectively and it will reflect the will of the people,” said former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who is leading the Commonwealth team to observe the voting.

Jonathan called on those with grievances over the election to raise them in line with the laws of Pakistan. – Rappler.com

In the most recent such incidents, 26 people were killed in two explosions near electoral candidates’ offices in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Wednesday. Islamic State later claimed responsibility.

The election is also being held in the midst of a deep economic crisis and in a highly polarized political environment, and many analysts believe no clear winner may emerge.

Thousands of troops have been deployed at polling stations across the country and borders with Iran and Afghanistan were temporarily closed to facilitate a peaceful election.

“As a result of the recent incidents of terrorism in the country precious lives have been lost, security measures are essential to maintain the law and order situation and deal with possible threats,” the interior ministry said in a message on X.

The move to suspend mobile networks sparked criticism from leaders of opposition parties, with the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 35-year-old son of former premier Benazir Bhutto, calling for its “immediate restoration”.

“(I) have asked my party to approach both ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) and the courts for this purpose,” he posted on messaging platform X.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja said the decision on mobile networks was made by “law and order agencies” following Wednesday’s violence and the commission would not interfere in the matter.

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, in a post on X, called on people to remove passwords from their personal Wifi accounts “so anyone in the vicinity can have access to internet on this extremely important day”.

Some voters also expressed anger at the move to suspend mobile services.

“Due to this, the communication with voters and others are very difficult… we are facing so many problems due to the internet closure,” said 50-year-old Mehmood Chaudry, a school teacher who cast his vote in the city of Rawalpindi.

Despite tightened security, one person was killed when gunmen opened fire on a security forces vehicle in the northwestern area of Tank, a source in the intelligence services said.

There was no immediate confirmation from security forces.

Grenade attacks were also reported in different parts of Balochistan’s Kech district but polling remained unaffected since there were no casualties, Saeed Ahmed Umrani, commissioner of the Makran division, told Reuters.

The network suspension also follows Imran Khan’s call to his supporters, who had clashed with security forces while protesting his arrest last year, to wait outside polling booths until results are announced.

Khan cast his vote via postal ballot from a prison in Rawalpindi on Thursday morning, his party’s media team told Reuters.

Sharif the front-runner

Unofficial first results in the election are expected a few hours after voting closes at 5 p.m. (1200 GMT) and a clearer picture is likely to emerge early on Friday.

The main contests are expected to be between candidates backed by Khan, whose party won the last national election, and the Pakistan Muslim League of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, who is considered the front-runner.

Bhutto Zardari has also run an aggressive campaign in an outside bid for the top office.

In spite of the bitter winter cold, long queues began forming at polling stations hours before voting was due to start. “The country is at stake, why should I come late?” said 86-year-old Mumtaz, a housewife a decade older than Pakistan itself as she queued up in Islamabad.

Analysts say there may be no clear winner but the powerful generals could play a role. The military has dominated the nuclear-armed country either directly or indirectly in its 76 years of independence but for several years it has maintained it does not interfere in politics.

“The deciding factor is which side the powerful military and its security agencies are on,” said Abbas Nasir, a columnist. “Only a huge turnout in favour of PTI can change its fortunes.”

He added: “Economic challenges are so serious, grave, and the solutions so very painful that I am unsure how anyone who comes to power will steady the ship.”

If the election does not result in a clear majority for anyone, as analysts are predicting, tackling multiple challenges will be tricky – foremost being seeking a new bailout program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the current one expires in March. – Rappler.com

The main contests are expected to be between candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the last national election, and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) of three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, who is considered the front-runner.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 35-year-old son of former premier Benazir Bhutto, has also run an aggressive campaign in an outside bid for the top office.

Analysts say there may be no clear winner but Pakistan’s powerful generals could play a role. Pakistan’s military has dominated the nuclear-armed country either directly or indirectly in its 76 years of independence but for several years it has maintained it does not interfere in politics.

“The deciding factor is which side the powerful military and its security agencies are on,” said Abbas Nasir, a columnist. “Only a huge turnout in favor of PTI can change its fortunes.”

Khan believes the military is behind a crackdown to hound his party out of existence, while analysts and opponents say Sharif is being backed by the generals.

The two former prime ministers have switched places since the last election in 2018: Khan was believed to be backed by the military then and Sharif was in jail on corruption charges.

“Historically, engineered electoral exercises have not produced stability,” Nasir said, adding, “Economic challenges are so serious, grave, and the solutions so very painful that I am unsure how anyone who comes to power will steady the ship.”

If the election does not result in a clear majority for anyone, as analysts are predicting, tackling multiple challenges will be tricky – foremost being seeking a new bailout programme from International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the current one expires in March.

Unofficial first results are expected a few hours after voting closes at 5 pm (1200 GMT) and a clear picture is likely to emerge early on Friday.

Smaller political parties could play a crucial role in the formation of a government that will need 169 seats in the 336-member National Assembly. Voters directly elect 266 members while there are 70 reserved seats – 60 for women and 10 for non-Muslims – allotted according to the number of seats won by each party.

Independents, many of whom are being backed by Khan, are free to join any party if they win, which could swing fortunes after the vote. Khan has said his candidates will not back Sharif or Bhutto Zardari.

The elections also take place under the spectre of rising militant attacks. On the eve of the election, two blasts in election offices killed 26 people in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

The country is on high alert, with the military deployed at polling stations. Tens of thousands of troops and paramilitary soldiers have been put on duty across the country. Pakistan also said it was closing its borders with Iran and Afghanistan for the day for security purposes. – Rappler.com

It was the third adverse ruling against the embattled former prime minister this week and comes ahead of national elections on Thursday that he is barred from contesting.

Khan, 71, has in recent days been sentenced to 10 years for leaking state secrets and 14 years, along with his wife, for illegally selling state gifts. His representatives say he will launch appeals in all three cases.

It was not immediately clear if his various sentences would run concurrently.

Khan is in prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, while his wife will serve her sentence at their hilltop mansion in nearby Islamabad. He already faces a 10-year disqualification from holding public office.

“After hours of rushed hearings at court, no cross examination of witnesses, and no due process – a mockery of the law,” Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said in a statement.

“With the way these trials are being conducted, there will be a huge question mark on the February 8th elections. This is a test case for Pakistan’s higher judiciary.”

The couple were each fined 500,000 rupees ($1,800), ARY News reported.

Bushra was accused of not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat”, after divorcing her previous husband and marrying Khan.

The Khans signed their marriage contract, called a “Nikkah,” in January 2018 in a secret ceremony seven months before the charismatic former cricket superstar became prime minister for the first time.

There was controversy over whether they had wed before the period was complete. After initial denials of the January marriage, PTI confirmed it weeks later.

The Khans both denied any wrongdoing.

“Can say I’m a witness in the Nikkah and it’s a categorically yet another fake case,” Khan’s media advisor Zulfi Bukhari told Reuters. “From witnesses to the evidence to the procedure.”

Criminal complaint

Bushra’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, to whom she was married for about 30 years, brought a criminal complaint against the Khans, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Khan has often called Bushra his spiritual leader. She is known for her devotion to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam.

Born Bushra Riaz Watto, she changed her name to Khan after her marriage. Her husband and followers commonly refer to her as Bushra Bibi or Bushra Begum, titles that denote respect in Urdu.

It was not clear when or how Khan met Bushra, but former aide Aun Chaudhry said Khan was impressed with her spirituality.

Khan, who had acquired a playboy image in the 1990s as his cricket career took off, has said he is keenly interested in Sufism.

Khan’s two previous marriages – to Jemima Goldsmith, daughter of tycoon James Goldsmith, and television journalist Reham Nayyar Khan – ended in divorce.

Khan has been fighting dozens of cases since he was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022. He says his removal was backed by the powerful military with whom he fell out while in office.

He and his party say they have been subjected to a military-backed crackdown, including arrests of hundreds of supporters, party members and key aides.

The military, which has for decades held sway over Pakistan’s politics, denies the claims.

NAB, the anti-graft agency that put Khan on trial, has at various times investigated, tried, and jailed all prime ministers to have served since 2008, including Nawaz Sharif, whose party is considered the frontrunner in next week’s election. – Rappler.com

The verdict also includes a 10-year disqualification from holding public office, his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said. Bushra Khan, commonly known as Bushra Bibi, was arrested shortly after the verdict, PTI said.

The sentencing by an anti-graft court in Islamabad comes a day after Khan was handed a 10-year jail term in another case in which he was convicted of revealing state secrets, and a week before national elections.

“Another sad day in our judicial system history, which is being dismantled,” Khan’s media team said, denying the charges.

“No cross questioning allowed, no final argument concluded and decision pops up like a pre-determined process in play,” it said, adding “This ridiculous decision will also be challenged.”

Khan was also handed a three-year prison sentence in August by another court for selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his 2018-2022 premiership.

Wednesday’s verdict was linked to the same matter, but followed an investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which had also charged his wife in the case.

A prosecution team member, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the verdict. Local broadcaster Geo News reported that the verdict also came with a hefty fine.

Khan’s earlier three-year sentence was later suspended but Khan remains behind bars in connection with other cases. He has said that he legally purchased the state gifts.

Government officials have alleged Khan’s aides sold the gifts in Dubai.

Khan’s earlier conviction resulted in a five-year ban from holding public office, ruling the 71-year-old out of the upcoming Feb 8 election. Wednesday’s verdict, however, means that he will be ineligible to hold office till he is 81.

While Khan has been found guilty in two separate cases, this is the first sentencing for his wife Bushra. The two were married in 2018, months before Khan ascended to premiership for the first time. It was Khan’s third marriage after two divorces. – Rappler.com

The case pertains to allegations that Khan had made public contents of a secret cable sent by the country’s ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad.

Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said both Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had been sentenced to 10 years each by a special court.

It said the party would challenge the decision and called it a “sham case.”

“We don’t accept this illegal decision,” Khan’s lawyer Naeem Panjutha posted on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

It is the second conviction for the embattled former cricket star in recent months. He was previously sentenced to three years in a corruption case. While his jail term was suspended as he challenged the corruption conviction, it had already ruled him out of the country’s general elections next week.

Despite being ruled out of the election, Khan’s legal team was hoping to get him released from jail, where he has been since August last year away from the public eye.

The latest conviction means that is unlikely even as the charges are contested in a higher court.

Khan has been fighting dozens of cases since he was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in 2022.

Khan says the cable was proof of a conspiracy by the Pakistani military and US government to topple his government in 2022 after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington and the Pakistan military deny the accusations.

The former prime minister has previously said the contents of the cable appeared in the media from other sources. – Rappler.com

Russian aviation authorities said in a statement the plane was a charter ambulance flight traveling from India, via Uzbekistan to Moscow on a French-made Dassault Falcon 10 jet manufactured in 1978.

Police in northern Afghanistan received reports of a plane crash in Badakhshan province, a provincial police spokesperson said on Sunday.

India’s civil aviation authority said that the plane crash was not a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered aircraft and that “more details are awaited.”

The Afghan provincial police spokesperson said in a statement the crash had taken place overnight in a remote, mountainous region of Badakhshan in Afghanistan’s far north.

He said there were no confirmed details on the type of plane, cause of the crash or casualties. – Rappler.com

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: A Thai YouTuber made the claim in a video posted on his channel in December. A similar video was uploaded on December 20, 2023, with the title, “Lao crisis: UNESCO removes Luang Prabang from World Heritage status.” As of writing, it has 49,195 views, 1,100 likes, and 140 comments. 

Luang Prabang, one of Laos’ primary attractions, is known for its preservation of cultural and historic sites. False allegations about its removal from the World Heritage Sites list could potentially impact the town’s tourism prospects.

The facts: Phakhanxay Sikhanxay, director general of the Heritage Department within Laos’ Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism, issued a statement on December 22, 2023, debunking the “unfounded” claim. 

“We have not received any information or official document from UNESCO concerning the removal of Luang Prabang from the World Heritage list,” he said, adding that UNESCO has praised the exceptional preservation efforts on the site.

According to Phakhanxay, the misleading information was intended to sow confusion among locals and foreigners by using exaggerated video titles suggesting the removal of Luang Prabang’s World Heritage status. The actual content of the video merely highlights issues raised by UNESCO in an earlier report.

Heritage status concerns: The allegations surfaced following the UNESCO report in March 2023 expressing concerns about the Luang Prabang Hydropower Project and its potential negative impact on the town’s heritage sites. The report stressed the need for a Heritage Impact Assessment to ensure that the project will not pose a threat to the site’s “outstanding universal value.”

While Luang Prabang remains on the heritage list with no imminent delisting warnings, some concerns persist.

Minja Yang, former deputy director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, voiced fear over how the dam could “transform the historic riverside town into a lakeside one,” according to Nikkei Asia.

“If the second dam is indeed constructed, I believe Luang Prabang should be delisted,” Yang said.

World Heritage list: The town of Luang Prabang, located in northern Laos at the heart of a mountainous region and built on a peninsula formed by the Mekong River and Nam Khan River, was inscribed on the World Heritage List on December 9, 1995. The town earned its spot on the list thanks to its unique and “remarkably well-preserved townscape” blending traditional architecture with those built by European colonial authorities. 

The delisting of a site from UNESCO’s World Heritage list is based on the status of the preservation of the site and its maintenance. If the World Heritage Center has concerns about a site, it will inform the government to address the issue and, if needed, place the site on the list of World Heritage resources in danger. The site will be removed from the World Heritage list if the issues are not resolved. – Rappler.com

Jonathan Meadley is a #FactsMatter Journalism Fellow for 2023-2024. 

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British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said the Royal Navy’s Littoral Response Group would visit the Indian Ocean region this year and its Carrier Strike Group the next.

“There is absolutely no question that the world is becoming increasingly contested, so it’s vital that we continue to build on our strategic relationships with key partners like India,” Shapps said in a statement as his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh visited Britain.

“Together we share the same security challenges and are steadfast on our commitment to maintaining a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

Britain and India will also conduct more complex joint military exercises in the coming years, in support of their shared goal of protecting trade routes and ensuring maritime security, the British Ministry of Defence said. – Rappler.com