Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Imran Khan files petition against superintendent jail after not being allowed to talk to sons

    Imran Khan files petition against superintendent jail after not being allowed to talk to sons

    Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has filed a petition against the superintendent of Attock jail on Monday for not allowing him to speak to his sons over the phone.

    Khan is in custody until September 13 under the cypher case. He had been arrested on August 5 in the Tosha Khana case, and since then he has been in Attock jail.

    Last month, Khan was allowed to speak to his sons over the phone by a special court formed to hear cases registered under the Official Secrets Act.

    However, Imran Khan has claimed in his petition against the Attock jail superintendent that he is not following the court orders.

    Judge Abdul Hasnat Zulqarnain has issued a notice to the superintendent, asking for the submission of an implementation report of the court’s orders on September 15.

  • Prize money for informants against smuggling, hoarding, illegal immigrants, says Sarfaraz Bugti

    Prize money for informants against smuggling, hoarding, illegal immigrants, says Sarfaraz Bugti

    Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said in a media talk on Sunday that the federal administration will have zero tolerance against smuggling. He also said that the caretaker government will give prize money to those who provide information on smuggling, hoarding, and illegal immigrants.

    In a joint press conference with the caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi, Sarfaraz Bugti also stressed that all state institutions will go to any length to eliminate the menace of smuggling and hoarding in the country.

    The caretaker government recovered sugar and urea in a very large quantity in different parts of the country, and operations against wheat, sugar, urea, dollars, and other commodities is still continuing, he added.

    Almost 59 people who were involved in the illegal business of Hundi-Hawala have also been arrested, the security czar said.

    “But what is ironic is that now the elements involved in smuggling have started hoarding various things,” he added.

    On a question regarding terrorist attacks from Afghanistan, Bugti said that the neighbouring country should abide by the Doha Agreement, which is a surety that Afghan soil will not be used against any country.

  • FC official killed in targeted Peshawar blast, eight injured

    A vehicle belonging to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa FC’s Mohmand Rifles regiment was targeted Monday morning at 10:30am in Peshawar. According to the Warsak Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohammad Arshad Khan the blast occurred when the vehicle was headed toward Peshawar from Machni.

    A Frontier Constabulary (FC) official was martyred and eight others, including two civilians were injured. The blast took place near Prime Hospital Complex on Peshawar’s Warsak Road.

    The incident took place just one day after acting interim Minister Sarfraz Bugti downplayed the rise in militancy in the country, stating there was no need for fear since “a little surge [in terrorism] is not so big as to make us panic.”

  • Usman Dar ‘abducted’, PTI demands immediate release

    Usman Dar ‘abducted’, PTI demands immediate release

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said on Saturday that party leader Usman Dar has been “abducted”, demanding that the Sialkot native be recovered and presented in court, Geo News has reported.

    “First it was Aoun Abbas Buppi, then Sadaqat Abbasi, and now Usman Dar has been abducted,” the party wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

    Usman Dar is the latest in a number of PTI leaders and officials who have encountered cases and incarceration after the May 9 riots.
    PTI leader Farrukh Habib said in a tweet on Saturday that Dar “be brought to light immediately and presented in court if there was a case against him so Dar could exercise his right to defend himself and his family could meet him”.


    Earlier, Dar had said that his house, factory, and business in Sialkot were sealed in August. He had also said in one of his statements that his family members, including women, were left helpless.

  • ‘We have full confidence in Election Commission and all its members’, says Asif Zardari

    ‘We have full confidence in Election Commission and all its members’, says Asif Zardari

    Asif Ali Zardari, former president and co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), defended the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday, saying that since the new census was announced, a new delimitation is now required.


    The PPP’s leader expressed complete trust in Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and other ECP members in a statement posted on the party’s social media platforms. The statement further stated that the commission will conduct elections in accordance with the Constitution.
    After several PPP leaders, including party chairman Bilawal Bhutto, urged the ECP to declare an election date within 90 days in accordance with the Constitution, Zardari came to the defence of the constitutional body.


    “The stance we adopted today is that the PPP wants the ECP to announce a new election date and the schedule for it. There is restlessness in the nation, and it is very important that a new election date and schedule is announced,” PPP’s Nayyar Bukhari said after the meeting on August 29.
    Asif Zardari urged the caretaker administration to complete the projects started under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), an apex body set up by the previous administration to draw in foreign investment.


    “The country should be put on the path of development by completing these projects,” he added.

  • ‘Let the people make their own decision’; Bilawal takes swipe at establishment

    ‘Let the people make their own decision’; Bilawal takes swipe at establishment

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has criticized the establishment for “making puppets” in a conversation with members of the media.

    “The people of Pakistan have warned you that stop conducting such experiments on us. Let the people make their own decisions,” he said, calling it a message for those who make, search for or impose puppets on the country.

    “If the people of Pakistan choose Mian Shehbaz Sharif sahib or Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif sahib then we should all accept it. If the people choose PPP, then all should accept it. And maybe I may not like this, but if the people choose PTI, then we will have to accept it,” he stated on Friday in Karachi.

    The former Foreign Minister asked Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct polls as soon as possible and within the 90 days constitutional limit.

    “Through its performance, the PPP has always proven that it does people-friendly politics and governance. And that is why the PPP still says that elections should be held as soon as possible, according to the Constitution and within 90 days so that we can win the polls and serve the people of the country and take them out of these difficult economic times,” the PPP head stated.

    In response to a question, Bilawal said that his father, ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, had spent the longest time behind bars.

    “And today we are hearing that those politicians who have to go through this ordeal are facing difficulties,” he said about Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    “We are trying to tell them that ghabrana nahi hai (do not worry). It is time for you and politicians like you to learn. You are being given experience and training and you are now being made a politician.”

  • Nawaz Sharif confirms return to country next month

    Nawaz Sharif confirms return to country next month

    Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has announced that he will be returning to Pakistan in October of this year, Geo News has reported.

    Nawaz, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 for medical treatment, confirmed his return for the first time on Friday at a meeting with party members and supporters at Stanhope House. Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as well as PML-N leaders Chaudhary Tanveer, Danyal Chaudhary, Chaudhary Nadeem Khan, Dr. Anjum, and others were present.

    Although Nawaz will arrive in Pakistan next month, according to sources present at the meeting at Stanhope House, no specific date has been confirmed as yet.

    Geo News had reported that the three times former Prime Minister was expected to return to Pakistan in the middle of October.

  • Chief Justice sacrificed judiciary’s reputation for mother-in-law, says Maryam Nawaz

    Chief Justice sacrificed judiciary’s reputation for mother-in-law, says Maryam Nawaz

    While harshly criticizing the judges’ remarks in the audio leaks case, Maryam Nawaz said that the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) Umar Atta Bandial has sacrificed the judiciary’s reputation for his mother-in-law.


    Taking to X ( formerly Twitter) on Friday, Maryam Nawaz wrote, “Umar Atta Bandial Sahib and like-minded people sacrificed the reputation of the judiciary for the sake of mother-in-law. Sorry”

    The Supreme Court of Pakistan has rejected the objections of the former Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government against a five-member bench hearing the alleged audio leaks case.

    The five-member larger bench, led by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Atta Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsen, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shahid Waheed, was formed earlier this year, in May.

    The PDM government had filed a civil miscellaneous application (CMA) to the top court, requesting that CJP Bandial, Justice Ahsan, and Justice Akhtar bow out from the five-member larger bench hearing the case.

    The short verdict announced by Justice Ahsan on Friday said that the objections of the PDM government against the judges were the same as an “attack on the independence of the judiciary”.

    The SC reserved its decision on the PDM government’s petition of June 6.

    The government, in its CMA, said: “Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar should not listen to the audio leak case,” the petition appealed, adding that the “three respected judges should refuse to sit in the five-member larger bench.”

    “In the circumstances, till the next date of hearing, the operation of the impugned notification No.SRO.596(I)/2023 dated 19.05.2023 issued by the Federal Government is suspended as is the order dated 22.05.2023 made by the Commission and in consequence thereof proceedings of the Commission are stayed”, Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial had announced in a short order.

  • Fawad says PPP, JUI-F, ANP ‘hypocritical’ for blaming PML-N for inflation

    Fawad says PPP, JUI-F, ANP ‘hypocritical’ for blaming PML-N for inflation

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has a surprising ally as far as allegations of responsibility for inflation go. Fawad Chaudhry has said that PML-N’s former coalition partners Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Awami National Party (ANP) are being “extremely hypocritical” by blaming PML-N for inflation.

    “I am a severe critic of PMLn but to be fair the way PPP,ANP and now JUI are shifting everything on PMLn and Shahbaz Sharif is extremely hypocritical, they all were partners in crime how can they absolve themselves from what they all did to people of Pak in a partnership,” Fawad wrote in a tweet on Friday.

    The post came in response to an interview in which JUI-F’s Maulana Amjad Khan told Express Tribune that his party should not be blamed for inflation as the main ministries and the Prime Minister seat in the coalition government were with PML-N. However, he did add that global commodity prices were rising, emphasizing that this was not a phenomenon solely limited to Pakistan.

    Earlier in the week, JUI-F emir and head of the former ruling coalition of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman, blamed PPP for delay in elections.

    Talking to journalists in Lahore, Fazl said that all the parties in PDM had agreed to hold elections early last year. However, Fazl said, PPP went back on its promise, thus the tabling of the Vote of No Confidence.

    Fazlur Rehman also predicted that elections will be held by the end of February next year, but cautioned that an uptick in terrorism related incidents in former FATA regions could make campaigning there extremely difficult.

  • Another ‘unusual’ huddle in Aiwan-e-Sadr sets rumour mill in overdrive

    Another ‘unusual’ huddle in Aiwan-e-Sadr sets rumour mill in overdrive

    A few days after an unexpected meeting among three important people at the President House, another ‘unusual’ meeting took place on Sep 8 (today).
    Former information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani met President Arif Alvi on the completion of the president’s constitutional term.

    Muhammad Ali Durrani is the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League Functional (PML-F). He also served as information minister in the era of late military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf. In 2021, during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, he proposed starting a dialogue between stakeholders.

    In 2020, the former information minister met former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail during Imran Khan’s tenure to convey an “important message”. 

    According to Geo News, the former information minister called on President Alvi at Aiwan-e-Sadr. However, no official statement has been issued about the huddle.

    “Political pundits are terming the meeting unusual, as Durrani was inactive in politics for a long time and played a key role in the backdoor meeting,” the publication said.

    Earlier, sources told The News that two important personalities met President Alvi in Aiwan-e-Sadr. The meeting was held on the fourth floor of the Aiwan-e-Sadr, with the premises being off-limits for everyone, including staff.