FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 8: In what was described by a minister as a murder FIR against electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday raised as many as 37 objections to the proposed introduction of EVM.

The ECP in a document submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which met here with Senator Taj Haider in the chair for a second consecutive day, warns that the machine was tampering-prone and its software could easily be altered. “It is nearly impossible to ensure that every machine is honest,” noted the document, a copy of which is available with Dawn.

Representatives of civil society also attended the meeting and opposed both the plans to introduce EVM and internet voting for overseas Pakistanis.

The objections were submitted to the Senate panel by the ECP a day ahead of its schedule to go for voting on two controversial bills seeking to amend the elections act. ECP Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain and Director General for IT Khizar Aziz attended the meeting.

Minister proposes voter slip reader machine as alternative to EVM

The ECP said time was too short for a large-scale procurement and deployment of EVMs and imparting training to a massive number of operators, adding that it was not advisable to introduce EVM nationwide in one go. It said the polls on one day as required under the law would be nearly impossible.

The ECP also referred to various other issues linked with the use of EVM, including lack of ballot secrecy, lack of capacity at all levels and lack of ensuring security and chain of custody for the machines at rest and during transportation. It also pointed out that there would be no evidence available in case of election dispute. The ECP noted that data integration and configuration issues may crop up due to court orders at the eleventh hour regarding a change in ballot paper.

The commission said there was an absence of dust and humid free controlled temperature environment warehouse for storage. It said a huge learning curve was required for technical operators, adding that there was no consensus among the stakeholders on EVM which was also not financially feasible.

The ECP said EVM could not prevent low voters’ turnout, low women’s turnout, misuse of state authority, election fraud, electronic ballot stuffing, vote buying, the law and order situation, dishonest polling staff, widespread political and electoral violence and abuse of state resources.

It went on to say that in case of introduction of the technology in haste, the conduct of free, fair, credible and transparent elections as per the Constitution was not possible. It was pointed out that Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy and Finland had abandoned the use of EVM due to lack of security.

About prerequisites for introduction of EVM, the ECP said these included availability of a secure and reliable solution, political consensus among the parties represented in parliament and amendments to the Constitution, acts and rules, infrastructure deployment for staggered elections, threat models and risks assessment and disaster recovery plan.

Zafar Iqbal Hussain told the meeting that the ECP was in favour of technology, but it must be secured and tested. He said there should be a consensus among the stakeholders and EVM must not be introduced in undue haste. He was of the view that the machine should not be used for the next general elections.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, while terming the ECP document a murder FIR against EVM, called for introduction of the machine during the next general elections and said a pilot project should be carried out in the intervening period.

“We are not here to reinvent the wheel,” he said, adding that an informed decision should be taken. He said if there were any reservations, the government and the Ministry of Science and Technology were ready to address them.

The minister also came up with an alternative proposal of continuing with the existing voting system only with an addition of voter slip reading machine for vote count, which was appreciated by the committee. The minister, however, agreed that there were some issues with internet voting.

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency president Ahmed Bilal Mehboob in his briefing said it would not be appropriate to introduce EVM in haste, in the absence of a consensus.

He was of the view that EVM would be susceptible to manipulation through radio device and fall short to address the issues of counting of votes and transmission of results. He said the machine was not foolproof and there was a room for manipulation of results.

Mr Mehboob said the time was too short for procurement and testing of EVM for the 2023 elections. He said it was a job of the ECP and it should not be forced to do it in a period of less than two years. He also expressed reservations over the proposed I-voting for overseas Pakistanis, saying it was insecure.

Pointing out that the margin of victory in 24 constituencies during the 2018 elections was less than the number of invalid votes in a constituency, he said estimated 40-45 constituencies would have margin of victory lesser than the number of votes of oversees Pakistanis, and any hacking of the system would have potential to influence the polls.

Free and Fair Election Network representative Chaudhry Rasheed said it was unclear whether the ECP could procure machines that include facility of voter authentication and verification as provided for in Section 84(2) of the Elections Act 2021. He was of the opinion that such technology could compromise a voter’s secrecy and his/her choice might be tracked.

Mr Rasheed said an amendment required the ECP to enable overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote in their country of residence only during general elections through any means developed with the assistance of the National Database and Registration Authority or any other authority or agency.

He said the amendment clearly reflected the intention of the government that an IT-based system be developed for the purpose. The amendment, he added, lacked on critical questions pertaining to voting by overseas Pakistanis, including responsibility of their registration as voters and allocation to the constituency and mechanism for the ECP to enforce the legal requirements as provided for under Section 30 of the Elections Act, dealing with claims and objections, and Section 37 that deals with verification.

Former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad observed that there was a fear of a big electoral fraud if EVMs were used in haste. He said the machines could easily be tampered. He said as many as 0.8 million EVMs would have to be procured if a decision to use these machines for elections in one go was taken. He said it would also require a constitutional amendment.

A representative of Smatmatic, a Spanish manufacturer of EVMs included in the list of special invitees on the recommendation of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sajrani, also briefed the committee on the use of the machine. He was grilled by Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar of the PPP for not mentioning the flaws in EVM identified during a pilot project when the firm was engaged by the ECP.

------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

----------

ANKARA, SEPT 8: Turkey is carefully following developments in Afghanistan as the Taliban announced an interim government for the country, said the Turkish president on Tuesday.

On future operations of the airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital, Turkey has taken a positive approach from the start, but such developments are not yet concrete, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a joint press conference with Felix Tshisekedi, his Democratic Republic of Congo counterpart, who is visiting the Turkish capital Ankara.

Turkey has long been mentioned as possibly running the Kabul airport, but it has set certain conditions, such as sharing the financial and security burdens.

The Taliban earlier Tuesday announced an “interim government” in Afghanistan to be led by Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund.

The announcement came a day after the group said they had taken full control of the country, following their lightning takeover of most of its territory last month.

------------------------------------------------

COURTESY ANEWS

---------

KABUL, SEPT 7: Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday announced members of the “acting” government, saying that it will be led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund while the group’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy Afghan leader.

Taliban’s deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani will be the acting interior minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi will be the acting foreign minister, political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai will be the acting deputy foreign minister and Mullah Yaqoob will be the acting defence minister, he announced during a press conference in Kabul.

The heads of various other ministries will be appointed soon, Mujahid added.

“All groups have been represented in the cabinet,” he said.

The Taliban spokesperson said Afghanistan had “gained freedom”, stressing that “only the will of Afghans” will be applicable in the country.

“After today, no one will be able to interfere in Afghanistan,” he emphasised.

Mujahid said that the Taliban had been in contact with various countries and their envoys had visited Afghanistan.

In response to a question, the spokesperson said the country will now be called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The Taliban who swept to power last month, have been expected to announce a government since the United States-led evacuation was completed at the end of August.

They have promised an “inclusive” government that represents Afghanistan’s complex ethnic makeup — though women are unlikely to be included at the top levels.

As they transition from insurgency group to governing power, the Taliban have a series of major issues to address, including looming financial and humanitarian crises.

---------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

------------

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 7: Huawei Pakistan in collaboration with the EZY Technologies organized the launching ceremony of the Huawei Pakistan Tiger Program 2021. This Program is designed to prepare an elite class of technical leaders who will be masters in their respective assigned technologies. This program will provide focused mentorship to individuals so that they are capable of elaborating business as well as technical advantages of the solution and will become future leaders in Pakistan ICT industry.

This 1-1 mentorship will be drive through the Regional/HQ Technology Experts via focused sessions and hands on cloud demo sessions. After the successful completion of the program, the participants will go through an extensive evaluation criteria. The candidates, who pass the evaluation, will be awarded the membership of Pakistan Technology Tiger club in their respective technology along with prizes and recognition.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Shahzad Rasheed, CTO EBG – Huawei Pakistan said, “Huawei Pakistan is continuously investing in the ICT resource development by enabling their Partnered ICT companies. These resources will be highly valuable for the future ICT Industry and will be contributing in Digital Pakistan making a fully connected intelligent Pakistan”.

While addressing the candidates, Mr. Adnan Zafar, Director EBG – Huawei Pakistan, highlighted the key aspects of the Tiger Program and explained how this program will help in producing technology experts in the ICT industry of Pakistan.

Mr. Shanxiaoping, Director Channels – Huawei Pakistan also spoke during the occasion and mentioned, “Huawei is working in Pakistan for more than 20 years and is committed to invest more to develop it Partner ecosystem. We believe, we will develop good partners if we invest in their resource development and this exactly is the purpose of this program.”

The event was attended by top management of Huawei Channels Partners, Tech Access Pakistan, Wateen Solutions, New Horizon, CMC, CNSE and EZY Technologies and they applauded the investment Huawei is doing for the enablement and professional growth of the local talent.

Mr. Tariq Malik, CEO Tech Access Pakistan, also address the candidates and emphasized on the importance of learning new skills and technologies to boost their professional careers.

--------------------------------------------------------

TOKYO, SEPT 7: Japan has agreed to buy 150 million doses of Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine, with Japanese firm Takeda expecting to manufacture the formula for distribution early next year, the drugmaker said Tuesday.

The cost of the deal was not announced, and it is contingent on the vaccine being approved in Japan. Takeda will be in charge of carrying out local clinical trials.

So far, Japan has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs, though the latter is being administered in a limited fashion.

Unlike the mRNA products from BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna and Curevac, Novavax’s two-jab vaccine relies on a more traditional technique, using proteins to carry fragments of the coronavirus rendered harmless to produce an immune reaction.

This means it does not have to be stored in ultra-low temperatures, potentially giving it a logistical edge.

US firm Novavax says its vaccine has 90 percent efficacy against Covid-19, based on a North American study. US and EU regulators have not yet given their evaluation of the jab’s efficacy.

Last month, the European Commission announced it had signed a preliminary deal to buy up to 200 million doses of the vaccine, also contingent on its approval by the EU regulator.

After a comparatively slow start, Japan’s vaccination programme has picked up speed, with around 48 percent of the population now fully vaccinated.

------------------------------------------

COURTESY Anews

----------

LAHORE, SEPT 7: Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Abida Hussain sees America no longer interested in the affairs of Afghanistan, a country where it spent 20 years fighting its ‘war on terror’.

“The US now has least interest in Afghanistan. It does not fear export of terror (from Afghanistan) therefore it has lost interest in the affairs of the war-torn country and does not need Pakistan for the purpose as well,” Ms Hussain said in a talk with Dawn.

The former ambassador, 73, who is currently not active in politics, sees no immediate improvement in the relations between Pakistan and the US. “Since Pakistan is not getting any significant aid from the US, it should not be bothered much. Pakistan should look up to China and get closer to Russia.”

She was of the view that the US should have learnt from history that no external force has been able to conquer Afghanistan. “The US tried its best to control Kabul, but couldn’t.”

Ms Hussain who remained Islamabad’s ambassador to the US between 1991 and 1993 is not skeptical about the Taliban’s ‘moderate face’. “I think the Taliban with a moderate face will manage to translate their words into action and the world will have to talk to them. The ‘moderate Taliban’ will be acceptable to the world.”

The Afghan Taliban have promised respect for women’s rights, media freedom and an inclusive government and Ms Hussain believes they may live up to their claim this time around.

The politician from Jhang whose husband, Fakhar Imam, is a member of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s federal cabinet does not see any problems emanating from Afghanistan for Pakistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover. “Pakistan will have no issue with the Taliban government and there are also no chances of terrorism reemerging in Pakistan because of the situation or presence of (banned) militant groups such as the TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) in either country. Those against the Taliban are fleeing,” she said.

Abida Hussain had also penned a political autobiography-cum-memoir – The Political Odyssey of a Pakistani Woman -- that charts the events from the latter part of Ayub Khan’s rule to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

An ardent supporter of Ms Bhutto, she remained associated with the PPP and PML-N during her political life. She also served as the federal minister for information and population welfare, and helped launch the political career of her daughter Sughra Imam, who was a senator in the last PPP government.

About Pakistani politics, Ms Hussain says she is not satisfied with the PTI government for its failure to control price hike and inflation. She is of the view that the ruling party may not return to power in the 2023 elections if these failures continue.

“However, the PTI has the best chance to get back to power after the next polls if in the last two years of its tenure it manages to control inflation and provide relief to the masses. Imran Khan’s main focus should be on improving the economy, as the opposition -- PML-N and PPP -- stands no chance to knock him off if he manages to improve the economy.”

Commenting on the civil-military relationship, the former envoy says: “At present, the relations between Imran Khan and the military establishment are good as the latter seems satisfied with the former’s performance.”

Ms Hussain also advises the PTI government to take immediate steps to control population.

------------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

------------

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 6: To commence the celebrations of Year 2022 which marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Pakistan, the Government of Japan has announced the Official Logo for this special occasion signifying historic relations between Japan and Pakistan.

The logo epitomizes the hope for further development of friendly ties between Japan and Pakistan through the depiction of pigeons as the symbols of peace and friendship in origami style.

Besides commemorating the 70th anniversary of friendly relations between Japan and Pakistan, the year 2022 will also be celebrated as “Japan-Southwest Asia Exchange Year” to further strengthen bilateral relationship between Japan and each country of Southwest Asia including Pakistan.

The logo will be used throughout 2022 in all events endorsed as official events of the Celebration Year. The information on events endorsement will be shared later on.

On the occasion of the announcement of official logo, MATSUDA Kuninori, the Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, conveyed his congratulations and best wishes to both the people of Japan and Pakistan for their significant contributions in solidifying this friendship over the last 70 years.

“Let’s celebrate this momentous occasion with renewed zeal and fervor to further strengthen the existing friendly relations between the two countries”, said the Ambassador.

------------------------------------------------------

LAHORE, SEPT 6 – With the 2021 T20 World Cup a little over a month away, Pakistan cricket received a major shock on Monday as their head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis resigned from their positions effective immediately.

Misbah, who had tested positive for Covid-19 at the conclusion of the team’s tour of the Caribbean last month and forced to quarantine in Jamaica, cited bio-secure bubbles as the reason behind his decision to quit.

As per a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), he said: “The quarantine in Jamaica post the West Indies series provided me with an opportunity to reflect on the past 24 months as well as the schedule for international cricket ahead. Considering that I would have had to continue to spend considerable time away from my family and that too in a bio-secure environment, I have decided to step down from the role.

“I understand that the timing may not be ideal but I don’t think I am in the right frame of mind for the upcoming challenges and it makes sense for someone fresh to step in and take the side forward.

“The past 24 months have been thoroughly enjoyable and I want to thank my team and the management for their support. I wish the Pakistan cricket team best of luck in the upcoming events and will continue to support them every time they will take the field to represent Pakistan.”

Straightforward decision for me after Misbah shared plans: Younis

The PCB press release has Younis quoted as saying: “After Misbah shared with me his decision and future plans, it was a straightforward one for me to resign as we had walked into the roles together, had worked as a pair and now also step down together.

“Working with the Pakistan bowlers, including the youngsters, has been most satisfying as they have now started to show progress. Bio-secure environments in the past 16 months have had their impact, something we had never experienced during our playing days.

“The next eight months will be busy and exciting for the Pakistan team and, like in the past, I will continue to back and cheer them. I want to thank each and every member of the Pakistan cricket team set-up as we stayed united in good and bad days, and hope there will be more brighter days ahead.”

The pair still had a year each left in their contracts after being appointed in September 2019.

Offspin legend Saqlain Mushtaq, a part of the coaching setup at PCB’s High Performance Center, and former allrounder Abdul Razaq have been appointed as interim coaches for the New Zealand series

“With the New Zealand side due to arrive on September 11 for the three ODI and five T20I series and the Pakistan side to assemble in Islamabad on September 8, the PCB has appointed Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdul Razzaq as interim coaches for the series, with the team management for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 to be appointed in due course,” the PCB said.

Misbah, Younis deserve respect; replacements ready to step up: Wasim Khan

PCB chief executive Wasim Khan paid tribute to the outgoing coaches, saying: “Both Misbah and Waqar have given so much to Pakistan cricket over a long period of time and for that they deserve a huge amount of respect.”

He said their replacements were ready to “step up” and were looking forward to making important contributions in their coaching roles against New Zealand.

Misbah and Younis’ resignations came an hour or so after chief selector Mohamad Wasim named the national squad for next month’s T20 World Cup as well as the upcoming home series against New Zealand and England.

Their departure also coincide with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nomination of Ramiz Raja as the next chairman of the cricket board. Raja had been critical of Misbah and his approach to the game in the past.

---------------------------------------------

COURTESY DAWN NEWS

------------

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 5: The official website of Press Information Department (PID) needs improvement as it looks not secure and hackers may steal important information of PID department.

Solution for this:

Press Information Department (PID) needs to purchase and install SSL certificate on its website to keep all their important data secure from hackers.

Photo # 1:

We can see in Photo # 1 that SSL certificate is not installed.

Photo # 2:

In Photo # 2 We can see that website is fully secured after installation of SSL certificate.

So the officials of Press Information Department (PID) needs to take immediate action to fix this major issue.

------------------------------------------------

OSLO, SEPT 4: Oslo aims to vaccinate everyone between the ages of 12 and 15 by the fall holiday in early October, city council chief Raymond Johansen said Friday.

On Thursday, the government decided to follow the National Institute of Public Health’s recommendation to provide a single dose of corona vaccine to all children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15.

In Oslo, the goal is for everyone between the ages of 12 and 15 to be vaccinated on the autumn holidays that begin on Monday, October 4th in the capital.

To reach the goal, Oslo must be vaccinated with a sufficient amount of Pfizer vaccine, Johansen emphasized.

--------------------------------------------

COURTESY worldakkam

-----------

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 4: After thirteen days of serious competitions with the Paralympians' best performance, The Tokyo Paralympics comes to a close tonight with the closing ceremony to be held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.

“Harmonious Cacophony”, the theme of the closing ceremony, is acknowledging diversity among people and transforming their difference into a shared unity.