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HomeGo To PakistanAs Shahbaz Sharif is arrested, Pakistan readies to accept IMF bailout

As Shahbaz Sharif is arrested, Pakistan readies to accept IMF bailout

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Here’s what’s happening across the border: Former Pakistan ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani is issued a ‘perpetual arrest warrant’ and a first Pakistan Netflix series may be on the cards.

National Accountability Bureau arrests Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shahbaz

The Imran Khan government is moving quickly to consolidate power, with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Friday arresting former Punjab chief minister and brother of Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif.

On Saturday, the NAB got a 10-day physical remand to interrogate the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader, despite vociferous protests by the Opposition and his own emotionally charged followers.

“I did not do anything illegal,” Shahbaz was quoted as saying during the hearing. “[I] have always worked for the prosperity of this country.

“We recovered millions from those who looted [the country] and deposited [the recoveries] in the national treasury,” he added.

Sharif is accused of ordering the cancellation of a contract for the Ashiana housing scheme to one Chaudhry Latif and Sons and instead awarding it to Lahore Casa Developers. According to NAB, this resulted in a loss of Rs 193 million to the Pakistani exchequer.

Sharif has challenged the claim. “Chaudhry Latif is an absconder in an anti-corruption case,” his counsel Amjad Pervez said, adding, “In one case, Chaudhry Latif’s company is blacklisted.”

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif, out on bail – he was arrested on the charge of corruption in the Avenfield, London flats case – has held the PTI government responsible for his brother’s arrest.

Nawaz has described it as “the worst case of victimization.”

As Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves drop, IMF bailout imminent

As Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves dropped to an alarming $8.4 billion, a team that negotiated with a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) team this week told Prime Minister Imran Khan that an IMF bailout remained the only viable option.

On Friday, finance minister Asad Umar said it was ready to take “further corrective measures…to restore economic stability and inclusive growth,” Dawn reported, setting the stage for a second IMF bailout. The first had come in 2014.

At a Thursday meeting between Khan, Asad Umar, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Tariq Bajwa and advisor to PM Ishrat Hussain, the alarming state of Pakistan’s economy was conveyed to the PM.

SBP governor told Khan that foreign currency reserves have dropped to $8.4 billion. The last time this had happened was on 21 November, 2014, when the national reserves had dipped to $8.5 billion.

In recent weeks, Khan has hoped that Saudi Arabia and China will bail out the Pakistan economy – he personally visited Riyadh, while Pakistan army chief General Javed Qamar Bawa made a trip to Beijing – so that he doesn’t have to accept the humiliating terms of the IMF.

Government sources told Dawn that the real problem was that Khan did not want to take such a tough decision in the first 100 days of his government, and certainly not before by-elections on 14 October. The sources pointed out that his “political campaign had been based on getting rid of begging bowl.”

Hussain Haqqani issued warrant of ‘perpetual arrest’

A “perpetual warrant of arrest” has been issued Friday for former Pakistani ambassador to the US (and ThePrint columnist) Hussain Haqqani, on the charges of committing “criminal breach of trust, misuse of authority and embezzlement of funds.”

Nadeem Akhtar, an officer of the Federal Investigation Agency, one of Pakistan’s many intelligence agencies, told the special court judge that Haqqani had gone into “hiding and is deliberately avoiding appearing before the court”.

The case refers to the 2011 “memo” that Haqqani, at the time ambassador to the US during the Asif Ali Zardari-led government, delivered to then US admiral Mike Mullen.

The memo allegedly offered greater Pakistani cooperation with the US in return for Washington backing the civilian government against Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. This memo was delivered in the immediate aftermath of the 2 May, 2011, raid by the US inside Pakistan in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

At the time the PML-N was the main opposition party. It had filed a petition in the apex court, asking it to launch an investigation. Ironically, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, only six years later in 2017, was outmaneuvered by the same military establishment in an alleged case of corruption.

Pakistan folklore perfect for Netflix web series

Is Pakistan ready to make its own web-series on Netflix? The time may be ripe, says noted filmmaker Jami Mahmood of Moor fame. Certainly, Pakistan’s experience with its notorious censor has crippled its nascent film industry. Perhaps the individual dish antenna experience is the way forward.

Mahmood told The Express Tribune that it’s very important for Pakistan to now turn to web series. He said, “Stories like Black Mirror or Sacred Games (from India) cannot be played in cinemas. It has nudity, it touches up on religious issues and has a lot of inappropriate language, which can be a problem for the censor board.”

He feels that Netflix is now the future because unlike films, one can delve deep into storytelling with web series. Mahmood explained, “In order to make a good web series, you need a professional writer who can handle the content.  I’m not sure if we have any such writer in Pakistan because I haven’t come across any.”

Mahmood pointed out that Pakistan’s rich folklore is the perfect stuff from which stories can be told. “You have Sindh’s folk tales and political stories which can be like Pakistan’s version of House of Cards or Rajneeti,” he added.

He revealed, “I’m working on something with Netflix right now but I can’t reveal any details yet.”

It seems like we might have a Pakistani Netflix Original soon!

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2 COMMENTS

  1. The Sharifs, the Bhuttos and – now – Imran Khan are the pillars of Pakistan’s still very fragile democracy. None of them is imprudent enough to disregard the red lines the Army has drawn regarding its role in national life. The military leadership in turn should not cross the line that allows Pakistan to be ruled by a civilian government. How, for example, would GHQ deal with the country’s looming economic and financial crisis ? China, Saudi Arabia, the IMF, there are no Santa Clauses in real life. Pakistan needs to set its house in order, rein in its support to terror, create conditions for the country to prosper. Peace in India would help a great deal, as would a stable Afghanistan, which the rest of the world too desires. The military leadership needs to take a longer term view of Pakistan’s future as a successful country,

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