Pakistan's government on Saturday rejected a ultimatum for Prime Minister Imran Khan to step down as the military warned tens of thousands of opposition protesters gathered in the capital that they would not be allowed to “create instability”.
About 30,000 protesters led by the hardline Islamist Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party descended on Islamabad late on Thursday in a show of political force to demand the removal of the prime minister.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the JUI-F chief, told the Azadi March gathering on the city's outskirts on Friday night that Mr Khan had two days to resign.
“We will not be able to exercise any patience after that point,” he said.
But the demand was rejected as “out of the question” after Mr Khan's negotiation team held a day of meetings on how to deal with the stand-off.
Mr Rehman, a one-time Islamist firebrand who is seen as a wily political opportunist, alleges last year's general election was rigged and hopes to capitalise on public dismay at rising prices and an economic slump.
He asked “state institutions”, a term widely used to mean the country's powerful military, to stop supporting the “illegitimate government”. Opposition leaders claim Mr Khan won with backing from a military which has ruled Pakistan directly, or pulled strings behind the scenes, for much of its history. The military denies meddling in democracy.
Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the military's information wing, said Mr Rehman should “clarify which institution he is talking about”.
“Pakistan’s armed forces are an impartial state institution which always supports democratically elected governments,” he said.
“Nobody would be allowed to create instability as the country cannot afford chaos.”
Pervez Khattak, the defence minister, told a press conference on Saturday afternoon that there would be no discussion of the prime minister stepping down.
The protest is seen as the biggest political challenge of Mr Khan's premiership and also the first significant test of opposition strength during his tenure.
Mr Rehman's party has little political clout, but is seen as a potent grass-roots mobiliser through its network of religious schools and seminaries. Bigger opposition parties have lent their support, although they appeared to be hedging their bets to see what happens. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, and Shehbaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League, both addressed the gathering.
Major arteries in the city remained sealed by shipping container barricades, amid fears the protesters would break their agreement with the police and move into the capital's “red zone” housing embassies, ministries and the parliament.
Mr Khan, a former cricketer, rose to power in July 2018 on a campaign to sweep away the country's corrupt, dynastic political elite. He has since been fighting an economic slump and balance of payments deficit that have pushed up prices and unemployment. The economic crisis has taken the shine off his campaign promises for many voters, but his support base has been pleased to see several opposition leaders detained in an anti-corruption purge. The opposition says the prosecutions are politically motivated.
The protesters in Islamabad, who appeared to be mainly from the JUI-F heartlands in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, told The National they were prepared to stay there as long as needed.
“We are here to protest against the government. It's taking our very space to breathe with this economic crisis," said Azim Jan, a 63-year-old retired teacher from Quetta. "God willing, it will go. I will stay until the end.”
Mohibullah Khan, a JUI-F party worker from Balochistan, said: “We want to get rid of this new system, because there was no fair election. [Khan] came on the back of the army and the establishment. We will spend three days here and after that we will move to the centre of the city.”
Company profile
Name: Tharb
Started: December 2016
Founder: Eisa Alsubousi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Luxury leather goods
Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
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SPEC%20SHEET
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THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Read more from Johann Chacko
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
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
THE SPECS
GMC Sierra Denali 1500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Price: Dh232,500
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
Fight card
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) v Rey Nacionales (PHI)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) v Omar Hussein (JOR)
Strawweight (Female)
Weronika Zygmunt (POL) v Seo Ye-dam (KOR)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) v Walid Laidi (ALG)
Lightweight
Leandro Martins (BRA) v Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW)
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) v Sofiane Benchohra (ALG)
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR)
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
