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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated the people of Gilgit-Baltistan on the successful conduct of peaceful and transparent elections, describing the democratic exercise as a positive reflection of the region&rsquo;s political maturity and commitment to democratic values. In a statement issued here by the Prime Minister&#39;s Office (PMO) on Monday, he said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan deserve appreciation for their enthusiastic participation in the electoral process and active engagement in political activities.&nbsp; According to the statement, the prime minister noted that peaceful elections and vibrant political competition are the true beauty of democracy and strengthen democratic institutions in the country. &quot;Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on emerging as the majority political party in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections. He also extended his felicitations to President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the party&rsquo;s electoral success,&quot; the statement added. The statement went on to say that the prime minister congratulated all successful candidates, who secured victory in the elections, expressing hope that they would work for the welfare, development, and prosperity of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. Referring to his own party&rsquo;s performance, the statement said, Prime Minister Sharif praised the efforts of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates and workers.&nbsp; &quot;He said the PML-N team worked hard throughout the election campaign and deserved appreciation for its dedication and commitment.&quot; Credible electoral process According to the statement, the prime minister also lauded the Election Commission for ensuring a transparent, impartial, and credible electoral process.&nbsp; He said the conduct of free and fair elections reflects the strength of democratic institutions and reinforces public confidence in the electoral system. Paying tribute to the security forces, Prime Minister Sharif commended the police and law enforcement agencies for their effective role in maintaining peace and order during the elections.&nbsp; He said their professionalism and vigilance contributed significantly to the peaceful conduct of the polls. The prime minister expressed confidence that the democratic process in Gilgit-Baltistan would continue to flourish and contribute to the region&rsquo;s progress, stability, and development. According to the unofficial and preliminary election results for 24 seats of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is leading the race with success in 10 constituencies.

Politics

Congratulates the people of Gilgit-Baltistan on peaceful and transparent elections, praises democratic participation, felicitate PPP and successful candidates, and commends election authorities and security agencies.

PM Sharif hails peaceful Gilgit-Baltistan elections, congratulates PPP and successful candidates

JERUSALEM: Israeli lawmakers voted Tuesday to back a bill, in its first reading, to dissolve parliament and pave the way for likely early elections. A total of 106 of the Knesset&#39;s 120 members backed the legislation, submitted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s ruling coalition, according to a parliamentary statement. The remaining lawmakers did not attend the vote, which followed a debate in the assembly. The bill, which must pass two further readings before becoming law, stipulates that elections be held between September 8 and October 20. Israel is currently due to hold elections by October 27, when the current legislative term ends. &quot;We completed four full years, which is an exceptional achievement in Israeli politics, and we worked hard to reach this point,&quot; said Ofir Katz, chairman of the ruling coalition in a statement. &quot;This Knesset passed more than 520 laws and nine budgets. In practice, we held on until the very end.&quot; The coalition&#39;s move to propose the bill comes as Netanyahu faces growing pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties and his fractious right-wing coalition appears increasingly vulnerable to collapse. Ultra-Orthodox parties accuse Netanyahu of failing to fulfil a pledge to pass legislation granting a permanent exemption from compulsory military service to young men studying in yeshivas, or religious seminaries. Netanyahu, 76, a political survivor often described as the phoenix of Israeli politics, has confirmed he intends to seek another term in office. He recently disclosed that he had undergone surgery for prostate cancer. Israel&#39;s longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu has spent more than 18 years in power since first taking office in 1996. He is seeking re-election despite facing a long-running corruption trial. Many Israelis hold Netanyahu responsible for the security failures that allowed Hamas to carry out its unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Last month, a poll published by public broadcaster KAN placed Netanyahu&#39;s Likud party narrowly ahead of Beyahad (Together), the joint list led by opposition leader Yair Lapid and former prime minister Naftali Bennett. However, neither camp appears capable of securing a governing majority in Israel&#39;s fragmented political landscape.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waits for the start of an Israeli war cabinet meeting also attended by U.S. President Joe Biden on Oct. 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Middle East

The coalition's move to propose the bill comes as Netanyahu faces growing pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties, and his fractious right-wing coalition appears increasingly vulnerable to collapse.

Israeli MPs back parliament dissolution bill in first reading

CONAKRY, Guinea: Guineans voted on Sunday in legislative and municipal elections marking a new step towards a return to democratic rule after a 2021 coup, despite severe restrictions on civil liberties and an opposition boycott. The authorities pushed back the close of polling stations 90 minutes to 7.30 pm (1930 GMT) before counting started. The day was marked by a low turnout at polling stations visited by AFP journalists in the capital, Conakry, and the central city of Labe, and according to election monitors across the country. Almost seven million people were eligible to vote but critics of coup leader President Mamadi Doumbouya urged voters to boycott the process. Voters are electing 147 MPs, most expected to be drawn from the presidential camp as the government dissolved the main opposition parties in March. &quot;I don&#39;t even know who to vote for,&quot; Mariatou Diallo, 18, told AFP as she cast her first-ever vote in a Conakry suburb. Alassane Barry, a 23-year-old student, said he did not know any of the candidates, calling them &quot;unknown figures&quot;. The Forces Vives de Guinee coalition of the main opposition and civil society groups called for a boycott of an &quot;electoral farce&quot; that they said would establish &quot;a new dictatorship&quot;. One opposition party, the Democratic Front of Guinea (Frondeg), which placed second in the presidential election in December with a 6.6 percent vote share, denounced an assault on one of its candidates in the central town of Mamou. The party said that Abdoulaye Bademba Diallo was &quot;attacked&quot; in a restaurant on Saturday evening &quot;by two hooded individuals&quot; on a motorcycle. The campaign unfolded peacefully but turnout is key in polls taking place just days after the major religious holiday of Eid al-Adha, when Guineans gather with their families. Doumbouya, who seized power in September 2021, was elected president for a seven-year term in December having faced no serious opponent. He had initially promised to hand power back to civilians at the end of a transition period. His government has suspended many political parties, banned protests and arrested opposition and civil society leaders. Enforced disappearances and abductions of dissidents and their relatives have become common. The Institute for Studies and Security, an African think tank, warned recently of the risk of political structures being &quot;dominated by a single force&quot;.

Africa

Guineans vote in legislative and municipal elections, marking a new step towards a return to democratic rule after a 2021 coup, despite severe restrictions on civil liberties and an opposition boycott.

Guinea holds parliament election five years after coup

LONDON: Britain&#39;s Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday vowed to prove his doubters wrong and stem mounting calls for him to step down after disastrous local and regional elections for his ruling Labour Party. But more than 60 of Labour&#39;s 403 MPs asked him to step down, unconvinced by his pledge to make the party bolder and better to assuage disgruntled voters impatient for change. They included four government aides who resigned from their positions. Joe Morris, who was a parliamentary private secretary to Health Secretary Wes Streeting -- widely rumoured to be considering a leadership challenge -- wrote on X that it was &quot;now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change&quot;. Another, Tom Rutland, who was an aide to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, said Starmer had &quot;lost authority&quot; among Labour MPs and &quot;will not be able to regain it&quot;. Melanie Ward, who was an assistant to Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, called for new leadership. &quot;Keir Starmer did important work to change the Labour Party, and governing in a time like this will never be easy,&quot; she said on X. &quot;But the message from last week&rsquo;s elections was clear; the Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the public to lead this change.&quot; &#39;New leadership&#39; neededCabinet Office aide Naushabah Khan, who also resigned, added: &quot;I am calling for new leadership so that we can rebuild trust and deliver the better future that the British people voted for.&quot; Under party rules, any challenger would need the support of 81 Labour MPs -- 20 percent of the party in parliament -- to trigger a leadership contest. But that would likely spark a damaging bout of infighting, with MPs from the left and right of the party battling to position their preferred candidate or shore up Starmer. Starmer, 63, came to power in July 2024 after a landslide election win that ended 14 years of Conservative party rule dominated by austerity measures, infighting over Brexit, and its Covid response. But he has swerved from one policy misstep to another, and became mired in a scandal over the appointment and sacking of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, after revelations about the envoy&#39;s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has not yet spurred economic growth to help British citizens suffering with the cost of living, but has been praised for resisting US President Donald Trump over Iran. Last week, voters issued a damning indictment of his 22 months in power in local and regional elections, which saw huge gains for the hard-right Reform UK party and the left-wing populist Greens at Labour&#39;s expense. Labour also lost control of the devolved Welsh parliament to nationalists Plaid Cymru for the first time since it was set up in 1999, and failed to make up ground against the Scottish National Party at the Scottish Parliament. In a crunch speech on Monday, Starmer acknowledged the public&#39;s frustration with the state of the country, politics and his leadership. &quot;I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will,&quot; he said. He promised &quot;a bigger response&quot; rather than &quot;incremental change&quot; in areas such as economic growth, closer European ties, and energy. He pledged to fully nationalize British Steel and, in the strongest condemnation since Britain&#39;s acrimonious departure from the European Union in 2020, said Brexit had left the UK poorer, weaker and less secure. Nigel Farage, who leads Reform UK and is tipped as a possible future prime minister, was a &quot;chancer&quot; and &quot;grifter&quot; whose virulent pro-Brexit campaign had taken Britain &quot;for a ride&quot;, he said. &quot;If we don&#39;t get this right, our country will go down a very dark path,&quot; he warned. Who succeeds?&nbsp;After the speech, MP Catherine West, who had threatened to trigger a leadership challenge on Monday, said she was instead collecting the names of Labour MPs who want Starmer to set a timetable for the election of a new leader in September. Starmer pledged to fight any challenge and warned Labour would &quot;never be forgiven&quot; by voters if it imitated the &quot;chaos&quot; of the previous Conservative government, which went through five prime ministers since 2010, including three in just four months in 2022. It has long been rumored that Health Secretary Streeting and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner could try to oust Starmer. But neither is universally popular within Labour. Rayner, who has stopped short of calling for Starmer to quit, said in a speech of her own Monday that &quot;what we are doing isn&#39;t working, and it needs to change&quot;.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C) and his wife Victoria Starmer (R) leave after casting their votes at a polling station in Westminster Chapel, central London on May 7, 2026, as polls open for local elections. (AFP)

United Kingdom

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces mounting calls to resign after heavy Labour election losses, with more than 60 MPs demanding new leadership as he vows to restore public trust and warns Britain risked heading down a 'dark path'.

Pressure grows on UK's Starmer to quit as PM

ISLAMABAD: Voting began on Thursday in two of India&rsquo;s most politically important opposition-held states, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. But Bengal&rsquo;s first phase was overshadowed by claims that voter-roll deletions disproportionately hit Muslims and other marginalized groups, according to AP. In West Bengal, polling opened for 152 of the state&rsquo;s 294 assembly seats, while Tamil Nadu voted in a single phase for all 234 seats. Results in both states are due on May 4. BJP targets opposition strongholdsPrime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s BJP is trying to break into both opposition strongholds. In West Bengal, it is seeking to unseat Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee&rsquo;s Trinamool Congress, which won 213 seats in the 2021 election. In Tamil Nadu, the BJP remains a junior ally of the strongest regional party, AIADMK and has historically struggled to make significant gains. Voter roll purge under scrutinyIn Bengal, however, the most serious issue hanging over the vote is not just campaign rhetoric, but who has been allowed to vote at all. About 9 million names were removed from West Bengal&rsquo;s electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision, roughly 12% of the electorate. The Election Commission has said the exercise was meant to remove duplicate, deceased or otherwise ineligible voters, according to AP and other reports. Critics, however, say it has instead become a blunt instrument of disenfranchisement. Murshidabad fallout deepens alarmThe Wire reported from Murshidabad that the fallout extends far beyond the ballot box. Migrant laborers whose names were deleted are now trapped in what the report described as a no-man&rsquo;s land. Some workers said employers were demanding proof that they had voted in order to show they were not &ldquo;Bangladeshi.&rdquo; In border districts and Muslim-majority belts, the stigma attached to deletion has turned an administrative exercise into a threat to livelihood, dignity and belonging. The pattern has raised wider alarm because the exclusions appear to fall disproportionately on vulnerable communities. A data analysis by The Wire said Muslim-heavy constituencies, especially in the border belt, were disproportionately pushed into harsher scrutiny channels. AP also reported that opposition leaders accused the BJP of using the purge to suppress minority and dissenting votes. Security was tightened across Bengal, including at &ldquo;supersensitive&rdquo; polling stations and along the Bangladesh border. But the central question surrounding this election is not only whether voting will be peaceful. It is whether an election can be called fully democratic when millions arrived on polling day, already erased from the rolls.

India

Voting began in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, but Bengal’s first phase was overshadowed by claims that voter-roll deletions disproportionately affected Muslims and other marginalized groups, raising disenfranchisement concerns.

Elections in India begin amid voter purge controversy

NEW DELHI: A key opposition Indian politician has threatened legal action against the election commission after millions of people were struck off electoral rolls, the latest flashpoint over a contentious voter clean-up drive. A sweeping voter registration overhaul -- known as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) -- meant to remove ineligible voters but which critics say is skewed against marginalised and minority communities, kicked off last year in several states and territories. Many of these regions voted Thursday to elect local governments, with two other states slated to go to polls later this month. That includes West Bengal, a state with roughly 100 million people led by Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress party, where it has run into furious opposition. West Bengal is also a crucial election battleground, which Prime Minister Narendara Modi&#39;s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has never governed. - Move to court - Banerjee, the state&#39;s chief minister, accused India&#39;s Election Commission of &quot;working at the behest of the BJP&quot; to strike off her supporters from the state&#39;s electoral rolls. &quot;We will move court again to resist the exclusion of names,&quot; she told her supporters at an election rally on Wednesday. A previous challenge by Banerjee, one of Modi&#39;s most formidable opponents, is pending in the Supreme Court. Members of Modi&#39;s BJP have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India&#39;s electoral rolls. West Bengal shares a 2,217 kilometre (1,378 mile) long border with Bangladesh. The Election Commission, in its defence of the SIR, has said it is in part to avoid &quot;foreign illegal immigrants&quot; from voting. The SIR drive in West Bengal was carried out in two phases. In the first, around 6.3 million names were deleted, with officials citing routine reasons such as deaths or voters having moved out of the state. A second, more controversial phase, flagged another six million voters for &quot;adjudication&quot;, a category introduced for the first time in West Bengal, which relied on software to identify anomalies such as spelling mismatches. Muslims, who make up a quarter of the state&#39;s population, were disproportionately flagged for this extra scrutiny, according to at least two independent analyses of Election Commission data. Of those flagged, about 2.7 million were finally found to be ineligible to vote, the Election Commission&#39;s data released earlier this week, raising the total number of exclusions to over nine million -- or roughly 12 percent of the electorate. The 2.7 million left out after the second phase can still appeal their exclusion. But with the tribunals set up to adjudicate such matters still not fully operational, a decision is unlikely before voting begins on April 23.

Mamata Banerjee has threatened fresh legal action against India’s Election Commission over a voter roll purge in West Bengal that excluded over nine million people, with critics alleging minority targeting and warning many appeals may remain unresolved before April 23 voting.

India election roll overhaul sparks anger as key states vote

HANOI: Polling stations opened in Vietnam, AFP journalists saw Sunday, as voters began casting their ballots for members of the National Assembly of the one-party state.&nbsp;The National Assembly is the country&#39;s top legislative body, but serves mainly to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party.&nbsp;The Southeast Asian nation of 100 million is both an economic success story, boasting eight percent growth last year, and a repressive one-party state that often jails its critics.&nbsp;Out of 864 candidates for the 500-seat legislature, which serves mainly to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party, only 65 are not party members.&nbsp;In the capital Hanoi, patriotic red-and-yellow banners fluttered from lampposts and traffic lights, extolling the &quot;national festival&quot; where people &quot;eagerly cast ballots&quot;.&nbsp;Elderly voters, well-dressed in suits or traditional costumes, were some of the first to cast their ballots at polling stations.&nbsp;&quot;I do expect top leaders after this election will make major changes to make our country better,&quot; Nguyen Thi Kim, 73, told AFP at a polling station set up in a community room of a high-rise residential block in Hanoi.&nbsp;Among the new parliament&#39;s first tasks when it sits next month will be to confirm top leaders already selected by the party at its twice-a-decade congress in January.&nbsp;The president, prime minister and head of the national assembly will all be confirmed by lawmakers&#39; votes.&nbsp;Top leader To Lam was reaffirmed as general secretary at the congress, but he is widely expected to become president as well -- a post that requires approval by lawmakers.&nbsp;This general election aims &quot;to choose the most prestigious people to continue leading the country to more development&quot;, To Lam said on live TV after casting his ballot.&nbsp;Most polling stations were due to close at 7:00 pm (1200 GMT), with results not expected for at least a week.

Americas

Polling stations open across Vietnam as voters elect members of the 500-seat National Assembly of Vietnam

Polls open in Vietnam legislative election

KATHMANDU: Counting was underway in Nepal on Friday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country&#39;s leadership following 2025 protests that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include Marxist leader KP Sharma Oli, the ousted four-time prime minister, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the Nepali Congress party, Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu&#39;s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up -- suggesting Shah&#39;s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Prakash Nyupane, a spokesman for the Election Commission, said that counting was ongoing &quot;in a peaceful manner&quot; across the Himalayan nation, from snowbound high-altitude mountain regions to the hot plains bordering India. Voters have chosen who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores of government buildings were torched. Youth-led protests under a loose Gen Z banner began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban, but were fed by wider grievances at corruption and a woeful economy. &quot;This is even a bigger upset than we expected -- it underscores the level of public disenchantment with the old parties for under-performance, as well as anger over the events of September,&quot; Kunda Dixit, publisher of the weekly Nepali Times, told AFP. &#39;Fate of the country&#39; The polls are one of the most hotly contested elections in the Himalayan republic of 30 million people since the end of a civil war in 2006. All eyes are watching the results in the key head-to-head battleground constituency of Jhapa-5, a usually sleepy eastern district, where 35-year-old Shah challenged directly the veteran Oli, aged 74. Shah, better known as Balen, snappily dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change -- and early trends suggested he was in the lead. Soldiers with armoured trucks manned barbed wire barricades around the counting centre in Jhapa. &quot;I hope this result changes the fate of the country for the better,&quot; Bhagawati Adhikari, 38, told AFP, who was among a crowd of dozens at Jhapa gathered outside the security cordon. &quot;The country should be peaceful and secure, youth should get opportunities, corruption should stop -- that&#39;s my appeal.&quot; &#39;Better path&#39; More than 3,400 candidates ran for 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists. Turnout was 59 percent. Some results are expected later Friday, but full nationwide tallies could take several days. Even then, negotiations to form a government may drag on if -- as many analysts predict -- no single party secures an outright majority. But Dixit raised the possibility that Shah&#39;s RSP could stage a dramatic win. &quot;If RSP hits the magic 138 seats, Balen will become prime minister -- and hopefully a cabinet of technocrats,&quot; added Dixit. Sushila Karki, the interim prime minister, praised the peaceful conduct of a vote she has said was critical in &quot;determining our future&quot;. The challenge that Karki -- a 73-year-old former chief justice who reluctantly left retirement to lead the nation -- now faces will be managing the reaction to results. The election saw a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle Nepal&#39;s dismal economy, challenging veteran politicians who have dominated for decades and argue that their experience guarantees stability and security. Mira Ranjit, 49, who voted in the capital, Kathmandu, clapped as ballot boxes were collected under heavy guard and taken to counting centres late on Thursday. &quot;A new leader should emerge who can guide our country and show a better path for the nation, so that the Gen Z protest achieves its goal,&quot; she said. &quot;We don&#39;t need anything more than this. Many mothers lost their children, and their demands should be fulfilled.&quot;

Nepal

Vote counting is underway in Nepal for the first election since youth led protests toppled the government in 2025

Nepal counts votes after key post-uprising election

TOKYO: Official campaigning began in Japan on Tuesday ahead of a snap election on Feb. 8. Here are five key issues in a high-stakes vote where Prime Minister <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/japans-ruling-party-elects-sanae-takaichi-as-new-leader-likely-to-become-first-female-pm" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sanae Takaichi</a>has laid her political future on the line. Race to the pollsCandidates&#39; posters are up, vans topped with loudspeakers are cruising the streets, and Takaichi held her first rally Tuesday in central Tokyo, where dozens gathered to hear her speak. The lower house of parliament was officially dissolved on Jan. 23, 16 days before the vote -- the shortest window between the two in the postwar era. Yet the brevity of this pre-election period &quot;will likely not have much of an effect&quot;, said Michael Cucek, assistant professor of Asian Studies at Temple University&#39;s Japan Campus. &quot;There is no need for time to introduce or explain anything: the parties are offering strikingly similar policy programmes,&quot; he told AFP, adding that the weather would likely have more impact on voter turnout, with severe snowstorms hitting the north. Takaichi&#39;s slipping popularityAppointed in October as Japan&#39;s first woman prime minister, hardline nationalist Takaichi is banking on strong poll numbers to boost her unpopular Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which holds only a slim majority in the powerful lower house. Takaichi has staked her political future on the vote, saying she will resign immediately if her coalition fails to win a majority. Her government&#39;s once sky-high popularity, while still solid, has started to slip: its approval rating fell from 75% in December to 67%, according to a survey by the Nikkei newspaper. Voters are raising questions over a recent tax-cut pledge to counter inflation and how it would be financed, while many are also frustrated by the snap election, which has slowed parliamentary debate on the 2026-27 budget. Ryutaro Kono, chief economist at BNP Paribas, said that &quot;the surveys ... suggest that the prime minister&#39;s popularity does not necessarily translate into a significant increase in votes for the Liberal Democratic Party.&quot; &quot;Delaying the passage of the budget to proceed with the general election likely caused a significant number of supporters to leave (Takaichi).&quot; Rivals uniteFacing the LDP -- a powerful party that has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955 -- and its coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), opposition forces have vowed to fight. The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the small Buddhist Komeito party -- a former LDP coalition partner -- are joining forces under a &quot;Centrist Reform Alliance.&quot; Analysts believe the election could be tight depending on the success of the new alliance, but the opposition&#39;s chances of victory remain slim. &quot;There are no significant policy differences among the parties. This election is shaping up as a referendum on Takaichi,&quot; Hideo Kumano, an economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, told AFP. Inflation looms largeJapan has grappled with a surge in living costs in recent years, and public anger over inflation played a major role in the downfall of Shigeru Ishiba, Takaichi&#39;s predecessor. Seeking to ease the pain, Takaichi unveiled in November a $135 billion stimulus package and, if elected, has pledged to waive the consumption tax on food for two years, joining opposition promises to cut various taxes. This risks further inflating the country&#39;s already colossal debt, rattling bond markets and reviving memories of the short-lived British leader Liz Truss, who resigned after alarming investors. According to the Nikkei poll published Monday, 56% of Japanese believe the promised tax exemption would not be effective against inflation. Takaichi defended the measure on Monday, saying she was paying &quot;considerable attention to fiscal sustainability.&quot; Foreigners, diplomacy&nbsp;Another voter concern is the role of foreigners in Japan, although immigration levels there remain low compared with those of other rich economies. Sanseito, a populist anti-immigration party, made a notable breakthrough in mid-2025 upper house elections. Sanae Takaichi is promising a clampdown. On Friday, a cabinet meeting proposed tougher action against foreigners staying illegally and stricter controls on property buyers, while pledging support for those who have the right to stay. International issues may also loom over the campaign. Takaichi, who rolled out the red carpet for US President Donald Trump, played drums with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, and took selfies with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has thrown herself onto the diplomatic stage. But relations with Beijing have worsened since she suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan. In retaliation, Beijing announced tighter export controls to Japan, and the economic cost of this diplomatic crisis is worrying Japanese voters.

Japan's Prime Minister and President of the Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi delivers her first campaign speech for the House of Representatives election in Tokyo on January 27, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Asia

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi faces slipping approval ratings, rising inflation concerns, a fragile parliamentary majority and a newly unified opposition, as voters weigh economic strain, foreign policy risks and domestic political stability.

Japan's election campaign kicks off: Five things to know

ISLAMABAD: Italy has pledged full support for Bangladesh&#39;s democratic transition and the July Charter reform agenda, an Italian deputy minister said on Tuesday, following talks with the country&#39;s interim leader, the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2013603601386512602&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=6a22852af20e5782161273426ab9c5b3a452b7a4&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 648px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2013603601386512602"></iframe></div></div>Italian Undersecretary for Defence Matteo Perego di Cremnago made the remarks during a courtesy call with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna, BSS said, citing the Chief Adviser&rsquo;s Press Wing. According to BSS, the two sides discussed trade and defence cooperation, migration, the upcoming general elections, European Union election observation, and the July Charter. &quot;Italy sees the Indo-Pacific region as the new center of global gravity and seeks to strengthen relations with countries in the region, including Bangladesh&#39;s growing economy,&quot; Perego said, highlighting potential areas for closer cooperation. Perego noted that while the Bangladeshi community has integrated well in Italy, concerns remain over illegal migration through the Mediterranean route. Professor Yunus emphasized the need to expand legal migration pathways to developed nations with aging populations, such as Italy and Japan. He reaffirmed his commitment to holding &quot;free, fair, transparent, and festive&quot; elections on Feb. 12, BSS said. Recalling long-standing ties with Italy, he said that before taking office as interim leader, he had helped design the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics as a social business event. The chief adviser praised the EU for deploying a large observer mission to monitor the vote and said he expects strong voter turnout, particularly among young people who were unable to participate in what he termed &quot;fake elections&quot; during 16 years of &quot;fascist autocratic regime&quot; rule. Professor Yunus sought Italy&#39;s continued support for Bangladesh&#39;s democratic transition and enhanced cooperation in defence, trade, and investment.&nbsp;

Italy’s Undersecretary for Defence, Matteo Perego di Cremnago, called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna. Photo: Chief Adviser's Press Wing (taken from BSS)

Bangladesh

Italy has voiced support for the upcoming elections and expanding cooperation on trade and defense. It has also urged the establishment of legal migration pathways while raising concerns over irregular migration, BSS reported.

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