Headlines:
Tunisia’s New Constitution to Remove Reference to Islam
Pakistan needs $41bn in next 12 months
Imran Khan: Pakistan May Break-up

Tunisia’s New Constitution to Remove Reference to Islam

The man charged by President Kais Saied with rewriting Tunisia’s constitution has said that he would present a draft stripped of any reference to Islam, arguing it was to prevent political “extremism”. The first article of a constitution adopted three years after the country’s 2011 revolution says it is “a free, independent and sovereign state, Islam is its religion and Arabic is its language”. But Sadeq Belaid, the legal expert appointed last month to head a committee to draft a new constitution, has said: “80 percent of Tunisians are against extremism and against the use of religion for political ends”. Belaid, 83, said he wanted to tackle Islam-inspired parties such as Ennahda, which had the largest number of seats in the parliament before it was dissolved. “If you use religion to engage in political extremism, we will not allow that,” he said.

Pakistan Needs $41bn in next 12 months

Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that the country needed $41 billion dollars in the next 12 months, otherwise it was facing bankruptcy. “We have to pay back $21bn in the next year. I am guessing that the outside limit of the current account deficit will be $12bn […] I think that we should have reserves of at least three months […] So we need $41bn over the next 12 months….” Addressing the Pre-Budget Business Conference organised by the government in Islamabad, the minister outlined the problems plaguing the country’s economy. He said that the Shehbaz Sharif government had re-engaged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We talked to them and we are very, very confident that we will soon have an agreement with the IMF. We are very, very confident of that.” After following the western model or decades Pakistan’s economy remains in dire straits. Whilst each government blames the previous government, in the end they follow the same economic model of borrowing, exporting and seeking foreign investment.

Imran Khan: Pakistan May Break-up

Former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has warned that if the establishment did not take the right decision then Pakistan would break into three parts. In an interview with a private television channel, the former prime minister, who was ousted through a no-confidence motion earlier this year, said the current political situation was a problem for the country as well as the establishment. “If the establishment doesn’t make the right decisions then I can assure in writing that they and the army will be destroyed because what will become of the country if it goes bankrupt,” he said. “Pakistan is going towards a default. If that happens then which institution will be [worst] hit? The army. After it is hit, what concession will be taken from us? Denuclearisation.” He also admitted that his powers as a prime minister had been clipped, saying the strings were actually pulled by “certain quarters” that held the reins of power. He also admitted that his ascension to power had been precarious from the very first day as he lacked the majority. Imran Khan has been building a narrative that Pakistan needs him and that without him the country is doomed. Despite running the economy into the ground he has received the sympathy of the people after seeing the old guard back in power who have a history of corruption.