Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan passes away

    Former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan passes away

    Gohar Ayub Khan, former foreign minister and ex-Speaker of the National Assembly, breathed his last on Friday.
    The Secretary General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),verified that his father has passed peacefully after a brief illness.
    “Qul will be offered at 11am at Omar Ayub Khan’s residence Main G.T Road Haripur on 19th November,” he added.


    Born in 1937, the former foreign minister was under treatment in a private hospital in Islamabad for quite some time, PTI spokesperson Rauf Hussain confirmed.


    Gohar Ayub Khan was the son of former field marshal president Ayub Khan.
    President Dr. Arif Alvi conveyed profound sadness and Omar Ayub Khan sorrow on the passing of the former foreign minister. He extended heartfelt condolences to the grieving family.


    Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar also conveyed profound sadness and condolences on Gohar’s passing. In a message, the premier offered prayers for the high ranks of the departed soul and for the grieving family to find strength in coping with their loss.

  • Shehbaz Sharif is ‘innocent’

    Shehbaz Sharif is ‘innocent’

    Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with 10 co-accused, have been acquitted in the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme reference by a Lahore accountability court, as per Geo News.

    The list of the acquitted individuals includes the incumbent federal minister Ahad Cheema and Fawad Hassan Fawad.

    The court, headed by Judge Malik Ali Zulqarnain Awan, reserved the verdict on November 2 after the conclusion of final arguments presented by counsels and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutors on acquittal pleas.

    Acquittal applications contended that all prosecution witnesses and approvers had retracted their statements, signaling a lack of grounds for conviction in the reference. The applicants urged the court to approve the applications and absolve them of the charges.

    A report filed by NAB in May stated that there was no evidence of financial corruption or misuse of authority by Shehbaz Sharif. The allegations of misuse of authority and corruption against the former prime minister, according to the report, were not substantiated under the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999.

    NAB had filed the reference in 2018, alleging that Shehbaz Sharif and other accused had caused a significant financial loss to the national treasury by awarding the contract for the housing scheme to a construction firm without a competitive bidding process.

    Sharif was arrested on Oct 5, 2018, in connection with the case when he appeared before the accountability bureau in another matter while Cheema was taken into custody on February 21 of the same year. Both of them were later released on bail.

    Earlier, Kamran Kiyani, the brother of former army chief Ashfaque Parvez Kiyani, and Nadeem Zia of Paragon City were acquitted by the court due to a “lack of evidence”.

    The NAB alleged that Cheema received illegal benefits from the owners of Paragon City Developers as a reward for awarding the housing scheme contract to their proxy firm, Bismillah Engineering.

  • Bilawal Bhutto labels “traditional politics” country’s worst enemy

    Bilawal Bhutto labels “traditional politics” country’s worst enemy

    As political parties gear up for election activities, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), expressed concerns about the continuation of traditional politics, labeling it the country’s worst enemy. He emphasized the importance of embracing “new politics,” as reported by Geo News on Friday.


    Speaking at a workers’ convention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan, Bilawal said: “We need to [embark] on a new political [direction and strategy] which will allow us to overcome the issues faced by the country.”


    He added: “Veteran politicians neither think about the present nor the future [as] they are still stuck in the past. We want to leave behind the politics of division, hate and abuse which [as part of] the traditional politics has been going on for the [past] 70 years.”
    While talking about contemporary politics and its advantages, Bilawal Bhutto said, “We have to become the voice of the ‘new politics’ […] We think about the present and future and not what’s in the past.”


    Earlier in the week, while talking at a worker’s convention in Abbottabad, the PPP chairman said that “new political leadership” is needed if the country is to progress.

  • Dr. Tahir ul Qadri is ‘back’

    Dr. Tahir ul Qadri is ‘back’

    After being inactive for seven years, Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has re-entered the political scene, announcing that it will actively participate in the upcoming February 2024 general elections.

    “We shall take full part in the upcoming elections from our own platform and on our electoral symbol,” PAT’s central president Qazi Zahid Hussain told a press conference on Friday.

    Qazi Zahid Hussain, accompanied by party officials including information secretary Nurella Siddiqui, and Raja Zahid, said that PAT candidates will champion the cause of comprehensive reforms in the system, initiating mass-contact campaigns and electioneering immediately.

    Notably, PAT abstained from the 2013 polls but actively participated in the 2015-16 local body elections.

    Hussain clarified that Dr Qadri had endorsed the decision following a two-day consultation by the PAT central executive council. Responding to queries, Siddiqui confirmed that Dr Qadri would not partake in the electioneering process for PAT nominees.

    Highlighting the party’s stance on candidate commitments, Siddiqui stated that once a candidate submits nominations from the PAT platform, withdrawing in favor of another party’s nominee would result in expulsion from the party.

    Additionally, Siddiqui ruled out the possibility of electoral alliances, noting that decisions regarding post-poll cooperation would be made at a later stage.

    Despite being former partners in protest, a party insider revealed to Dawn that any political cooperation with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was unlikely.

    The insider cited the PTI’s alleged failure to deliver justice to PAT in the 2014 Model Town tragedy, where 14 party activists lost their lives in a police raid, during the PTI’s approximately four-year rule.

  • From north to south, now south to where? Palestinians warned to flee southern Gaza

    From north to south, now south to where? Palestinians warned to flee southern Gaza

    In a recent development, on Thursday, Israeli forces reportedly dropped flyers on some areas of Khan Younis, the largest city in south Gaza, warning the residents to clear the region since Israel is likely to increase attacks in southern Gaza as well.

    Previously, Israeli military bombed northern Gaza relentlessly and are also conducting ground operations.

    Khuzaa, Abassan, Bani Suhaila and Al Qarara in eastern Khan Younis, had a population of 100,000 “in peacetime” and is currently accommodating tens of thousands more who fled from the north.

    “For your safety, you need to evacuate your places of residence immediately and head to known shelters,” the leaflets said. “Anyone near terrorists or their facilities puts their life at risk, and every house used by terrorists will be targeted.”

    Already, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip with a population of 2.3 million, have fled south as north has been under heavy Israeli attacks.

    It has also been claimed that people in eastern Khan Younis are unsure where they can flee because Israel has also been attacking the south where Palestinians were previously directed to move for their protection.

    “We have been absolutely clear that at the current moment, we do not consider any part of Gaza to be safe,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Thursday.

  • Donald Lu kay khilaf muqadma hoga Amreeka mein: Aleema Khan

    Donald Lu kay khilaf muqadma hoga Amreeka mein: Aleema Khan

    Alima Khan, the sister of incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has claimed that the cipher case involves the complete complicity of the US Embassy.

    While talking to the media, she said that they will file a case against Donald Lu in American courts.

    Donald Lu, a US diplomat in the State Department, was blamed by Imran Khan for orchestrating the no-confidence vote that led to his ouster in April 2022.

    Donald Lu’s talks with a Pakistani diplomat were conveyed in a diplomatic cipher sent to Islamabad that caused uproar in Pakistan.

    Alima Khan confirmed that the case will be filed in the US while talking to the media outside Adiala Jail, where Imran Khan is currently held under tight security.

    She assured the public that Imran Khan’s health was in good condition, emphasizing his well-established routine and the absence of any complaints about the food provided by the authorities.

    She also said that the High Court has issued a stay order in the cipher case, and clauses are being added which carry the possibility of the death penalty or life imprisonment.

    Alima Khan demanded that authorities specify the charges against Imran Khan that led to these serious allegations and probable punishments. She urged for justice to be served in Pakistan.

    Alima Khan claimed that Imran Khan asserted that the American Embassy was fully involved in the conspiracy, and if justice is not served in Pakistani courts, they will pursue the case against Donald Lu in the United States.

    The Cases

    The former prime minister is currently being held in Adiala Jail after his arrest from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on August 5.

    He was moved to the prison on September 26 from Attock Jail where he was initially kept after his arrest.

    Khan was first convicted by a lower court in the Toshakhana case in August and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. The IHC suspended his sentence the same month.

    The Islamabad accountability court issued arrest warrants for PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the Toshakhana and £ 190 million Al-Qadir Trust cases on Tuesday.

    Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9 for the first time.

    The £ 190 million (approximately Rs60 billion) settlement case pertains to the money of property tycoon, Malik Riaz, being laundered and caught by the UK authorities during Imran’s government in 2019.

    The UK government had informed the Pakistani authorities regarding the money being caught.

    The former premier is already in prison as he was subsequently booked in the ‘cipher’ case. The hearing of the cipher case in the special court has been adjourned without proceeding till November 21.

    In the cipher case, Khan, along with his close aide and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has been accused of leaking state secrets.

  • Special court postpones cypher case hearing till November 21

    Special court postpones cypher case hearing till November 21

    Special court judge Abdul Hasnat Zulqarnain attended the hearing of the cypher case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and vice chairman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, on Friday in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi.

    The special court adjourned the hearing till November 21 without proceeding further.

    Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Special Prosecutor Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi told the media that hearing has been adjourned considering the prohibition order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

    Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s wife, Mehreen Qureshi, and daughter, Mehr Bano Qureshi, reached Adiala Jail to attend the hearing along with Barrister Taimur Malik.

    Imran Khan’s wife, former first lady, Bushra Bibi was also present.

    Earlier, Bushra Bibi had submitted a request to the IHC seeking permission for a solitary meeting with her husband.

  • Bilawal Bhutto wants ‘old politicians’ to go home

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Thursday that the country needs new political leadership, adding that “old politicians will have to be sent home.”

    While addressing a worker’s convention in Abbotabad, Bilawal Bhutto said that other political parties are doing old politics, but the PPP has its “doctrine and manifesto”.

    Criticising  Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Bilawal Bhutto said that new politics and new leadership are now much needed to bring the country out of crisis.

    “Such a leadership which is not stuck in the past, which thinks about the future, doesn’t get caught up in politics and division,” Bilawal said.

    The PPP chairman also said that Pakistan will not progress unless “the vote is not given respect”

    “If you give me a chance, I promise I will never disappoint you,” Bilawal added.

    Bilawal also said that poverty, unemployment, and inflation are his party’s opponents.

    “We have a plan for ending inflation, give relief to the nation,” he said.

  • IMF, EU officers ‘routinely’ visit Khan in jail, claims Pervez Elahi

    IMF, EU officers ‘routinely’ visit Khan in jail, claims Pervez Elahi

    The incarcerated Preside of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, has claimed on Thursday that officers from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union “routinely” visit party chief Imran Khan in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

    The claim was categorically rejected by the spokesman of Punjab prisons department, declaring it “baseless and against the facts”.

    Speaking to journalists in a courtroom in Lahore, the PTI president said that Imran Khan was locked up in a cell next to his in jail.

    “Representatives from the EU and the IMF [routinely] visit Imran,” he claimed.

    The former chief minister also said, while responding to a question about upcoming elections, that Khan will get unusual votes in the forthcoming polls.

    “There will be no rigging in this election,” he said, adding that the polls’ date was announced at the orders of the top court.

    Chaudhry Parvez Elahi further said that he is with Imran Khan and will continue to support the former prime minister.

  • Caretaker cabinet: Kiskay pass kitna paisa

    Caretaker cabinet: Kiskay pass kitna paisa

    According to a report published by Geo News, caretaker prime minister Anwarul Haq Kakar owns assets worth 4 crore, 81 lakh, 82 thousand, and 580 rupees, while also owning a share of 50 thousand in Chagai Mining Limited (CML).

    The caretaker Premier has disclosed the value of 10 tola gold at 80 thousand rupees; he also has more than 22 million rupees in two banks. The caretaker prime minister has disclosed the value of his house furniture at four lakh rupees.

    The caretaker finance minister, Shamshad Akhtar, has revealed the price of a house in Karachi DHA Phase 6 as four million and a plot in DHA worth Rs25,000.

    Shamshad Akhtar has shares worth more than three lakh rupees in Pakistan State Oil (PSO).

    The caretaker finance minister has 39 lakh 24 thousand rupees in banks, while his furniture is worth two lakh rupees.

    According to the details of the assets revealed by caretaker interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti, he owns a two-kanal house in Multan worth one crore, while he also owns a flat worth Rs 2.5 million in Multan United Mall. The caretaker interior minister has a house worth three crore and 12 lakh in Islamabad and a plot worth one crore in Quetta.
    Sarfaraz Bugti has Rs 67 lakh 98 thousand in cash, while his account has Rs 635,000. The value of his furniture is Rs 68 lakh. Sarfaraz Bugti has also declared 90 camels, 8,870 sheep, 4060 goats, 400 cows, 80 calves, and 86 buffaloes among his assets; his livestock is worth six crore and 97 lakhs.

    According to the document, the caretaker federal minister of information, Murtaza Solangi, is the owner of assets worth two crore and 32 lakh rupees. Solangi has one crore, 27 lakh rupees, while his wife owns two houses in Islamabad worth 31 lakh rupees besides 18 lakh cash.