Current Final

Category: Politics

  • It’s “undeclared martial law” in Pakistan: Imran Khan

    It’s “undeclared martial law” in Pakistan: Imran Khan

    Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has said while talking to BBC HARDtalk that there is “undeclared martial law” in Pakistan, adding that “fascists” are leading the country and taking it into “dark ages”.

    Imran was elected in 2018 and ruled the country for four years. He was removed from office with a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year.

    According to Imran Khan, a free and fair election is the only solution for political stability in Pakistan.

    Stephen Sackur, the presenter, asked Imran Khan if it was true that there was the involvement of the army in the 2018 election.

    In response, Imran Khan said that it’s not true, asking that if there was involvement of the army establishment, then how did Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) clean sweep in by-elections.

    “How come, despite the establishment openly going against us, trying to dismantle us, how come after we are out of government, we won 30 out of 37 by-elections?”

    He also said that the establishment thinks that my removal from the government can weaken my party, “Normally, it happens when you’re out of power for quite a while. But instead, what happened was that the party’s popularity kept growing”.

    He also stated that PTI workers were not involved in the violent protests of May 9 and that there should be a fair investigation into this matter.

    Imran Khan also said, “They have tried everything. They have put 10,000 people in jail, including women and peaceful protesters.”

    He repeated that “The only solution to Pakistan is free and fair elections. That’s the only way we will get out of this mess.”

  • Bye bye National Assembly; Lower House to be dissolved on August 9

    At a dinner hosted for allies, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has revealed that the National Assembly will be dissolved on August 9, three days before the end of its tenure, DAWN has reported.

    The dinner, held at the Prime Minister House on Thursday, was in honour of the parties that were allies in the ruling coalition.

    If the National Assembly is dissolved before the end of its tenure, general elections will be held in 90 days.

    Shehbaz Sharif informed his guests that a final round of consultation with other members of the ruling alliance on Friday to finalize the caretaker setup.

    A source has revealed to DAWN that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) head and current Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held a long meeting with the Prime Minister on Thursday to discuss the interim setup.

    The reception was attended by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PPP leaders Yousuf Raza Gilani, MQM Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, JUI-F leader Asad Mehmood, Balochistan Awami Party leaders Khalid Magsi and Senator Ahmed Khan, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) Chairman Shahzain Bugti, Aslam Bhootani, Mohsin Dawar and others.

  • PM Shehbaz has huge announcement for youth

    PM Shehbaz has huge announcement for youth

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Digital Youth Hub Portal’ has been launched on Thursday.

    The portal unites all of the initiatives the government has initiated to support the youth’s development.

    At the ceremony, Sharif gave his word that the government will use all of its resources and try everything in its power to empower young people.

    He claimed that through the initiative, easy-to-repay loans are given to high-achieving girls and boys so that they may support themselves. To date, 30 billion rupees in loans have been given to deserving, talented youth.

    The Premier pointed out that the government is also providing laptops to deserving students as part of the scheme, while millions of rupees worth of computers have already been handed to young people so they can pursue higher education.

    The current administration has allotted 80 billion rupees for youth development throughout the course of the current fiscal year.

    Shehbaz Sharif stated that young people can register on the Digital Youth Hub Portal to receive financial aid and benefit from government initiatives aimed at improving their well-being.

    Shaza Fatima Khawaja, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, said that the portal
    will integrate all the steps and programmes launched across the country for youth development.

  • Hajj pilgrims will be eligible to receive refund of up to Rs185,000, NA body told

    On Wednesday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony that each pilgrim who attended the Hajj under the government programme would receive a reimbursement of up to Rs185,000.

    The committee applauded Hajj preparations at its meeting in Parliament House, presided over by Syed Imran Ahmad Shah.

    The committee was informed that each pilgrim who performed Hajj under the regular scheme paid Rs 1,175,000. However, before their departure for Saudi Arabia, Rs55,000 was returned to each pilgrim.

    The pilgrims who went for Hajj under the hardship quota were asked to pay a deposit of Rs 1,120,000.

    The meeting was attended by MNAs Chaudhry Faqir Ahmed, Shahnaz Saleem Malik, Pir Syed Fazal Ali Shah Jillani, Shagufta Jumani, Muhammad Anwar, and Shahida Akhtar Ali, as well as a special invitee (through a video link), Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani.

    Top officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, including the secretary and joint secretary (Hajj), were also in the meeting.

    The committee shared an optimistic outlook, hoping that good practises and ongoing efforts would keep giving advantages to the pilgrims in the days to come.

  • NA continues hasty legislation despite outrage

    NA continues hasty legislation despite outrage

    According to the report filed by Amir Wasim in Dawn, the National Assembly (NA) approved 12 more bills on Wednesday.

    Along with debates over legislation, the NA saw a verbal altercation between Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf and South Waziristan MNA Ali Wazir when the legislator accused Pakistan’s intelligence agencies of “installing” the Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan and demanded that those responsible for bringing the Taliban back to Pakistan be held accountable.

    The angry speaker warned the MNA not to talk about sensitive matters related to Pakistan’s security forces, and then switched off the mic for Ali Wazir, declaring his words “anti-Pakistan”.

    During the passage of the bills, members of different allied parties in the coalition government complained that the PML-N didn’t take them into confidence in the matter of the bills.

    Some members were also concerned about a bill passing amendments to the Secrets Act, granting powers to intelligence agencies to raid and detain common citizens without warrants.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Agha Hassan Baloch has also said that BNP-M doesn’t want to be part of this hasty legislation. PPP lawmaker Shahida Rehmani and JUI-F’s Aliya Kamran were also against the passage of the bill.

  • PM Shehbaz says didn’t care about ‘taunts’ of being called establishment’s man

    PM Shehbaz says didn’t care about ‘taunts’ of being called establishment’s man

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that he did not care about taunts labelling him “establishment’s man”.

    At the inauguration ceremony of the Barha Kahu bypass project in Islamabad, the Prime Minister said, “I was called the establishment’s man, but I did not care about those taunts […] I never met army chiefs for personal reasons; the only motive behind those meetings was to ensure that the establishment and governments take the country forward together.”

    Acknowledging that in his 38 year long political career, he met many army chiefs but only to ensure that, “Islamabad’s government and Rawalpindi’s establishment remain on the same page.”

    Mentioning rumors that he was close to former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and military dictator, the late General Pervez Musharraf, Shehbaz asked what did he get.

    “Nawaz Sharif was thrown into jail and so was I. He went to Attock, so did I. He went to Landhi jail, so did I. Nawaz Sharif was exiled, so was I. Even my family was exiled,” he commented.

  • Sindh government initiates training women to drive pink buses

    Sindh government initiates training women to drive pink buses

    The Sindh government has decided to start a programme to train women to drive its pink buses, The News has reported.

    In the 10th board meeting of the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) on Wednesday, provincial minister for Information and Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon approved the decision to train women to drive the pink buses in Karachi.

    According to the provincial minister, this initiative would not only be good for gender equality but also perfect in terms of women’s safety and security during their commutes.

    He also said that empowering women is the vision of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

    The introduction of an environment-friendly electric taxi was also discussed as aninitiative, as it would create a positive environmental impact and provide people with employment opportunities.

    The Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project was also discussed during the SMTA board meeting.

  • Central leader Iftikhar Durrani ‘abducted’, PTI claims

    Central leader Iftikhar Durrani ‘abducted’, PTI claims

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has said that a central leader of the party, Iftikhar Durrani, went “missing” from Islamabad on Thursday.
    PTI said in a statement that the core member of the party was “kidnapped” from the capital city of the country.

    Iftikhar Durrani, a former special assistant on media to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, was considered a close aide of the PTI chairman.

    Despite the passage of multiple hours, as yet there is still no information about the PTI leader’s whereabouts.

    PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari strongly condemned the “abduction” of Iftikhar Durrani.

  • PTI may be considered ineligible for election symbol, warns ECP

    PTI may be considered ineligible for election symbol, warns ECP

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has cautioned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that it may be found ineligible to receive an election symbol due to its failure to hold intra-party elections.

    ECP summoned PTI Chairman Imran Khan to appear before it on August 4 (Friday) at 10 am, “failing which the Commission under Section 215 (5) of the Elections Act, 2017, may declare your political party ineligible to obtain election symbol for future election(s)”.

    According to previous notices, the PTI’s intra-party elections were scheduled for June 13, 2021, according to the party’s constitution. PTI was informed/reminded to hold intra-party elections within the timeframe specified in sections 208, 209, and 215 of the Elections Act of 2017, but the party failed to “provide the requisite certificate to this effect.”

    The ECP had instructed parties to include a list of symbols they prioritize with their applications, as well as the signature of the party head.

    “Every application must include the address of the head office of the political party,” the election commission said.

  • Trump indicted for third time for trying to overturn 2020 US election

    Trump indicted for third time for trying to overturn 2020 US election

    Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted for the third time in a case pertaining to attempts at overturning the results of the 2020 election which Joe Biden won. Since he began his 2024 Republican primary campaign, he has been the first former US president to face three felony indictments in history. No other president, living or dead, has ever faced criminal charges.


    In a previous post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated his expectations clearly and said that special counsel Jack Smith intended to bring forth another “Fake Indictment” against him.


    “I hear that Deranged Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favourite President, me, at 5:00 P.M. Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!”


    The allegations are part of a larger probe into what Trump did as president and afterwards. The investigation, which also includes claims of improper handling of top-secret government records while Trump was in office, is being overseen by special counsel Jack Smith.
    In connection with alleged attempts to hide these documents from the government, Trump was slammed with 37 counts earlier this year. Last week, he was also charged with additional counts for allegedly attempting to remove surveillance footage from his Mar-a-Lago resort.