Pak law minister says polls not possible till new census approved



International Desk, Barta24.com
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Pakistan's Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said holding the general elections based on the 2023 digital census was not feasible before January or February of 2024, The News International reported.

Talking to Geo News on Saturday, Tarar said a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif "unanimously" approved new census results.

Referring the Article 51 of the Constitution, the law minister said that the general elections for the national and provincial assemblies will be conducted as per the limits of the constituencies published by the Commission, The News International reported.

The Law minister said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is to complete the delimitation process within an outer limit of 120 days. However, it is the prerogative of the ECP how soon they start the process.

He maintained that the census 2023 results show that provinces' share in the general seats of the National Assembly will not change in the next elections, The News International reported.

The outer limit of 120 days can be reduced by effective work, the law minister said, adding that 54 more days are required for holding the general elections.

The entire process should not go beyond 150 to 165 days, he added.

The minister said that all eight members of the CCI agreed on holding the upcoming elections on the basis of Census 2023, The News International reported.

PM Shehbaz Sharif, all four chief ministers and other members of the body were among the attendees at the meeting, he added.

Earlier in the day, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting "unanimously" approved the 2023 census.

PM Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of the CCI to decide the fate of the 2023 census amid reports of division among the coalition partners over the matter.

The meeting was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, according to sources.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Adviser to the PM on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira and other officials also participated in the huddle, The News International reported.

According to the sources, the Ministry of Planning briefed the participants on the digital census. Moreover, the results of the 2023 census were also presented during the CCI meeting.

The meeting was also briefed that Pakistan's population has reached 240.10 million.

The insiders said the CCI huddle unanimously approved the latest digital census despite the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key ally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government, had publicly expressed reservations over it.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) also reportedly informed the federal government that it had completed all the formalities, The News International reported.

The general elections are likely to be delayed by a couple of months as the ECP would need additional time to conduct the delimitation exercise afresh.

Under the law, if a new census is notified, the ECP is bound to hold elections on the basis of new data.

It is important to note that the ruling coalition has agreed to dissolve the National Assembly prematurely on August 9 - three days before its term ends - giving the electoral body 90 days to conduct polls.

The two main coalition partners of PM Shehbaz Sharif - Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and PPP - hold opposite views on the enumeration.
The PPP has on multiple occasions said that polls should be held on the basis of the 2017 census, reiterating that any delay in polls will not be accepted.

On Friday, speaking on the floor of the Senate, Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said the census issue was controversial and would open up a new Pandora's box of delimitation of constituencies.

"This issue could be used to delay the election. We don't want elections to be delayed, rather it should be held on time and under the Constitution," she maintained.

On the other hand, MQM-P has shared its concerns on the matter with the prime minister, stressing that elections on the previous enumeration would not be acceptable.

Speaking to Geo News on Friday, former secretary, ECP, Kanwar Dilshad said if the CCI approves the census for this year, the elections will be held next year, The News International reported.

"If the gazette notification of the new digital census is issued on the recommendations of the CCI, then the ECP is legally bound under Article 51(5) of the Constitution to conduct fresh delimitation," he added.

   

Hamas says 'yes' to Gaza ceasefire



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Hamas has accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Qatar and Egypt. But so far nothing has been reported from Israel in this regard. They are looking into the matter.

On Monday (May 6), Qatar-based media Al Jazeera reported this information.

According to a statement by Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, the head of Hamas' political wing, Ismail Haniya, called Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and informed him that Hamas had approved the proposal for a ceasefire agreement. Ismail Hania also said the same thing to the Minister of Intelligence of Egypt, Abbas Kamal.

Meanwhile, the residents of Gaza expressed joy at the news of Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire.

It should be noted that at least 34 thousand 737 people have been killed and 78 thousand 108 people have been injured in the Israeli attack on Gaza since October 7. And the number of dead in Israel is 1 thousand 139 people.

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Campuses can be battlegrounds around graduation ceremonies in the United States



International Desk, Barta24.com,Dhaka
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Protests against the Israeli attack on Gaza have erupted in several US universities. The student protests there have entered their second week. Last Saturday (May 4), police arrested at least 25 more pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Virginia.

Al-Jazeera reported that more than two and a half thousand students have been arrested from campuses across the United States. In the meantime, graduation ceremony in universities is approaching.

It is feared that various university campuses in the United States may turn into battlefields around graduation ceremonies in the coming days.

At 47 US universities, students are protesting against Israeli aggression and genocide in Gaza. This protest has been going on since April 17. Since the beginning, the police have used excessive force to suppress this peaceful protest.

In this way, the rights activists protested the suppression of the protest and the arrest of the protesting students. They demanded to ensure the freedom of expression of the students.

Graduation ceremonies are scheduled for the end of this week at four universities hit by protests. The event is scheduled to take place this month or next June at several other universities, including New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of the protests.

The university authorities fear that the protesting students may disrupt the graduation ceremony. For this reason, the authorities are taking initiatives to strengthen the security system.

The protesting students have threatened that if their demands are not met, they are thinking of alternative programs including boycotting these events and walking out of the venue. In such circumstances, some universities have canceled these programs. Some are procrastinating.

The peaceful protests at the University of Virginia continued until Saturday morning. At that time a video spread among the students. In the video, police are seen detaining some protesting students from the campus lawn.

Apart from this, the police are using chemical sprays to quell the protests. After that the protest turned into a riot.

In a statement, University President Jim Ryan said that the protesters were detained when campus security informed the police that they would be protesting in tents last Friday night. However, it is not clear how many university students are among those detained.

Pro-Palestinians protest in front of the stage at the graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan. But this protest was peaceful. Campus police quickly surrounded the protesters and escorted them to the back of the stadium. But dozens of students dressed in flags, kaffiahs and graduation caps staged a university graduation ceremony.

A day later, Northeastern University and Ohio State University were supposed to hold the closing ceremony on Sunday, but the commencement ceremony was disrupted.

Meanwhile, apart from the United States, this protest has now spread to new countries. Students from France, UK, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Lebanon, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Mexico have come to protest for the Palestinians.

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Israel launched a ground attack in Rafah amid ceasefire talks



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Israel launched a ground attack in Rafah in the midst of Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks in Gaza.

A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas is in the Egyptian capital for ceasefire and prisoner-release talks. Sources said Ceasefire talks have progressed.

International media Al Jazeera reported in a report that despite the negotiations, Israel continued its ground attack on Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to meet with mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to negotiate a 40-day ceasefire, according to reports published by the United Kingdom.

The talks are at a critical stage, sources told Al Jazeera, as a Qatari technical team is working out the details of a potential deal with the Egyptians.

As technical teams indicate, we are moving into the operational side of a deal. They are monitoring the issues in detail in this agreement.

A senior Hamas spokesman, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera, "It is clear that we are moving forward. There are some good points.

"So far we are still talking about the main issue, which is a complete ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from Gaza," he said. We hope to find some good and positive answers today.

Israel said it will continue to attack Rafah despite talk of a possible deal with Hamas. UN agencies and aid groups have long warned that the ground operation would spell disaster for the 15 lakh people taking refuge there.

Hamdan said, "Unfortunately, Netanyahu has made a clear statement that no matter what happens, if there is a ceasefire or not, he will continue to attack." That means there will be no ceasefire, and that means that the offensive will continue.

Al Jazeera's Ahlbara said the talks were focused on convincing Hamas that it should refrain from demanding a permanent ceasefire from Israel during the first phase of the deal because it is unlikely to happen.

On October 7, Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 people. During this time, more than 240 people were captured by Hamas.

Later, more than 34,600 Palestinians have died in Israel's attack on Gaza. More than 70 percent of Palestinian territory has been reduced to rubble, pushing the region toward famine.

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Attacks on environmental journalists are on the rise worldwide: UN



News Desk, Barta24.com
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According to a recently published report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, 44 environmental journalists from 15 countries around the world lost their lives in violent attacks from 2009 to 2023; And 24 people managed to return alive.

This information was reported in the report of the news agency Reuters on Friday (May 3).

According to the report, attacks on environmental journalists are increasing around the world. UNESCO representatives interviewed 905 environmental journalists from 129 countries to prepare the report.

In the interview, 749 out of 905 journalists (more than 70 percent) said that they had to face physical attacks or intimidation, threats, and pressure at some point in their lives to perform their professional duties. Many have also had to deal with the legal problems of detention and defamation cases.

Analyzing the cases of assault-harassment, it has been found that the cases of physical assault have occurred more among male journalists. On the other hand, women journalists are more victims of harassment.

Journalists have been attacked and harassed while reporting on various environmental issues. These issues include various mining irregularities, land tenure conflicts, deforestation, extreme weather related disasters, pollution and environmental damage, fossil fuel sector and its trade etc.

All of these attacks and harassment have come from individuals and groups associated with the power structure of the state. In this context, the UNESCO report said, 'Police, army, government officials and employees, people of local government authorities are responsible for these attacks and harassment. 

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