No-confidence vote: Other parties 'used' by Fazlur Rehman for his own politics: Shibli

Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz, in the aftermath of the shocking outcome on Thursday of the no-trust motion against Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, said that he regrets that in all this brouhaha major political parties were taken advantage of by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

"The opposition's movement has failed. We had said [this would happen] since day one and we met the leaders of the opposition and explained to them that what they are setting out to do is against the prestige of this institution, its stability and is destroying its spirit.

"We went to Maulana Fazlur Rehman's house as part of our cultural tradition of visiting other people's houses to discuss matters. He couldn't help himself and he went ahead and gave a statement which made it seem we had come to seek his help," said Faraz.

"He hasn't even been able to help his own self," he added.

"Despite having no political leverage, he used this no-confidence motion for his own politics and I regret that with this, other major political parties were used," said Faraz.

"They did not realise that what they are setting out to do will ultimately affect their own selves adversely," he said.

He said that the opposition parties undertook the campaign "to save their skins from accountability". He went on to say that Maulana Fazlur Rehman "uses Islam as a shield, whereas the other opposition parties hide from the accountability drive started by the prime minister".

"Our opposition leaders themselves realised [that the vote was wrong] and it is with their support that we rendered the no-trust motion unsuccessful," he said.

He further said that the government has no hard feelings toward the opposition and that both sides have to move forward together to bring in legislation for the benefit of the people.

"This is not just Sadiq Sanjrani's victory, it is the institution's victory," he continued.

Faraz said that not only did the outcome ensure that democracy is stabilised but it did not let the image of the institution be tarnished.

He said that the opposition should now get serious as they have not been elected to simply walk out when there are cases against their leadership. They should help the government help the people.

"The House can only be run if both the opposition and the treasury work together," he emphasised.

The Senate leader hoped that the days to come will prove that this was the first and last time that there was an attempt to destabilise the Senate.

"I hope they have now learnt a lesson," he concluded.

'No horsetrading'

In the interaction with reporters that followed, Faraz rejected the impression that senators had been bought out.

"All senators, whether they are from the opposition or the treasury, are all honourable people. At least for this election, I guarantee [there was no horsetrading]."

He then proceeded to recount the 2015 Senate elections in which Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had only five members and he had been fielded as the party's candidate for the post of deputy chairman of the Senate.

"That day we were not even aware of the Senate's geography. The PTI candidate still obtained 19 votes that day. Will you call this horsetrading? Will you call this being a sell out?"

"I had no right to inquire how I had obtained those 19 votes. This also depends on the candidate."

As things got heated, a reporter interjected to ask, "Will Shibli Faraz ever vote against the party?"

To this, the Senate leader unequivocally responded with: "Shibli Faraz will never vote against the party. But, if you are saying these people were bought out [...] you can not say such things when the sanctity of the Senate was restored."

"You can say there was a disagreement with the party. This is a secret vote. You should also give me an explanation for those 19 votes, the kind of questions you are raising. We were five senators and we did not even know anyone. First explain those 19 votes to me and the public and then ask such questions."

‘UN failure to address Israel crimes against Palestinian kids inexcusable’

A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has censured the United Nations for its failure to include Israel in its annual blacklist of armed forces that commit atrocities against youths, arguing that the world body’s falling short of recognizing Israeli crimes against Palestinian children is inexcusable.

“This failure is inexcusable, given Israel’s dismal human rights record and its documented abuses against Palestinian children, including the arbitrary detention of hundreds of children every year, its use of torture against them and other grave violations, including the deliberate killing and maiming of roughly 2,800 Palestinian children in 2018 alone,” Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO's executive committee, said in a statement on Thursday.

“Turning a blind eye to Israeli crimes and failing to apply such nominal standards of accountability emboldens the occupying power to escalate its flagrant violations, as documented and reported by human rights organizations,” she added.

Ashrawi noted, “In light of the international community’s abdication of its responsibilities vis-à-vis international law, it is no surprise that Israel continues to commit war crimes and violate international law and human rights on a daily basis with shameful impunity."

“Additionally, the right-wing in Israel is exploiting the current US-Israeli partnership to create new facts on the ground with absolute disregard for international law and declared rejection of the internationally-endorsed requirements of peace, including Palestinian statehood,” Ashrawi pointed out.

She stressed that “the international community and world bodies have a legal and moral obligation to hold Israel accountable for its relentless criminality and rogue conduct, to preserve the repute and relevance of international rules, and to ensure that Palestinian people enjoy their inalienable and absolute rights to self-determination and freedom.”

“Peace and prosperity in the (Middle East) region will remain elusive as long as racist and colonial agendas that dismiss Palestinian rights are advanced in the wake of international inaction on one hand and US collusion on the other,” Ashrawi underscored.

According to a report by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that was published late last month, Israeli forces killed and maimed some 2,800 Palestinian children in 2018 – the highest number in years. Israel, however, dodged the UN blacklist.

Some 59 Palestinian children were killed last year and 2,756 more were injured, the UN report said.

More than half of the deaths occurred during demonstrations along the fence separating the impoverished Gaza Strip from the Israeli-occupied territories.

Most of the young victims were “shot by live ammunition to the upper body, while reportedly posing no imminent threat of death or serious injury to Israeli forces”, the UN chief said in his 43-page report.

In the West Bank, some 1,398 Palestinian children were hurt by Israeli forces during “demonstrations, clashes and search and arrest operations.” Almost 1,000 of them were affected by inhaling tear gas, the report said.

Israel must “uphold international juvenile justice standards, as well as to cease the use of administrative detention for children and end all forms of ill-treatment in detention, and to cease any attempted recruitment of detained children as informants,” the UN report highlighted.

Turkey ‘to continue fight against terrorists’

Turkey has stressed its resolve to create a peace corridor in Syria to ensure what it calls border security against increased threats and to clean the region from all terrorists.

A statement by the National Security Council issued after a meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, said the fight will continue in northern Iraq until terrorists are wiped off in the region.

The council also vowed to create a peace corridor in Syria with all its strength, adding some terrorist groups are taking advantage from the power vacuum in certain areas. Earlier, 12 military convoys, including armored vehicles carrying commando units arrived at Sanliurfa province bordering Syria. Ankara says it is planning to launch a third cross border operation into Syria after two successful ones.

Turkey and United states have been at loggerhead due to Washington’s support to YPG and PYD militant groups, which Turkey says are the Syrian arm of PKK.

Back on Monday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar held a phone call with his US counterpart Mark Esper. Reports say he has told his American counterpart that Ankara would not allow for the formation of a “terror corridor” to its south.

Observers maintain that the statement by the National Security Council reveals that talks between Turkey and the US don’t go smoothly and this has sounded the alarm in the regional circles.

US ‘ridiculous’ sanctioning of Zarif aimed at mounting pressure on Iran: IRGC

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has condemned imposition of sanctions on the country’s top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as a “ridiculous” and “illegal” measure, which is in line with the United States’ policy of mounting maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Issuing a statement on Thursday, the IRGC condemned imposition of US sanctions on Zarif, saying, “By imposing sanctions on the respectable foreign minister [of Iran], Americans once again demonstrated their anger at the spread of the Islamic Revolution’s inspiring and anti-arrogance discourse, and unveiled their mischief and animosity toward the dignified Iranian establishment and nation.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Zarif on Wednesday because he “acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The US Treasury Department alsao said in its statement that Zarif is Iran's "primary spokesperson around the world," and that the ban "is sending a clear message that Iran's "recent behavior is completely unacceptable.”

The sanctions imposed on Zarif, the IRGC’s statement added, show how the Americans are “expressing their rage and anger at [Zarif’s] way of expressing the truth [about them] and exposing their sinister nature.”

The measure was also meant to counter “a diplomacy that is based on resistance and aims to give voice to the position of a nation that has chosen to tread down the path of dignity and independence and stand up to bullies while refusing to give in to modern colonialist rule,” it added.

The IRGC suggested that maybe Washington itself once used to consider issuing such sanctions to be beneath a country like it, which lays claim to being a superpower, but has now resorted to sanctions in a bid to make up to some degree for its desperation, distress, and weakness.

Such actions targeting the Islamic Republic, however, do not change the fact that the country has brought about “an end to the era of Americans’ stance as a superpower and their adventurism in the region, and has led them and their regional and extra-regional lackeys to ignominious frustration.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic also issued a statement likewise underlining the illegal nature of “the arrogant US administration’s” measure and calling it an action rooted in desperation.

It said the “undiplomatic and forlorn” attempt followed in the footsteps of the other instances of the US violations of international law concerning the Islamic Republic.

The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces added that by imposing sanctions on Iran's top diplomat, Washington thinks it can ramp up pressure on Iran and compensate for its back-to-back losses in the regional and international arenas.

The US is resorting to some adventurist measures now that it has found itself more humiliated and isolated across the region and the world than ever and feeling the pinch from the loss of credibility, which has afflicted it and its allies, the statement read.

It concluded that such measures as employed against Zarif "would ultimately not yield the US anything other than defeat and would further belie the apparently pro-negotiation claims of American rulers."

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, meanwhile, called Zarif the stalwart communicator of Iran’s diplomacy and the Islamic Republic’s powerful representative on all international arenas.

Sanctioning Zarif, he added in a post on his Instagram page, showed that the US is “incapable of engaging with the brave and ardent sons of this hearth and home” in political and diplomatic arenas.

The European Union also vowed to continue working with the Iranian foreign minister despite the US decision.

"We regret this decision," said Carlos Martin Ruiz De Gordejuela, a spokesman for EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini.

"From our side, we will continue to work with Mr. Zarif as Iran's most senior diplomat and in view of the importance of maintaining diplomatic channels," Martin said.

Result of no-confidence motion against Sanjrani damaging to democracy: Shehbaz

Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif said Thursday the result of the no-confidence motion against Senate Chairperson Sadiq Sanjrani was damaging to democracy.

Sanjrani, as well as Deputy Chairperson Saleem Mandviwalla, survived no-confidence resolutions tabled against them. The resolution against Senate chair failed to receive the 53 votes required for his removal, with 50 in favour and five rejected.

Speaking informally to media personnel outside the Parliament House here in the federal capital, Shehbaz — also the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — said he believed that there had been influence and horse-trading.

The Opposition members had reduced by 14 but 64 of them had stood up in support of the motion to table the no-confidence resolution, he said, adding that what happened today was a dent to the democracy.

On the other hand, PML-N member and leader of the opposition in the Senate, Raja Zafarul Haq, said what happened today was sad. "We know who did not vote [in favour of the no-confidence motion]," he noted.

Haq added that the Opposition was aware by early Thursday morning as to how many votes the no-confidence motion would receive later in the day.

"Mostly, people from a certain party ruined it. The forces that wished to save the Senate chairperson emerged the victors," he added.

Pakistan offers consular access to kulbushan Jadhav

Pakistan has decided to grant consular access to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was convicted and sentenced to death by a military tribunal for spying, by tomorrow (Friday).

The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) verdict, in the case, asked Pakistan to immediately inform Jadhav of his rights under Article 36, and grant India consular access, according to the Foreign Office’s (FO) spokesperson.

In this regard, Pakistan is awaiting Indian response and formally informed Indian High Commission.

The ICJ, in its ruling, asked Pakistan to ensure “effective review and reconsideration of his conviction and sentences”.

The ICJ said that even though it had found Pakistan in violation of Article 36 the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), "it is not the conviction and sentence of Mr. Jadhav which are to be regarded as a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention."
The most the ICJ said it could do was to order Pakistan to cease violation of Article 36 and review the case in light of how that violation may have affected the case’s outcome.

To this end, Pakistan was directed to immediately inform Jadhav of his rights under Article 36, grant India consular access, and then review the case while considering, under the laws of Pakistan, how not doing so earlier may have impacted the case’s outcome.

Article 36 of the Vienna Convention simply states that when a national of a foreign country is arrested, they must be informed of the right to have their country’s consulate notified and should also have the right to regular consultation with their consulate’s officials during their detention and trial.

Voting underway on no-trust motion against Chairman Senate

The Senate session to vote on the no-trust motions against Senate Chairmani Sadiq Sanjran and the Deputy Chairman Salim Mandivalla has started in the parliament.

Senator Barrister Saif who was appointed as presiding officer is chairing the session today.

The secret voting on the no-confidence motion is underway in the Upper House.

At the onset of the session, 64 senators favoured the no-trust motion, following which, the polling kicked off in the Senate.

There are 100 senators attending the session today and a total of 53 votes are required to oust the chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate.

It is declared mandatory to insert a vote into the ballot box after casting vote in favour or opposition.

The instructions were issued in a letter released by Senate Secretariat for voting on the no-confidence motion. The secretariat has also imposed a ban on carrying mobile phones in the polling booth. The letter also stated that grabbing photos of the ballot paper is also prohibited in order to ensure secrecy of the vote.

On July 9, opposition senators had submitted a resolution against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to the secretariat of the upper house with signatures of 38 opposition members. The government and coalition legislators hit back with a similar motion against the deputy chairman on July 12.

The opposition’s Rehbar Committee had nominated Mir Hasil Bizenjo as its candidate to replace the incumbent Chairman Senate.