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A30 world news
Dialuna 11 aPRil 2022

Pakistan’s PM vows to fight on after Parliament ousts him

television channel Qureshi claims of international inter- tisan and divided place. He
said the party was still debat- ference,” she said. “His base has not only intensified po-
ing whether its lawmakers will remain loyal, though I litical rivalries, he has also
will resign from Parliament expect both his controversial defied and alienated key enti-
after the prime minister’s attempt to remain in power ties like the Army Chief and
vote is taken. and reduced military backing Pakistan’s foreign office,”
will lose him less committed said Kugelman. “It will take
Khan’s ouster comes amid supporters.” time for the country to pick
his cooling relations with up the pieces, and the com-
the powerful military and Khan would seem to have ing months will be politically
an economy struggling with few options going forward. turbulent.”
high inflation and a plum-
meting Pakistani rupee. General elections are not Sunday’s vote capped a
The opposition has charged scheduled before August week-long constitutional cri-
Khan’s government with 2023. Even if the new prime sis that had mesmerized the
economic mismanagement. minister favors early elec- nation. It began last Sunday
tions, this would likely not when Khan sought to side-
(AP) — The ouster of Khan was brought down af- Khan has claimed the U.S. happen before October. The step the no confidence vote
Prime Minister Imran ter a day of drama and often worked behind the scenes to Pakistan Election Commis- by dissolving Parliament
Khan in a parliamentary vitriolic remarks. His sup- bring him down, purport- sion, which oversees polls, and calling early elections, It
no-confidence vote early porters accused Washington edly because of Washington’s told the Supreme Court last was then left to the Supreme
Sunday set Pakistan on an of orchestrating his ouster displeasure over his indepen- week it had still to finish re- Court to sort, eventually rul-
uncertain political path, and his party walked out of dent foreign policy choices, aligning constituencies in ing to reinstate Parliament
with his supporters taking Parliament shortly before the which often favor China and line with the results of a 2017 and demand the vote be he.
to the streets in protest vote. In the end, 174 law- Russia. He has occasion- census before polls could be
and the political opposi- makers in the 342-seat Par- ally defied America and stri- held. Khan has won international
tion preparing to install liament voted to depose him, dently criticized America’s praise for his handling of the
his replacement. two more than the required post 9/11 war on terror. Khan In the aftermath of Sunday’s COVID pandemic opting for
simple majority. said America was deeply dis- vote, giant steel containers so called “smart lockdowns”
Tens of thousands of Khan turbed by his visit to Russia stacked on top of each other where outbreaks occurred
supporters marched in cities Khan’s successor is to be and his meeting with Russian blocked main roads leading rather than countrywide
across Pakistan, waving large elected and sworn in by Par- President Vladimir Putin on to Parliament and to the dip- closures that helped protect
party flags and vowing sup- liament on Monday. The Feb. 24, the start of the dev- lomatic enclave in the capital some industries like the con-
port. The youth, who make leading contender is Shah- astating war in Ukraine. of Islamabad. Khan has called struction sector. His reputa-
up the backbone of Khan’s baz Sharif, a brother of dis- on his supporters to gather tion for fighting corruption
supporters, dominated the graced former prime minis- The U.S. State Department late Sunday, after the end has brought a record $21 bil-
crowds. ter Nawaz Sharif. has denied his allegations. of the daily dawn-to-dusk lion in deposits from over-
fast during the Muslim holy seas Pakistanis.
In the southern Arabian Sea Shahbaz Sharif heads the Elizabeth Threlkeld, a Paki- month of Ramadan.
port city of Karachi more largest party in a diverse al- stan expert at the U.S.-based But he has not been able to
than 20,000 shouted slogans liance of opposition factions The Stimson Center, said Michael Kugelman, deputy overcome an increasingly
promising Khan’s return to that span the spectrum from that even as prime minister, director of the Asia Program strained relationship with the
power. In the capital of Islam- the left to radically religious. Khan often played the role of at the Washington-based Wil- army, which has ruled Paki-
abad, the lights from thou- Khan’s nominee for prime opposition leader. son Center, predicted a tur- stan directly for more than
sands of supporters lit up the minister will be his foreign bulent time ahead for Paki- half its 75-year history and
night sky as Khan made his minister Shah Mahmood “His removal would see stan. indirectly from the sidelines
way through the crowd atop Qureshi. him to a role he knows well, when civilian governments
a brightly colored truck. armed with a narrative of vic- “Khan’s defeat would also ruled.
In an interview on a local timhood from unfounded leave Pakistan a bitterly par-

Some sirens sound in Poland’s disputed memorial observance

(AP) — Sirens went off in lensk, Russia. from neighboring Ukraine, nothing to be afraid of.” and alarm, not for celebra-
some Polish cities early traumatized by air raid tions,” said Adam Glogowski,
Sunday to mark the anni- Kaczynski was the twin of alarms, to not use the sirens. But to many Poles the use of a retired fireman. “We don’t
versary of the 2010 presi- Jaroslaw Kaczynski who is Some 2.6 million refugees — sirens was a bad idea. need sirens to remember, to
dential plane crash, de- the leader of the main rul- mostly women and children honor the crash victims.”
spite widespread protests ing Law and Justice party and — have crossed into Poland “This is a system for warning
that their sound would Poland’s key politician. The since Feb. 24, when Russia’s
be unnecessary trauma to brothers founded the party in troops invaded Ukraine and
hundreds of thousands of 2001. started bombing it. Many
refugees from the war in require psychological care to
Ukraine. Wreaths and flowers were deal with their trauma.
laid in Warsaw and across the
The sirens were intended to country at the monuments The authorities were send-
add to the significance and and graves to the victims of ing text messages to refugees’
the plaintive character of ob- the national tragedy. Jaroslaw phones and posting pub-
servances honoring late Pres- Kaczynski and party figures lic warnings that the sirens
ident Lech Kaczynski, the were at the monuments to would mean no danger.
first lady and 94 other promi- the late president and to all
nent Poles killed 12 years ago the victims, in downtown The head of a Ukrainian sup-
in a plane accident in Russia. Warsaw. port center in Warsaw, My-
roslava Keryk, said that the
The sirens were heard at Provincial governors, who “Ukrainian mothers had time
0641 GMT, the exact time represent the central govern- to explain to their children
the presidential plane crashed ment, ignored widespread that the sirens will not sound
on April 10, 2010, near Smo- calls of concern for refugees an air raid and that there was