FATF: Plenary meeting show good signs of a decision in Pakistan's favour

BERLIN, GERMANY: All eyes are on the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) plenary meeting concluding today (Friday), with Pakistan having high hopes to secure an 'onsite visit' which may lead Islamabad a step closer to get out of the grey list.

 A government official said in conversation with the BBC that the recent updates on the plenary meeting show good signs of a decision in Pakistan's favour.

He said that the consent and consolation of other countries in the meeting is also significant.

However, he said that matters will take seven to eight months to settle even if Pakistan makes its way out of the watch list as the FATF team will visit Pakistan for an inspection.

Sources said that the FATF had directed Pakistan to fulfil 34 conditions in two stages, which Pakistan accomplished. The country fulfilled 32 out of 34 conditions in the last FATF meeting and completed the remaining two in this meeting.

They said that the final decision could be delayed till the next FATF meeting scheduled to take place in Paris in October.

Pakistan had launched a massive diplomatic effort to get off the FATF grey list. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, who is also the chair of Pakistan’s National FATF Coordination Committee, is leading the Pakistan delegation at the plenary meeting that started on June 14.

Pakistan needs the votes of Turkey, China, and Malaysia to get off the list, and all three countries have assured the Pakistani authorities of full support. That's why there are now bright chances that Pakistan may finally exit the FATF grey list after its current meeting being held in Berlin, Germany.

According to sources, during the recent visits of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar to different countries, important discussions took place regarding FATF. In all these meetings, a soft attitude towards Pakistan was expressed by important countries.

Pakistan has implemented almost all points of the FATF Action Plan, except for the penalties, and Pakistan has made prosecutions and all relevant legal amendments.

Pakistan was placed on the FATF list of countries under increased monitoring in June, 2018.

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Lahore High Court seeks arguments from Hamza's counsel

A Lahore High Court larger bench on Thursday sought arguments from a counsel for Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz whether the court could nominate anyone to administer oath to a chief minister-elect if the governor refused to do so.

The bench headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan was hearing appeals of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) against three orders passed by single benches for oath-taking of Chief Minister Hamza.

Resuming his arguments, Advocate Mansoor Usman Awan, the counsel for Hamza, said the governor had no power to refuse oath to a chief minister even if it was written in the Constitution that votes of defectors were not counted. He said the governor could ask the chief minister for a vote of confidence but only after administering oath even if he believed that the election was not lawful. He said the presiding officer had the power to hold scrutiny of the votes.

PTI’s counsel Imtiaz Rasheed Siddiqui interrupted the chief minister’s counsel and said “then what power does the governor have.”

The bench asked the PTI’s counsel not to disrupt the proceedings and wait for his turn.

Later, the bench asked Mr Siddiqui about the letter of the then governor written to the president on the matter of the CM election. The counsel read the letter and said he personally believed that the governor was not given the right advice.

The bench asked former advocate general Ahmad Awais who was also present in court for his point of view as he had given the advice to the governor. Mr Awais said there was an extraordinary situation in the province.

The bench asked Mr Awais if he owned his advice as the governor refused to administer oath to the chief minister after his legal advice. The former advocate general said his advice was based on factual position.

The bench adjourned further hearing till June 28 and observed that the hearing would be completed before summer vacation in courts.

The appeals filed by the PTI argued that court had no jurisdiction to issue directions to the president of Pakistan and the governor. The appeals further argued that the PTI, the speaker, the governor and the president had not been given an opportunity of hearing by the court while issuing the impugned orders.

A single bench in its April 22 order had ruled that the governor could not refuse oath to a newly-elected chief minister of a province and expected that the president of Pakistan would nominate any person to administer oath to CM-elect Hamza without any delay.

The same bench, in its April 27 order on another petition of Mr Hamza, had advised the Punjab governor to ensure completion of the process of the administration of oath to the CM-elect, either himself or through his nominee within a day.

The third order was passed by another single bench on a third petition of Hamza wherein the National Assembly speaker was asked to administer oath to the CM-elect.

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Lahore High Court seeks arguments from Hamza's counsel

A Lahore High Court larger bench on Thursday sought arguments from a counsel for Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz whether the court could nominate anyone to administer oath to a chief minister-elect if the governor refused to do so.

The bench headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan was hearing appeals of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) against three orders passed by single benches for oath-taking of Chief Minister Hamza.

Resuming his arguments, Advocate Mansoor Usman Awan, the counsel for Hamza, said the governor had no power to refuse oath to a chief minister even if it was written in the Constitution that votes of defectors were not counted. He said the governor could ask the chief minister for a vote of confidence but only after administering oath even if he believed that the election was not lawful. He said the presiding officer had the power to hold scrutiny of the votes.

PTI’s counsel Imtiaz Rasheed Siddiqui interrupted the chief minister’s counsel and said “then what power does the governor have.”

The bench asked the PTI’s counsel not to disrupt the proceedings and wait for his turn.

Later, the bench asked Mr Siddiqui about the letter of the then governor written to the president on the matter of the CM election. The counsel read the letter and said he personally believed that the governor was not given the right advice.

The bench asked former advocate general Ahmad Awais who was also present in court for his point of view as he had given the advice to the governor. Mr Awais said there was an extraordinary situation in the province.

The bench asked Mr Awais if he owned his advice as the governor refused to administer oath to the chief minister after his legal advice. The former advocate general said his advice was based on factual position.

The bench adjourned further hearing till June 28 and observed that the hearing would be completed before summer vacation in courts.

The appeals filed by the PTI argued that court had no jurisdiction to issue directions to the president of Pakistan and the governor. The appeals further argued that the PTI, the speaker, the governor and the president had not been given an opportunity of hearing by the court while issuing the impugned orders.

A single bench in its April 22 order had ruled that the governor could not refuse oath to a newly-elected chief minister of a province and expected that the president of Pakistan would nominate any person to administer oath to CM-elect Hamza without any delay.

The same bench, in its April 27 order on another petition of Mr Hamza, had advised the Punjab governor to ensure completion of the process of the administration of oath to the CM-elect, either himself or through his nominee within a day.

The third order was passed by another single bench on a third petition of Hamza wherein the National Assembly speaker was asked to administer oath to the CM-elect.

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IHC terms Shireen Mazari's arrest unlawful

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the National Assembly secretary to submit a report regarding PTI leader and former human rights minister Dr Shireen Mazari's May 21 arrest, which IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed was "not according to the legal process".

The IHC, while hearing a petition filed by the former minister's daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, had termed Mazari's arrest in a land case registered with the Anti-Corru­ption Establishment (ACE) as unlawful. It had also ordered a judicial inquiry into her arrest and asked the federal government to frame its terms of reference (ToRs).

When the hearing resumed today, Deputy Attorney General Arshad Mehmood Kiani presented a notification issued by the federal government to constitute an inquiry commission.

The notification dated June 4, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated the commission's ToRs. The members of the commission are retired justice Shakoor Paracha, retired inspector general of police (IGP) Dr Naeem Khan and retired federal secretary Saifullah Chattha.

According to the notification, the commission would inquire into the abuse of powers by public functionaries leading to deprivation of the right to liberty, ascertain the reason for failure to effectively investigate and hold perpetrators of the crime accountable, conduct an impartial and fair probe into Mazari's arrest, and make recommendations to prevent such incidents in the future.

The commission would submit its report to the federal government within 30 days, the notification stated.

During the hearing today, Mazari's lawyer, Ali Bokhari, argued that the commission had not undertaken any activity since the notification was issued, including summoning the former minister.

He also asked the court to inquire from the deputy AG whether his client's application to include the investigation of criminal proceedings against her in the ToRs had been accepted.

However, Justice Minallah observed that the court could not supervise the commission and asked the lawyer to let the body do its work.

The court's opinion was that the action against Mazari was "not according to the legal process", the judge observed.

He told the lawyer to submit another request if he had any objections in the future.

He then asked whether any report had been submitted by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf. The deputy AG replied that he had not been given any report.

Justice Minallah observed that another MNA, Ali Wazir, was still in jail. "When they (PTI) were in government, they happily put people in [jail]. Have such incidents been investigated in this court?" he asked.

Subsequently, the court directed the NA secretary to submit the report and adjourned the hearing till July 7.

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Rupee free fall continues amid investor’s lackluster

The US dollar breached another record on Thursday as it rose past Rs207 during early morning trade owing to concerns over depleting foreign exchange reserves and ambiguity regarding Pakistan's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the greenback was trading at Rs207.25, up 85 paisa at 12:20pm compared to the previous day's close of Rs206.46. On Wednesday, it had appreciated by Rs1.30.

In the open market, the dollar was trading at Rs208 today.

Asad Rizvi, former treasury head at Chase Manhattan Bank, outlined the rapid decline in the country's foreign exchange reserves as the main factor pressuring the rupee. "The urgency is to get the house in order per the IMF."

During the week ended June 3, liquid foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan declined by $497 million to $9.2 billion.

He highlighted that the government's measures of increasing the prices of petrol, electricity, and gas were not enough. "It will have to take more tightening measures in terms of abolishing subsidies, reducing the deficit, and imposition of additional taxes."

Rizvi further pointed out the need to resolve minor issues such as the 9 per cent tax to GDP ratio, 79 per cent GOP holdings, and 53 per cent advance deposit ratio so that the economy could get back on the track of stability.

On the other hand, Tresmark's research head Komal Mansoor said that the market would stay anxious until the IMF deal concluded. "That will also unlock other multilateral flows."

"It looks like the rupee may bottom out below the Rs210 level as many exporters are eager to look forward now,” she predicted.

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PM shifts blame on PTI for high fuel prices

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday promised the nation that his government would release "details soon" regarding the previous PTI regime's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

His message on Twitter comes a day after the government raised fuel prices by as much as nearly Rs60, with petrol reaching Rs233.89 — unprecedented in the country's history.

I wonder whether those who struck the worst ever deal with IMF & took patently bad economic decisions have the conscience to face the truth. How can they pretend to be innocent when what the nation is going through is clearly their doing? Details soon https://t.co/6Cjeimgfd1

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 16, 2022

"Acutely aware of the impact that a fuel price hike causes. Govt is left with no choice but to raise the prices due to IMF deal that PTI govt signed. Will take the nation into confidence on the specifics of the IMF-PTI deal soon," wrote the prime minister.

"We will get out of these economic difficulties, InshaAllah," he added.

PM Shehbaz followed by criticising the past government's handling of negotiations with the global lender, saying: "I wonder whether those who struck the worst ever deal with IMF and took patently bad economic decisions have the conscience to face the truth. How can they pretend to be innocent when what the nation is going through is clearly their doing?"

"Details soon," he reiterated.he surge in prices, although a highly unpopular move that has the nation fuming, had been a key demand of the IMF for a long time.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday said that if the government does not abolish the subsidies on petroleum products by July (in effect raising the prices), then the country will default.

In a bid to bring economic stability and revive the stalled multi-billion-dollar IMF programme, the government had increased the price of petrol by a whopping Rs60 per litre last month.

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PM shifts blame on PTI for high fuel prices

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday promised the nation that his government would release "details soon" regarding the previous PTI regime's deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

His message on Twitter comes a day after the government raised fuel prices by as much as nearly Rs60, with petrol reaching Rs233.89 — unprecedented in the country's history.

I wonder whether those who struck the worst ever deal with IMF & took patently bad economic decisions have the conscience to face the truth. How can they pretend to be innocent when what the nation is going through is clearly their doing? Details soon https://t.co/6Cjeimgfd1

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) June 16, 2022

"Acutely aware of the impact that a fuel price hike causes. Govt is left with no choice but to raise the prices due to IMF deal that PTI govt signed. Will take the nation into confidence on the specifics of the IMF-PTI deal soon," wrote the prime minister.

"We will get out of these economic difficulties, InshaAllah," he added.

PM Shehbaz followed by criticising the past government's handling of negotiations with the global lender, saying: "I wonder whether those who struck the worst ever deal with IMF and took patently bad economic decisions have the conscience to face the truth. How can they pretend to be innocent when what the nation is going through is clearly their doing?"

"Details soon," he reiterated.he surge in prices, although a highly unpopular move that has the nation fuming, had been a key demand of the IMF for a long time.

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday said that if the government does not abolish the subsidies on petroleum products by July (in effect raising the prices), then the country will default.

In a bid to bring economic stability and revive the stalled multi-billion-dollar IMF programme, the government had increased the price of petrol by a whopping Rs60 per litre last month.

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