PRAGUE: With voters upset over traditional parties and orders from Brussels, a billionaire populist dubbed the “Czech Trump” has taken a huge lead in the Czech Republic’s election followed by an anti-EU and anti-Islam party with links to France’s National Front.

State election officials citing results from nearly 73 percent of polling stations said Babis’s anti-corruption and anti-euro ANO (Yes) movement was ahead with 30.87 percent support with the far-right Freedom and Free Democracy (SPD) in second place on 11.19 percent.

The eurosceptic right-wing ODS party has clinched third spot with 10.51 percent and the anti-establishment Pirates scored 10.04 percent.

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Despite the country’s economic success, analysts say many Czechs who are heavily in debt or working long hours for low wages feel they have been left behind and are turning to populist parties to vent their ire.

Far-right and far-left anti-EU parties made gains in a fragmented vote that appeared to put eight parties into the 200-seat Czech parliament with few natural coalition allies among them, something analysts warn could herald instability and even chaos.

The Social Democrats (CSSD) who head the outgoing coalition government took a bruising, coming in sixth with 7.67 percent of the vote.

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Voting earlier on Saturday, outgoing Social Democrats (CSSD) Prime Minister Sobotka warned the election “will decide about our country’s focus, whether we stay part of the EU and NATO, or whether extremist forces trying to drive us out of these structures will post gains.”

The far-right SPD of Tokyo-born entrepreneur Tomio Okamura made the strongest gains clinching second spot on strong anti-EU, anti migrant and anti-Islam rhetoric, similar to surging far-right parties in neighbouring Austria and Germany.

France’s far-right National Front Marine Le Pen sent Okamura a message of support.

“I see this as a threat to liberal democracy” in this EU member of 10.6 million people, Tomas Lebeda, a political analyst at Palacky University in the central city of Olomouc, told AFP.

Czech Republic politician calls for ban on Islam

“The SPD is a clearly an anti-system, populist party. It seems this type of party will score its best-ever result in Czech history,” he said, but added that the SPD was unlikely to enter the future government Voting in a Prague suburb, pensioner Zdenek Kraml favoured the left wing Social Democrats, currently in a rocky centre-left coalition with Babis’s ANO and the smaller centrist Christian Democrats.

“In the four years since the last election, pensions have gone up, just like wages and welfare benefits,” he told AFP.

With joblessness at 3.8 percent in September, the Czech economy which is heavily reliant on car exports is slated to grow by a healthy 3.6 percent this year. But other voters did not conceal their disillusionment.

Young Prague voter Jiri Chaloupek said he chose the SPD as “this country needs a change, a rather radical change.”

Analyst Lebeda said “we have a very strange atmosphere with a number of emotions that absolutely do not correspond to the social and economic reality.”
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“I’m asking myself what the elections would look like if we weren’t in such good shape economically.”

A 63-year-old Slovak-born chemicals, food and media tycoon, Babis said he expected the Czech Republic to “enter a new stage” after voting on Friday, adding it needed “a government which will really tackle people’s problems.

While the billionaire-politician has vowed to steer clear of the eurozone and echoes other eastern EU leaders who accuse Brussels of attempting to limit national sovereignty by imposing rules like migrant quotas, he favours a united Europe and balks at talk of a “Czexit”.

“I think his policy is for the people,” pensioner Alena Kolarova said after voting in Prague and praised Babis for “restoring order in public finances and tax collection” during his three-year stint as finance minister that ended in May.

Babis’s main rival, Social Democrats leader and Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek has said he hoped that the future government would ensure that the Czech Republic does not drift to the EU’s periphery.

Partial results showed the anti-EU Communists took fifth spot winning 8.51 percent support.

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Pakistan were thrashed once again at the hands of India in the ongoing 2017 Asia Cup, this time with a 4-0 scoreline in both teams’ last Super-4s match in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The first two quarters of the match went scoreless, but India broke Pakistan’s defense in the third quarter courtesy a goal by Satbir Singh (39 minutes).

Pakistan beaten 3-2 by Malaysia in Asia Cup 2017

India then went on a rampage against Greenshirts in the final quarter with three goals with a span of six minutes.

Harmanpreet Singh scored the second goal in the 51st minute courtesy a penalty corner, Lalit Upadhyay made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute, while Gurjant Singh finished the match with a field goal in the 57th minute to guide their team into the final of the tournament.

Earlier, Pakistan lost 3-1 against India in their last Group A match. They defeated Bangladesh 7-0 before that and drew 2-2 with Japan.

In the Super-4s round, Pakistan lost 3-2 against Malaysia, drew 1-1 against South Korea before the match against India.

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KARACHI: The historic Umerkot Fort is being used by the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for an event on Saturday evening – holes drilled into its walls to put up party banners and posters.

The 11th century fort, which had turned into a crumbling structure because of years of government neglect, was recently restored under the guidelines of the UN cultural organisation, Unesco.

However, PPP leaders in Umerkot took the liberty of again damaging the fort by drilling holes into its frail walls.

Umerkot Fort to be restored by June 2017

“Nobody was given permission for this [event].  They have drilled holes for their banners and damaged its walls,” said Ghulam Hussain Burdi, the curator of the Umerkot Museum.

Nails can be seen drilled into the fort’s walls to put up banners and posters. PHOTO: EXPRESS

There are reports that Sindh Culture Minister Sardar Shah, a native of Umerkot, will be the chief guest of the event being organised in connection with Diwali.

The minister could not be contacted despite several attempts, but the fort’s conservator, Ali Hyder Ghadhi, denied that holes had been drilled into the walls.

“Panaflex banners have been put up using ropes and tapes. No holes have been drilled,” he maintained. “It’s just baseless propaganda against the PPP.”

PHOTO: EXPRESS

PHOTO: EXPRESS

Ghadhi added that some people had come up with similar allegations when PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had organised a festival in Mohenjodaro in February 2014.

‘Banners being removed’

The spokesperson for the culture department said the minister had taken notice of the banners and ordered their removal.

There are different versions about the historical background of Umerkot Fort, which was once used for residential or military purposes by the rulers of the province.

Some believe that Umerkot is named after ruler Umer Soomro, who gained fame because of romance with Marvi of Tharparkar.

However, other historians and heritage experts say the fort was the property of the Sodha Rajputs, the rulers of the area.

“When [Mughal emperor] Humayun managed to escape India following his military defeat at the hands of Sher Shah Suri, Rana Prasad, the then Rajput ruler of the area provided him with shelter in Amarkot [former name of Umerkot],” explained heritage expert Dr Fatah Daudpota. “This was the place where Humayun’s son Akbar was born.”

According to Dr Daudpota, the history of Umerkot predates the advent of Islam in the region.  “It was actually the property of the Rajputs of Rajasthan until they gifted it to the Kalhoras of Sindh to develop better relations and bring peace between Sindh and Rajasthan,” he said, adding that not only the Kalhoras but the Talpurs also started development work to preserve this landmark.

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Source: Tribune News | Holes drilled into historic Umerkot Fort to put up PPP banners and posters

The Chinese embassy in Pakistan has requested more security for its ambassador in the wake of information that he is likely to be attacked.

Quoting sources, Express News reported that in a letter written to the interior ministry, the Chinese embassy has said that a terrorist had entered the country to attack Yao Jing.

The embassy has requested the government to take immediate action on the intelligence information, and provide security to the ambassador.

The letter, the sources said, written by the focal person for CPEC, Ping Ying Fi, identifies the militant as Abdul Wali who belongs to the banned East Turkestan Independence Movement (ETIM) – an extremist group which largely operates in the border Xinjiang region. The memo has demanded his immediate arrest and handover to the Chinese embassy.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will connect this region of China with Pakistan’s seaport Gwadar through a network of rail, road and pipeline projects.

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RIYADH: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Riyadh on Saturday at the start of a six-day trip which will also take him to Qatar, a fellow Gulf Arab state which is in a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia.

Tillerson in Qatar as leaks spark fresh Gulf tension

Tillerson flew into King Salman Air Base and will later meet
with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir.

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