An Uzbek singer sang Pakistani Mili Naghma during an official lunch at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting. The video was shared by the Foreign Office of Pakistan.
“Warm hospitality on display by the hosts, during the recently concluded SCO Council of Foreign Minister,” tweeted Pakistan’s Foreign Office.
The video was re-shared by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on his Instagram account.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari led Pakistan’s delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent from July 28-29, 2022. During his stay, he held various interactions with his counterparts.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday directed party leaders and parliamentarians in Punjab to prepare for the next general elections as they could be announced in six to eight weeks.
The direction came during separate meetings held at Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Pervaiz Elahi’s office on Sunday.
Khan congratulated Elahi on the ouster of an ‘unconstitutional and unlawful’ government from Punjab.
Steps to provide relief to the people of the province were also discussed during the meeting.
Khan held separate meetings with various party leaders, including provincial chief of the party Dr Yasmin Rashid, former chief Shafqat Mahmood, Mian Mahmood-ur-Rashid, as well as with MPAs from six Punjab divisions.
Khan has given Dr Yasmin Rashid a two-week ultimatum to reorganise the party in the province.
Earlier, former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said that an “agreement” has been reached and the general elections will be held in October.
“Instead of by-elections, matters on new elections have been settled. The nation will soon hear about the date for the elections in October, the formation of a new election commission and a caretaker government,” said Rasheed.
PTI challenges approval of 11 resignations in court
PTI General Secretary Asad Umar on Monday (August 1) reached the Islamabad High Court where he challenged the approval of the 11 resignations of PTI MNAs.
“A petition has been submitted in the Islamabad High Court against the election commission accepting the resignations of 11 members of the assembly of their choice,” the PTI leader said on Twitter.
الیکشن کمیشن کے بندر بانٹ کر کے اپنی مرضی کے 11 ممبران اسمبلی کے استعفے منظور کرنے کے خلاف پٹیشن اسلام آباد ہائی کورٹ میں جمع کرا دی ہے. سارے ملک کے سامنے لوٹوں کے علاوہ تمام تحریک انصاف کے ممبران نے استعفیٰ دیا. سب کے استعفے ایک ساتھ قبول کئے جائیں
Umar said that they have approached the court against the acceptance of the 11 resignations.
“On April 11, 125 of our people resigned on the floor of the assembly, and on April 13, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri accepted their resignations,” Umar said.
Asad Umar said that PTI MNAs resigned en masse but the election commission’s decision to accept the resignation of 11 members and not 125 is illegal.
According to the ECP, Ali Muhammad Khan, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Shaukat Ali, Fakhar Zaman Khan, Farrukh Habib, Ijaz Ahmad Shah, Jamil Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Akram Cheema, Abdul Shakoor Shad, Shireen Mehrunnisa Mazari, Shandana Gulzar Khan have been de-notified.
PTI to file judicial reference against Chief Election Commissioner
PTI Information Secretary Farrukh Habib issued a statement on July 30 and said the party had prepared to file a disqualification reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against the CEC Sikander Sultan Raja. He said the CEC met PDM leaders after reserving a judgment in the prohibited funding case.
“By doing so, the chief election commissioner violated his oath, the code of conduct as well as his constitutional duty,” he added.
According to media reports, PTI decided to file a judicial reference against CEC Sultan Raja. The decision came during a high-level PTI meeting chaired by Imran Khan, where the party leaders reviewed the coalition government’s recent meeting with the CEC and other ECP members.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan met Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and former federal minister Moonis Elahi at the Chief Minister’s Office on Sunday in Lahore and discussed matters of mutual interest, the political situation, the administrative affairs of Punjab, and the law and order situation.
A picture of their meeting was shared by Moonis Elahi on social media where Khan can be seen sitting on the CM’s seat while the chief minister sat opposite him. The picture went viral and was widely criticised by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders.
“No self-respecting, dignified man would sit on someone else’s official seat/chair but this man is hungry for power,” tweeted Defence Minister Khawaja Asif.
اس شخص کو کرسی کی کتنی ھوس ھے.. کوئ صاحب عزت self respecting dignified انسان کسی اور عہدے دار کی کرسی پہ نہیں بیٹھے گا. عمران خان کی یہ حرکت اسکی سوچ اور ذات کی پستی کی آئینہ دار ھے. https://t.co/vZElAqDfHA
— Khawaja Saad Rafique (@KhSaad_Rafique) July 31, 2022
The real story
However, senior journalist Hamid Mir explained the real reason why Khan was sitting on the CM seat.
Hamid Mir said that when Khan reached Elahi’s office to congratulate him, Pervaiz Elahi asked the PTI chairman to sit on the CM seat but Khan replied that it is Elahi’s seat.
Moonis Elahi said to the PTI chairman that they got this seat because of him, so he should sit on it. After Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis Elahi’s insistence, finally Imran Khan sat on the chair of the Punjab Chief Minister.
A day after Punjab Assembly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Monday also approved a motion expressing no-trust in Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.
The development was shared by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) official Twitter handle.
پنجاب کے بعد KPK اسمبلی میں بھی چیف الیکشن کمشنر پر عدم اعتماد کی قرارد منظور- pic.twitter.com/q56W0CNPvx
The resolution demanded immediate general elections in the country and called for the ECP members and CEC to step down.
Punjab Assembly approves motion for ECP chief’s resignation
On Sunday, the Punjab Assembly (PA) approved a motion today on Sunday calling for CEC Sikandar’s resignation.
This development came after PTI candidate Sibtain Khan was elected the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly.
The session of the provincial assembly began with newly-elected PA Speaker Khan administering the oath to his deputy, Wasiq Qayyum.
Later, PTI Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Syed Abbas Shah presented the motion against Sultan. After the motion was approved, the Assembly was adjourned till August 15.
PTI Information Secretary Farrukh Habib issued a statement on Saturday and said the party had prepared to file a disqualification reference in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against the CEC. He said the CEC met PDM leaders after reserving a judgment in the prohibited funding case.
“By doing so, the chief election commissioner violated his oath, the code of conduct as well as his constitutional duty,” he added.
In an address to his supporters, PTI Chairman Imran Khan expressed his complete lack of trust in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and CEC Raja. Khan accused the ECP of supporting former Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz.
The National Assembly (NA) was told that all religious minorities living in Islamabad have been allotted burial sites, reports Dawn.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah informed the House about this development. He said that all religious minorities have been given cremation grounds and graveyards in the capital.
About the Hindu community, he said that they have been given grounds in the H-9 sector of the capital. The Buddhist community also has its cremation grounds in this sector.
Other religious minorities including Christians, Baháʼís and Ahmadis have their graveyards in the same sector.
The House was told that there is no demand for new sites but if the religious communities will demand more sites, it will be allotted to them.
Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met and held meetings with his counterparts from Afghanistan, China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting. However, it has been reported that Bilawal and Indian FM Dr S. Jaishankar avoided handshake and the two ministers sat away from each other.
⚪️ Highlights
📌 FM @BBhuttoZardari led #Pakistan’s del to SCO CFM meeting. 📌 On margins of CFM, he held bilateral meetings with: ➖Afghanistan ➖China ➖Tajikistan ➖Kazakhstan ➖Uzbekistan & ➖Kyrgyzstan
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) July 29, 2022
Bilawal attended the SCO meeting (July 28th to 29th) in Tashkent and this is where both he and Jaishankar came together since the Pakistani foreign minister took charge.
It is pertinent to mention that the SCO meeting is being held in connection with the preparations for the SCO Heads of State meeting scheduled to be held in September.
On the international platform, Bilawal said that there are no plans of any meetings between Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers (PM) in September, adding that “both India and Pakistan are part of the SCO and the two countries are only engaged in the context of the broad-based activities of the organisation”.
The foreign minister said: “India is our neighbouring country. While one can decide on a lot of things, one cannot choose its neighbours, therefore, we should get used to living with them.”
Bilawal recalled that after 2019, constructive dialogue with India became difficult, while statements based on Islamophobia by Indian officials are further creating hurdles in dialogue.
‘What is our fault if Khan failed to boost ties with US?’
Reacting to Imran Khan’s criticism that said Pakistan and the United States (US) relation has weakened during the tenure of the coalition government, the foreign minister said, “There is no truth in Imran Khan’s claims.”
“Khan tried to strengthen relations with Washington when he was in power,” he said and asked, “What was their fault if he failed to boost ties with the US?”
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) uploaded the audio of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) meeting on its website.
The recording was of the letters issued by two JCP members — senior puisne SC judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood — both of whom claimed the meeting had disapproved the nominations of judges, proposed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, for elevation to the top court.
Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, in a letter, highlighted the need for putting out factual and correct minutes of the meeting, in which details of observations and discussions of each member should be mentioned.
“The correct minutes of the meeting, if made publically, will stop needless rumours,” Justice Masood wrote in his two-page letter.
In a similar letter written to other JCP members, Justice Qazi Faez Isa also highlighted that the acting secretary, who had attended the meeting in the absence of the JCP secretary, should immediately release this decision to the media, which would also stem unnecessary speculation and misreporting, as the meeting was held behind closed doors.
“In these exceptional circumstances the Hon’ble chairman JCP has been pleased to relax the restriction under Rule 5(4) of the JCP Rules, 2010 and has directed for the audio recording of the JCP proceedings of 28.07.2022 to be made available on the official website of the SCP,” said a statement issued by the apex court.
The audio recording from time slot 1:29:45 to 1:38:08 contains the statement by Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf that the matters under discussion should be deferred to frame appropriate rules. He did not assess or reject the merits of any of the high court judges proposed for appointment to the apex court. As a result, five members of the JCP supported the deferment of the meeting as reported in the press note of Thursday,” the fresh statement said.
In the audio tape, the AGP can be heard saying “when we talk of seniority, ability, integrity, and temperament, we should also consider whether the appellate courts have appreciated their judgements or overturned them”.
“While nominating judges we should also consider how much time they will have in the Supreme Court to decide matters,” he said, pointing out that if they had only three years, then it would not be enough.
Justice Isa, who spoke in the end after the CJP, expressed surprise that while the two senior-most CJs of the high courts could sit in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), they were not fit to be elevated to the Supreme Court. “What an irony?” he remarked.
“What does a CJ of the high court bring to this court? [He] brings experience as a CJ. What I have learnt as CJ, I would never have learned as a judge. It is altogether a different ball game,” he emphasised.
“We all are equal and can nominate and all of us carry one vote to decide. This is not about winning or losing but a question of the future. You are bypassing chief justices,” said Justice Isa.
“We will be short of five judges next month and we have 50,000 cases,” the CJP pointed out.
The Punjab Assembly (PA) session to elect its new Speaker has started today (Friday). Today’s session will be chaired by Panel of Chairman Wasim Badozai.
The seat fell vacant when the previous Speaker, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, was sworn in as Punjab Chief Minister (CM) after the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict in his favour.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) have the majority in the Assembly, and have nominated Sibtain Khan as their joint candidate while the Opposition parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have nominated Saiful Malook Khokhar as their joint candidate.
Khan is currently serving as Provincial Minister of Punjab for Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries since 2020.
Sibtain Khan claimed that the PML-N would “fail to cause any interruption” during the Speaker’s election. He hoped that he would win the contest “effortlessly”.
PML-N’s Khokhar said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will win. “They [PTI] will know who is better and who is a thief,” he added.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has appealed to the United States (US) to help Pakistan secure an early dispersal of $1.2 billion in funds under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, reported Wajahat S Khan for Nikkei Asia.
Gen Bajwa spoke by phone with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman earlier this week.
“The IMF has already granted Pakistan staff-level approval for the loan in question on July 13. But the transaction — part of the IMF’s $6 billion Extended Fund Facility for Pakistan — will only be processed after the multilateral lender’s executive board grants final approval,” said the report.
According to an IMF official who also spoke on condition of anonymity, the IMF is going into recess for the next three weeks and its board will not convene until late August. Because of the recess, no date has been set for announcing the loan approval for Pakistan.
“There is a major difference between staff-level approval and board approval. Our stakeholders, the countries that take the vote as to whether they are supporting this or not, make the final decision. This is a difference. So the legally binding step is a board approval, not the staff level agreement,” said the official.
Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, said, “This reflects the Pakistan army’s concerns about the state of the economy. It also reflects that the Pakistan army chief is the authority with whom the global players feel the final word rests.”
Haqqani said that Pakistan has developed a habit of getting on an IMF plan, getting quick access to a couple of tranches, but then abandoning the deals without making the important structural and systemic changes required for further financing. This has left Pakistan little leverage with international financiers.
“The reason why the IMF program has been delayed is that Pakistan has a track record of not keeping its word with the IMF,” Haqqani said.
“Gen Bajwa calling the US administration, if he has done so, suggests that he is assuring the US — and through the US, the IMF — that any promises made will be kept.”
Former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed said that an “agreement” has been reached, and the general elections will be held in October.
“Instead of by-elections, matters on new elections have been settled. The nation will soon hear about the date for the elections in October, the formation of a new election commission and a caretaker government,” said Rasheed.
“Even those in quarantine have agreed to elections,” said Rasheed taking a jibe at Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.
ضمنی الیکشن کی بجائے نئے الیکشن پر معاملات طے پا گئے ہیں۔اکتوبر میں الیکشن کی تاریخ،نئے الیکشن کمیشن اور نگران حکومت کا فیصلہ قوم جلد سن لے گی۔قرنطینہ والے بھی الیکشن مان گئے ہیں،صرف فضل الرحمن رہ گئے ہیں۔ڈالر 250 کا،بجلی اور LPG میں 10 روپے کا اضافہ مارکیٹیں بند کرا دے گا۔
Sheikh added that only JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is left.
Criticising the coalition government, Rasheed said that their political credibility had come to an end and they cannot flee, cannot go to the people, and neither can they bring their people back to the country. Rasheed was alluding to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif.
اتحادیوں کی سیاسی ساکھ راکھ بن گئی ہے۔نہ یہ عوام میں جانے کے قابل، نہ فرار ہونے نہ باہر سے بلانے کے قابل ہیں۔اب خلق خدا فیصلہ کرے گی ۔جمہوریت مذاق اور اسمبلی تماشا بن گئی ہے۔بحران سری لنکا سے لبنان عراق اور اب پاکستان کی طرف آرہا ہے،ان ہی دنوں میں یورپ میں 4حکومتیں ختم ہو گئی ہیں
“Now, the people will decide. They [government] have made a mockery of the assembly and democracy. The crisis is now shifting from Sri Lanka to Pakistan,” he added.
“I can talk to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the separatists of Balochistan and Sindh, but not with thieves. Will you speak to someone who robs your home?”
