Thousands of supporters of Pakistan's imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan and members of other political parties blocked key highways and started a day-long strike in the volatile southwestern province of Balochistan on Monday to protest against the alleged rigging of last week's elections.
Independent candidates backed by Khan secured 93 out of 265 seats contested in the National Assembly, or lower house of parliament – more than the political parties who ousted him from power nearly two years ago, according to the final tally published on Sunday.
The Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, secured 75 seats, the most among parties, and is in talks with allies to form a coalition government.
One result has been withheld and another vote was postponed because of a candidate’s death.
Thursday's vote was overshadowed by the vote-rigging allegations, a shutdown of mobile phone services, and the exclusion of Khan, who could not run because of criminal convictions he says are politically motivated. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, was also barred from taking part, prompting members to run as independents.
Candidates backed by the PTI and from other parties refused to accept their defeats in dozens of constituencies. Supporters of Khan's party blocked traffic in the northern city of Peshawar on Sunday, while dozens were briefly detained after protesting in the eastern city of Lahore.
Jan Achakzai, a government spokesman in Balochistan, urged protesters there to “show grace” by accepting defeat and clearing the motorways.
Mr Sharif's party is now in coalition talks with the Pakistan People’s Party, or PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, which came in third with 54 seats. The campaign to oust Khan from office in a no-confidence vote in 2022 was led by the PML-N and the PPP.
They have “agreed in principle to save the country from political instability”, according to a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday night by Mr Sharif's brother Shehbaz Sharif, president of the PML-N.
Officials from both the PML-N and the PPP, however, said talks were snagged over which party's leader would get the prime minister's post.
"Both sides are interested to form a coalition, but there is no breakthrough so far. Both parties want the office of prime minister," a top PML-N leader close to the Sharifs told Reuters.
The PML-N has not named its prime ministerial candidate, but officials say the choice will be between Nawaz Sharif, 74, and his younger brother Shehbaz, 72, who held the post for 18 months until August last year.
The PPP has always maintained Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari, as its candidate for the prime ministership. At 35, he would become Pakistan's youngest premier since his mother, who began the first of two terms as head of government at the age of 40 in 1993.
A successful coalition between the PML-N and PPP would decrease the leverage of election winners supported by Khan. However, some these candidates could opt to join either party, or form a coalition with a smaller party to block either candidate, analysts say.
At least one Khan-backed candidate has already switched sides to join PML-N, and it is possible others may also change allegiances.
PTI Chairman Gohar Khan told Geo Television the rest of the independent candidates “are in touch with us and will stay with us only.” He also ruled out forging an alliance with PML-N or the PPP.
“It is better to sit in the opposition than to make a government with them,” he told the Dawn News show.
Many more former PTI members who did not win seats are contesting the result in court, which could further hold up the formation of Pakistan's next government.
With reporting from agencies
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENetflix%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKris%20Fade%2C%20Ebraheem%20Al%20Samadi%2C%20Zeina%20Khoury%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
