Pakistan's main opposition party, led by former prime minister Imran Khan, has been left reeling following a string of resignations.
At least 20 senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders have stepped down after expressing their unhappiness with a perceived lack of discipline in the party's ranks after Mr Khan's arrest.
Protests broke out after the arrest of former prime minister. Despite his release days later, more of the party's members continue to be detained weeks later after thousands took to the streets and damaged government property.
The protesters caused $22.3 million in damages to private and public property – $870,000 in Islamabad, $504,216 in Rawalpindi and $20.8 million across Punjab province – while more than 70 public and private sites were damaged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
The violence has killed at least 10 and wounded hundreds more.
Police have arrested thousands, with the Lahore branch urging the Federal Investigation Agency to impose travel restrictions on 746 PTI leaders and activists.
Mr Khan has said he expects to be rearrested any day now after several PTI office bearers, including former finance and planning minister Asad Umar, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were detained under a colonial-era law.
The Maintenance of Public Order law allows the government to detain anyone for at least 30 days.
But almost as fast as the police can make arrests, the judiciary has issued orders for the release of PTI supporters.
That has not stopped some PTI members from resigning after criticising their own members and supporters for being responsible for the violence on the streets.
Former Information Minister and PTI vice president Fawad Chaudry stepped down last week.
Mr Chaudry, who condemned the violence that broke out during protests on May 9, said in a tweet that he was taking a break from politics and “parting ways” with Imran Khan.
However, former finance minister KP Jaghra told The National that the constitution and country's laws had been flouted, “leaving us with one of the most severe campaigns of political repression in history”.
“It may even surpass any previous autocratic rule,” he said.
Mr Jaghra said PTI leaders were resigning because they been given a choice – to either stay with the party and face imprisonment and false charges or depart.
“People can choose to embrace or reject this idea, and no number of resignations can alter that,” he said.
Samar Bilour, a former minister and spokesman for the Awami National Party, part of a 13-party alliance called the Pakistan Democratic Movement that is a political rival to the PTI, told The National that now Mr Khan's party was out of power, it was looking to blame the establishment for its ills.
The riots cannot be swept “under the carpet” and those who committed criminal acts should be punished, she said.
She encouraged PTI leaders to reflect on the protests and rectify their mistakes.
Despite numerous struggles, arrest warrants and attempts to accuse Mr Khan of corruption, the resignations have yet to reach the levels registered in 2017 and 2018, when several elected members defected to the PTI from the rival PML-N.
The defectors joined the PTI, marking a major turning point for Mr Khan's party.
“Just as he was brought into power, now the same thing is happening with Imran Khan,” said Lehaz Ali, a Pakistani political journalist.
“The way PTI was formed is now falling apart as his party supporters and leaders are being swept away and different cases are being implemented against him.”
However, Mr Ali said “wherever Imran Khan stands, the people support him and the votes will be with him in future”.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Results:
2.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh60,000 1,200m.
Winner: AZ Dhabyan, Adam McLean (jockey), Saleha Al Ghurair (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 1,200m.
Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
3.15pm: Conditions (PA) Dh60,000 2,000m.
Winner: Hareer Al Reef, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
3.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 1,700m.
Winner: Kenz Al Reef, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
4.15pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup (TB) Dh 200,000 1,700m.
Winner: Mystique Moon, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
4.45pm: The Crown Prince Of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 1,200m.
Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More on animal trafficking
More on animal trafficking
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m. Winner: Rio Angie, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,600m. Winner: Trenchard, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m. Winner: Mulfit, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 1,200m. Winner: Waady, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 2,000m. Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
9.25pm:Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m. Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Hidden killer
Sepsis arises when the body tries to fight an infection but damages its own tissue and organs in the process.
The World Health Organisation estimates it affects about 30 million people each year and that about six million die.
Of those about three million are newborns and 1.2 are young children.
Patients with septic shock must often have limbs amputated if clots in their limbs prevent blood flow, causing the limbs to die.
Campaigners say the condition is often diagnosed far too late by medical professionals and that many patients wait too long to seek treatment, confusing the symptoms with flu.
More on animal trafficking
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More on Quran memorisation:
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
The specs
Engine: 2.2-litre, turbodiesel
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Power: 160hp
Torque: 385Nm
Price: Dh116,900
On sale: now
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
