DRULAP

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HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Thursday night sentenced a former editor to jail for 21 months and immediately released another after both had earlier been found guilty of conspiring to publish seditious articles.

In a landmark case about media freedom, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet were convicted last month — the first time journalists have been found guilty of sedition since the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997.

Chung was sentenced to 21 months while Lam was given a sentence that allowed him to be released immediately on health grounds.

District Court Judge Kwok Wai-kin noted evidence from Lam’s lawyer on Thursday that he had serious autoimmune and advanced kidney disease and that prison could further endanger him.

Chung smiled as the judge said his colleague Lam would be released, and Lam’s wife wept.

Chung would have to serve around 10 months in jail given earlier remand custody.

Stand News, once Hong Kong’s leading online media outlet, was known for its hard-hitting reports about the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests and later the national security crackdown.

Under the colonial-era sedition law, the maximum sentencing is two years imprisonment and a fine of HKD5,000 ($642).

Western diplomats that included representatives from the United States, the European Union, France, Britain, Canada and Ireland witnessed the sentencing.

Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office, said earlier that the office was calling on Hong Kong authorities to review the court’s decision in line with obligations under international human rights law.

Twenty-three member states of the Media Freedom Coalition, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada, have similarly signed a statement, urging “Hong Kong and China authorities to abide by their international human rights commitments and legal obligations, and to respect freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong.”

A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s government said in a statement that the government “strongly disapproved of and rejected the fact-twisting remarks and baseless smears” by the coalition. Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said the security clampdown was needed to maintain stability after the pro-democracy protests.

Judge Kwok wrote in a verdict in August that “the political ideology of Stand News was localism” and “the line it took was to support and promote Hong Kong local autonomy.”

Hong Kong’s mostly youthful localist movement emerged in the 2010s amid political tensions with Beijing, emphasizing local identity and culture, as well as greater autonomy. Some supporters called for Hong Kong independence.

“I believe that during the offense period, the … defendants did not carry out real media work but participated in the so-called struggle at that time,” the judge said on Thursday.

In August, Chung wrote in a mitigation letter to the court that some Hong Kongers “care about the freedom and dignity of everyone in the community and are willing to pay the price of losing their own freedom.”

Lam wrote that “the only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report.”

Stand News was raided by police in December 2021, and its assets were frozen, leading to its closure.
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Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir — Voter turnout of just over 56% was reported Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir, the disputed, Indian-controlled territory holding its first legislative elections in ten years.

Two hundred thirty-nine candidates ran for 26 assembly constituencies in Wednesday’s voting, part two of the three-phase elections.  More than 2.5 million adults were eligible to cast ballots.

The elections took place under tight security arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.

“The polls ended peacefully in all the six districts. However, some stray incidents like arguments et cetera occurred at a few places but there is no need for re-poll anywhere,” Pandurang Kondbarao Pole, J&K Chief Electoral Officer, told reporters in a press conference.

Jammu and Kashmir is experiencing its first elections since the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party revoked its limited autonomy in 2019, downgrading its status to that of a union territory. 

Some locals see the elections as a battle between the BJP and the people of Kashmir, saying the government has systematically snatched away their rights over the last decade.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. I have boycotted elections ever since I became eligible to vote. Today I feel it’s necessary to cast a vote and send a message to New Delhi,” Ikhlaq Shah, a resident of Qamarwari, told VOA. “If we fail to act now, I believe the BJP government will impose its hazardous agenda against us.”

India, he said, is more interested in exploiting Jammu and Kashmir’s resources than caring for its people.

Shah expressed disappointment that regional political parties, particularly the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, are competing against each other in the elections despite sharing the common goal of throwing BJP out of J&K.

Muzamil Maqbool, a political analyst, told VOA that the parties have fragmented because their leaders are prioritizing personal interests. 

“Most of these mainstream parties were once colleagues of each other in the past. Now they have sprouted and formed their own separated parties to fight under different names and banners,” Maqbool said. 

The result, he predicted, is that none of them will win a majority in the J&K legislature.  

“It’s too early to say, but J&K may see a large coalition formed to govern after the October 2024 elections,” he said.

Shameem Ahmad Baba, a resident of old Srinagar, said voters are confused about the parties, who are accusing each other of being hidden allies of the BJP.

“There is a mass confusion among the people about who supports us and who stands with the government, as so many candidates are running this time,” Baba told VOA. “I wish the regional political parties had agreed on seat-sharing, as this would have helped keep New Delhi’s influence at bay.”

Muzaffar Shah, vice president of the Awami National Conference, or ANC, said that if all regional parties worked together under the banner of the now-dissolved Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, PAGD, it would have strengthened the movement of the local population. 

PAGD was a coalition of major parties created to press the demand that India revive J&K’s special status. 

“PAGD was recognized almost throughout diaspora of Kashmir and throughout the world,” Shah said. “Unfortunately, political parties in the alliance, they gave much more weightage to their organizational matters and power politics than the interests of people of region. That fact unfortunately led to the breakup.”

Meanwhile, a 16-member delegation of foreign diplomats from countries like the U.S., Mexico, Singapore and Norway visited Kashmir at the invitation of the Indian government.

Former Chief Minister of J&K, Omar Abdullah, lashed out at the central government for inviting foreign diplomats to observe the elections.

“If these diplomats comment on J&K the Government of India immediately says it’s an internal matter and they don’t want outside interference. If that’s the case, why are they inviting them now?” Abdullah said.

The third phase of the J&K elections takes place October 1. 
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London — As world leaders gather for the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, the charity Oxfam says they are being undermined by what it calls a “global oligarchy” of the super-rich who exert considerable control over the global economy – and who it blames for exacerbating problems like extreme inequality and climate change.

“Today, the world’s richest 1% own more wealth than 95% of humanity. The immense concentration of wealth, driven significantly by increased monopolistic corporate power, has allowed large corporations and the ultrarich who exercise control over them to use their vast resources to shape global rules in their favor, often at the expense of everyone else,” the Oxfam report says.

The charity says international cooperation on issues like climate change and poverty is failing due to extreme economic inequality.

“The wealth of the world’s five richest men has doubled since the start of this decade. And nearly five billion people have got poorer,” said Nabil Ahmed, the director of economic and racial justice at Oxfam America, in an interview with VOA.

Fair taxes

The report urges fairer taxation of large corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

“We live in a world in which mega-corporations… are paying next to or little to no tax basically. Not like the small businesses, not like the rest of us,” Ahmed said.

“It’s such a phenomenal lost opportunity because we know governments, rich and poor, across the world need to claw back these revenues to be able to invest in their people, to be able to meet their rights,” he added.

Oxfam praises a campaign led by Brazil, which currently holds the presidency of the G20, to impose a 2% minimum tax on the world’s richest billionaires. Brazil’s government claims it would raise up to $250 billion from about 3,000 individuals, to pay for healthcare, education and tackling climate change.

A report by the French economist Gabriel Zucman, commissioned by Brazil, suggests billionaires currently pay the equivalent of 0.3% of their wealth in taxes.

The plan is backed by other members including South Africa, Spain and France. However, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke against the move at a G20 meeting in July.

“Tax policy is very difficult to coordinate globally and we don’t see a need or really think it’s desirable to try to negotiate a global agreement on that. We think that all countries should make sure that their taxation systems are fair and progressive,” Yellen told reporters.

Private debt

Oxfam says tax revenues in the global south meanwhile are increasingly spent on servicing debt to private creditors like banks and hedge funds.

“This shift has exacerbated the debt crisis, further entrenching “debtocracy.” Compared with official creditors, private entities issue debt with shorter maturities and higher, more volatile interest rates,” the Oxfam report says.

Vaccines

The charity also accuses large pharmaceutical companies of shaping rules over intellectual property rights to benefit their shareholders. Oxfam says that during the COVID-19 pandemic, this meant poorer nations struggled to access coronavirus vaccines, such as the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer.

“Its negative impacts are most harshly felt by countries in the Global South, which bear the brunt of “artificial rationing,” where pharmaceutical corporations keep drug costs — and thus profits — high by limiting generic manufacturing, while simultaneously failing to invest in research and development for priority diseases in the Global South deemed less profitable,” Oxfam said.

Responding to VOA, Pfizer highlighted an open letter written by the company’s chairman Albert Bourla in 2021, in which he said the company had created a tiered pricing structure and had offered its mRNA coronavirus vaccine at cost price or for free to poorer nations. However, Bourla said that many richer countries moved faster to purchase the available doses.

“When we developed our tiered pricing policy, we reached out to all nations asking them to place orders so we could allocate doses for them. In reality, the high-income countries reserved most of the doses,” Bourla wrote.

Pfizer’s chairman also warned that losing intellectual property rights could “disincentivize” anyone else from taking a big financial risk in developing such vaccines, a view echoed by other large pharmaceutical giants.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday in a rare occurrence, adding to tensions in the region where multiple countries have overlapping territorial claims and both Beijing and Washington seek to project their influence.

The launch was part of routine training by the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, which is in charge of conventional and nuclear missile operations, and was not aimed at any country or target, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, landed in a designated area in the sea, the ministry said, without specifying where exactly.

China rarely tests ICBMs out in international waters, with some experts tracing the last such deployment back to May 1980, when Beijing launched a DF-5 missile into the South Pacific. Usually, the PLA test-fires ballistic missiles in China’s remote Xinjiang region or in the Bohai Sea.

Why the Pacific, why now?

China choosing the Pacific Ocean as the location for test-firing its missile comes across as both a display of its increased nuclear capabilities and as a warning to the United States and its allies in the region, experts say.

“There is no other potential audience, as China does not expect to have to confront the EU or the U.K. militarily,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London.

The test also comes weeks ahead of an expected call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden. It marks an increase in regional security tensions with U.S. allies Japan and the Philippines, and a continuation of frictions with the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it was monitoring the missile launch, along with other military exercises by China in the region.

The launch, coinciding with the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, “is a pretty blunt signal” to the international order, said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and a former U.S. defense official.

“China is signaling that its forbearance has limits, that it is prepared to use its most powerful weapons to deter adversaries or punish them if needed, if deterrence fails,” he said.

Wednesday’s launch also follows a series of corruption arrests this year that ensnared several leading officers in its rocket corps on allegations of misconduct. Its aim could be to both provide assurances at home and signal to the world that the issues have been resolved.

How strong is China’s military?

China boasts the world’s largest standing army and the biggest navy. Its military budget is the second highest in the world, after that of the U.S.

According to the U.S., China also has the largest air force in the Indo-Pacific, with more than half of its fighter planes consisting of fourth or fifth generation models. China also boasts a massive stockpile of missiles, along with stealth aircraft, bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons, advanced surface ships and nuclear-powered submarines.

In his more than a decade in power, Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has spearheaded the armed forces’ modernization, with investments in high-tech military technologies from stealth fighters to aircraft carriers and a growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.

China’s defense budget has more than doubled since 2015, even as the country’s economic growth rate has slowed considerably. A U.S. Department of Defense report last year said China has continued to strengthen the PLA’s ability to “fight and win wars against a strong enemy.”

How do China’s missiles compare to those of others?

The U.S. report also estimated China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and was on track to accumulate more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.

China has not revealed the size of its nuclear arsenal.

In comparison, Russia is believed to have a total inventory of more than 5,580 warheads — including 4,380 stockpiled warheads for operational forces, as well as an additional 1,200 retired warheads awaiting dismantlement — according to a report this year by the Federation of American Scientists.

The same report put the U.S. nuclear warheads at 5,044.

How common are missile tests in the region?

Few countries have ICBMs in their arsenal, and testing is usually restricted to their own territory. North Korea has carried out multiple ICBM tests since 2017, including firing a developmental solid-fueled missile in December that came down in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The U.S. earlier this year fired two unarmed ICBMs equipped with reentry vehicles from California and brought them down on an American test site in the Marshall Islands.
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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea announced plans Thursday to compensate famers and others in the country’s dwindling dog meat industry before a formal ban goes effect in 2027, a move that is drawing opposition from both farmers and animal rights activists.

South Korea’s parliament passed a landmark bill in January that will ban slaughtering, breeding or selling dog meat for human consumption after a three-year grace period. It will be punishable by 2-3 years in prison.

The Agriculture Ministry said that farmers would receive compensation starting from 225,000 won ($170), and rising up to 600,000 won ($450) per dog if they agree to shut down their business early.

It’s likely that farmers won’t accept the offer, as they earlier called for 2 million won ($1,505) per dog. They’ve said the ban infringes on their freedom and will aggravate their economic difficulties. In a statement Tuesday, an association of dog farmers called for the law to be amended to extend the grace period and add appropriate compensation plans.

Sangkyung Lee, a campaign manager at the Korean office of the anti-animal cruelty group Humane Society International, called the South Korean announcement “an important milestone in this historic ban that will see the ban through to completion and end our country’s dog meat era for good.”

But Lee said his office is “disappointed” at the South Korean plan because it would pay farmers based on the number of dogs they have, “potentially increasing dog breeding to get more money from the scheme and more puppies being born into suffering.”

Dog meat consumption is a centuries-old practice on the Korean Peninsula. Dog meat is eaten in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and some African countries. But South Korea’s dog meat industry has drawn more attention because of the country’s reputation as a cultural and economic powerhouse. It’s also the only nation with industrial-scale dog farms.

South Korea’s anti-dog meat campaign received a big boost from the country’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee, who repeatedly expressed her support for a prohibition. She was subjected to withering criticism and crude insults during demonstrations by farmers.

Surveys have found that that around one in three South Koreans opposes the ban, though most people now don’t eat dog meat and favor a ban.

Vice Agriculture Minster Park Beomsu told reporters that government studies found that about 466,000 dogs are currently being raised for food across South Korea. He said officials will try to convince farmers to voluntarily phase out dog breeding ahead of the ban.

After the ban comes into force, Park said, the government plans to facilitate adoptions for the remaining dogs or move them to care facilities rather than euthanize them.

The agriculture ministry said butchers will also be compensated, while local authorities will be responsible for dismantling dog farms and slaughterhouses. Former farmers and butchers will also get low-interest loans if they pivot to other agricultural businesses.

The ministry said authorities will also offer financial assistance to traders and restaurant owners to shut down their businesses and find new jobs.
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CHIANG RAI, Thailand — The severe and prolonged flooding that has deluged Thailand is devastating hundreds of thousands of residents and prompting calls for long-term solutions, including measures to mitigate the long-term impact of climate change.

Thailand suffers from an annual monsoon season from July to October. Although floods are common nationwide, authorities say this year has been the worst in decades.

Thanapon Piman, senior research fellow, SEI Asia Center, says climate change has contributed to the flooding.

“Climate change and La Niña … cause heavy rainfall over the region more than normal condition. For example, the monthly rainfall in Chiang Rai in August is higher [than] normal [by] 40% to 50%. Mae Sai has faced flooding six times in a month, which never happened before,” he told VOA.

The La Niña phenomenon is the natural cooling of the water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. It occurs every few years and affects weather worldwide.

Thanapon said authorities knew La Niña would make this season wetter than normal, but not that it would be so extreme. “This is certainly caused by climate changes.”

The floods were exacerbated by Typhoon Yagi, which rampaged through Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries in mid-September. Upwards of 150,000 families have been affected by the floods in Thailand, with 46 killed, according to Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.

“It triggered severe flash floods and mudslides over the north region. As the result of heavy rainfall since August, land turned into saturated soil. Thus, when the heavy rainfall from the Yagi Typhoon hit the region, it caused the extreme flooding,” Thanapon said.

“Flooding and extreme events happen [not] only [in] Thailand but also happen in Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Myanmar.”

In Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand, floods have intensified in recent days. Direct daily train service between Bangkok and Chiang Mai was temporarily affected by a landslide, while roads were flooded.

In Chiang Rai itself, the flooding has been a problem for weeks, with at least 1,268 families affected. Residents told VOA that the floods were waist-deep and even though they have subsided, foot-deep water remains in the streets while buildings are clogged with sludgy mud.

Chalermpon “Por” Thungkham owns a congee restaurant in Chiang Rai with his mother and father. He says the floods have ruined his home and business.

“The stuff for the food to prepare got damaged, the electricity got cut, everything is ruined inside. It was like this for three days until it got back to ‘normal,’ but then there was the mud. We wanted to clean the mud, but we didn’t have the water supply,” he told VOA.

He said his breakfast shop usually brings in around $30 per day, but the damage to his facilities is equal to a year’s worth of income. His family has been relying on aid trucks to bring everyday supplies.

“The flooding has caused more than maybe 300,000 THB ($9,168) of damage. The car, the furniture we need to fix. It will take one month to clean and re-open the restaurant,” he added. 

Fifty miles north in Mae Sai, on the border with Myanmar, relatives of the city’s residents have come from around the country to help repair and clean up ruined homes. One of those is Sky, a hairdresser who works in Bangkok.

“I came back to Chiang Rai because I was worried about my mother and child who were trapped in our house for three days during the flooding,” she told VOA. “We still have mud on both sides of the house, and there is still mud in the kitchen and bathroom that needs to be cleaned. We have to wait for clean water.”

The Wat Tham Pha Chom Buddhist Temple has become a makeshift shelter for hundreds of residents in Mae Sai. Situated on a hill, the religious sanctuary has been largely unaffected by the floods.

“After the big flooding, the people came to stay here,” said Phra Manatcha Pothisam, a monk and acting director of Wat Tham Pha Chom, who spoke to VOA amid stacked water containers and piles of second-hand clothes for those in need. 

“There was around 300 people, men and women are separated, but we provide food for meals, drinking water, and some clothes. This is from donations and government subsidies. Right now there are 150 people live here,” he said.

“Many of the villagers were very scared. This temple is the place for meditation [and] has been supported by the people, so we need to give back.”

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who became Thailand’s 31st prime minister in August, has said the government’s top priority is addressing the flooding, and called for the mud to be cleared in Chiang Rai promptly.

Economically, the floods could cause Thailand up to $176 million in damages, Thailand’s Chamber of Commerce has estimated.

But Arisara Lekkham, a lecturer at the School of Law at the Mae Fah Luang University in Chiang Rai insists Thailand needs a long-term plan to combat the flooding.

“Flood management should become a regular, year-round effort rather than a reactive, seasonal approach,” she told VOA.

“Many houses are damaged, and it will take months before people can return to their homes. It is proposed that the government implement additional relief measures for the affected people. The lessons learned from the Chiang Rai floods should be applied to other areas currently facing flood problems, especially regarding early warning systems,” she added.
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HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court is due to sentence two former editors on Thursday who have been found guilty of sedition after publishing articles about the national security crackdown in the city under China — a ruling that has prompted an international outcry.

In a landmark case about media freedom, Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam of the now-defunct Stand News media outlet were convicted last month — the first time that journalists have been found guilty of sedition since the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997.

Chung, 55, and Lam, 36, had pleaded not guilty. Stand News, once Hong Kong’s leading online media outlet, was known for its hard-hitting reports about the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests and later the national security crackdown.

Under Hong Kong law, they could be jailed for up to two years.

Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office, said the office was calling on Hong Kong authorities to review the court’s decision in line with obligations under international human rights law.

Twenty-three member states of the Media Freedom Coalition, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada, have similarly signed a statement, urging “Hong Kong and China authorities to abide by their international human rights commitments and legal obligations, and to respect freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong.”

A spokesperson for Hong Kong’s government said in a statement that the government “strongly disapproved of and rejected the fact-twisting remarks and baseless smears” by the coalition. Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said the security clampdown —which has included tighter laws — has been needed to maintain stability after the pro-democracy protests.

During the 57-day trial, the prosecution argued that Stand News had acted as a political platform to promote “illegal” ideologies and incited readers’ hatred against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments.

Chung wrote in a letter to the court that some Hong Kongers “care about the freedom and dignity of everyone in the community and are willing to pay the price of losing their own freedom.”

“Recording and reporting their stories and thoughts truthfully is an unavoidable responsibility for journalists,” Chung wrote.

Lam wrote that “the only way for journalists to defend press freedom is to report.”

Stand News was raided by police in December 2021 and its assets were frozen, leading to its closure.
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islamabad — Pakistan reported Wednesday that the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, had approved a crucial $7 billion loan for the cash-strapped nation struggling to meet its external financing needs.

In a statement issued by his office, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “expressed satisfaction” and hailed the IMF’s approval of the much-needed loan. He also thanked Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF chief, and his own economic team for successfully negotiating the agreement, the statement said.

The Washington-based global lender was expected to release a separate statement.

Pakistani media reports said the IMF had agreed to the 37-month loan agreement for the South Asian nation under the Extended Fund Facility and authorized the immediate release of the first tranche of nearly $1.1 billion.

Sharif, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly session, told Pakistani media representatives before Wednesday’s approval that his government had met all of the lender’s conditions.

He stated that the lender had “set stringent conditions” for the loan program preliminarily agreed to in July. The prime minister credited Pakistan’s longtime allies, China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with helping Islamabad finalize the IMF deal, but he did not elaborate.

Pakistan was required to seek an extension on existing $5 billion, $4 billion and $3 billion cash loan agreements from Riyadh, Beijing and Abu Dhabi to fulfill a critical IMF condition.

Islamabad reportedly has committed not to repay more than $12 billion in debt to three allied nations and Kuwait during the 37-month IMF program period.

The new $7 billion loan is Pakistan’s 25th IMF program since it gained  independence in 1947 — the highest number acquired by any country.

“We are committed to ensuring this is the last time we seek such financial support from the IMF,” Sharif reiterated while speaking to Pakistani media in New York. However, critics remain skeptical about his assertions.

Experts blame chronic economic mismanagement, corruption, repeated dictatorial military regimes, and the failure of successive elected governments to introduce much-needed reforms for the financial troubles facing Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country of more than 240 million people.

Islamabad has managed its external funding needs in the past with loans, economic support from its long-standing allies and IMF financial assistance.

Historic inflation

Experts describe Pakistan’s latest economic crisis as the most prolonged. Inflation reached historic levels, pushing the country to the brink of default on its external payments before an IMF bailout helped avert the crisis last summer.

Inflation has since eased, and credit ratings agency Moody’s has upgraded Pakistan’s local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings, citing improved macroeconomic conditions and moderately better government liquidity and external positions.

The Sharif administration also has ramped up efforts to increase its tax intake in line with the IMF requirements, despite protests by traders and opposition parties over the new tax scheme and high energy rates.

The Asian Development Bank, or ADB, said in a Wednesday report that Pakistan’s economic outlook hinges on continued and effective economic reform. It expected the IMF loan program to enhance the country’s macroeconomic stability, consolidate public finances, expand social spending and protection, and rebuild foreign exchange, among other things.

“The new government has committed to the necessary stabilization and structural reforms but faces challenges owing to elevated political and institutional tensions and the prospects of social unrest from a steep drop in real incomes,” the ADB warned.

Pakistan’s economic troubles have deepened because of the political turmoil that hit the country in April 2022 when then-Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office through a controversial opposition-led parliamentary vote of no confidence.

Khan, who has been imprisoned for more than a year on contentious charges, is the most popular politician in Pakistan. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party has been organizing anti-government protests.

The party alleges that election authorities rigged the February 8 parliamentary polls to hinder Khan-backed candidates from winning and helped military-backed parties’ allies to form a coalition government, charges Sharif and army officials deny.

Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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