Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Chief Justice Gulzar rejects accusations of promoting ‘favourite’ judges

    Chief Justice Gulzar rejects accusations of promoting ‘favourite’ judges

     Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed has said that the recent agitation by the legal fraternity was “totally uncalled for”, reports Dawn.

    Reacting to the lawyers’ September 9 convention, which accused the judiciary of favouritism in the appointment of superior court judges, CJP said, “There had been 41 judges in the judicial history of Pakistan who were elevated to the Supreme Court bypassing the senior-most judges of the respective high courts, but none of such appointments was ever objected to earlier by the lawyers.”

    “Still my doors are open and representatives of the lawyers can come any time to discuss matters of significance,” added the chief justice.

    “The lawyers should have come to us instead of launching a sort of one-sided agitation without any discussion with the CJP on the issue,” he observed. This time, he noted, no one came to him for discussion.

  • Pakistan should deny legitimacy to Taliban till they give rights to women, minorities: US

    The United States (US) has urged Pakistan that it should not recognise the Taliban government until it gives women their due rights and allows Afghans who want to leave the country to do so, reports Khaleej Times.

    Testifying before Congress on the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “What we have to look at is an insistence that every country, to include Pakistan, make good on the expectations that the international community has of what is required of a Taliban-led government if it’s to receive any legitimacy of any kind or any support.” He said the priorities included ensuring the Taliban let out people who want to leave Afghanistan and respect the rights of women, girls and minorities, as well as adhere to promises that the country not again become “a haven for outward-directed terror”.

    “Pakistan’s policies have been on many occasions detrimental to our interests, on other occasions in support of those interests. It is one that involved hedging its bets constantly about the future of Afghanistan, it’s one that’s involved harboring members of the Taliban … It is one that’s also involved in different points cooperation with us on counterterrorism,” Blinken said.

    “This is one of the things we’re going to be looking at in the days, and weeks ahead – the role that Pakistan has played over the last 20 years but also the role we would want to see it play in the coming years and what it will take for it to do that,” he said.

    Commenting on the US-Taliban relationship, Blinken said, “We achieved our objectives in Afghanistan,” adding that it was time to end the two-decade-long war.

    “The US will continue to play its role to promote anti-terrorism in the region,” he said, adding that the Taliban had also promised to not let Daesh and Al-Qaeda use the country for militant activities. 

    Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the practice of human rights by the Taliban in Afghanistan was connected to economic pressures, reports Dawn.

    “Ensuring sustainable development and promoting respect for human rights requires political stability and peace in Afghanistan. And peace cannot consolidate unless Afghanistan is provided the necessary economic and fiscal space,” said Qureshi in a video statement made at the UN conference on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

  • President Alvi addresses joint session in NA amid media protest

    President Dr Arif Alvi addressed a joint sitting of parliament on Monday, marking the start of the fourth parliamentary year of the National Assembly amid chaos outside parliament.

    The President of Pakistan congratulated the members of parliament at the start of the new legislative year and expressed hope that democratic values and the “tradition of tolerance” flourish in Pakistan.

    Amid loud protests by the Opposition, President Alvi said: “Despite you making noise, you will have to accept the reality.”

    Dr Alvi briefly discussed the country’s progress and shed light on various topics.

    Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)

    President Alvi stressed the need to introduce electoral reforms in order to bring transparency to elections in Pakistan.

    Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

    “People paying tax in such large numbers shows complete trust in government policies,” Alvi said, congratulating the government for devising and implementing laws and procedures to address FATF requirements.

    Sexual harassment cases

    Alvi said the government had paid “special attention” to the rights of women.

    “In recent days, incidents of sexual violence against women emerged due to which everyone is sad and I think it is a national responsibility to take steps to curb such incidents,” he said.

    President Alvi added that the government had taken measures to stop such violence and it was also society’s responsibility to play its role. “Making videos while an [harassment] incident is taking place does not suit the Pakistani society, so it will have to protect women so they can wander freely.”

    Corruption

    Because of corruption and wrong priorities, we were not only deprived of progress but also left behind in the world in human development indicators,” Alvi said.

    Health Sector

    He said that “18 million families were benefitting from the health cards so far”.

    “Pakistan is going towards universal health coverage, he added while praising the government’s efforts,” he concluded.

    Kamyab Jawan Programme

    The President noted that the government had set aside Rs260bn through which 12 million families will be given cash income, while Rs100bn had been earmarked for the Kamyab Jawan Programme to give loans to the youth to start businesses.

    Opposition walkout

    During his address, the Opposition kept booing and at last walked out of the session.

    The Opposition also accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser of violating the Constitution by not allowing a debate on the presidential address through­out the third parliamentary year, which ended on August 13.

    Politicians including Shehbaz sharif Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Sherry Rehman, Mian Raza Rabbani and Ahsan Iqbal joined the protest and showed solidarity with the journalists.

    “Thanks to all friends and well-wishers who were sending messages of solidarity the whole night whole day, we just finished a 24 hours protest camp in front of the parliament against threats to media and new proposed law for legalising censorship in Pakistan,” Hamid Mir tweeted, mentioning the end of the protest.

    President Alvi did not mention the journalists’ protest against the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA).

  • Politicians, civil society unite with journalists, support protest against media authority bill

    Politicians, civil society unite with journalists, support protest against media authority bill

    As journalists continue with sit-in outside of the Parliament House, against the government’s proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), prominent leaders from political parties, student unions, and members of the civil society also joined in to show solidarity.

    The protest began on Sunday and is said to continue until President Dr Arif Alvi’s address to the joint session of parliament on Monday.

    Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Sec­retary Marriyum Aurangzeb, and MNA Mohsin Dawar, among others, visited the protest site on Sunday night to extend their support.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, Shehbaz Sharif speaking on the media authority bill termed it as “black law” and expressed solidarity with journalists. He said the media had fought a war for its freedom and no one could snatch it. 

    https://twitter.com/pmln_org/status/1437373043542736902

    “The government doesn’t have the guts to pass it and we won’t allow it,” added Shehbaz warning the government against passing the “black law” or bear the consequences.

    He tweeted in solidarity with the protestors and said, “PTI government is demolishing every institution that represents democracy. We support journalists in their struggle against PMDA.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Monday slammed the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PMDA), saying that the proposed bill is an “attack on the freedom of media and judiciary.”

    The PPP chairman vowed his party will not let the government get away with snatching livelihoods from the masses. He showed solidarity with journalists who have been attacked, saying that the PPP “will not be satisfied till they [journalists] are not satisfied.”

    “Even if they manage to have this black law passed, journalists will [struggle to] have it abolished,” he added.

    Bilawal warned the government that if it tried to have the PMDA law passed via force, the PPP will challenge it in the courts. The PPP chairman said he feared the government will try to pass the bill during a joint sitting of the Parliament.

    Bilawal said his party will attend the joint sitting of the Parliament with a two-point agenda; to advocate for the rights of 20,000 government employees who were sacked and to campaign for freedom of speech.

    PPP leaders, Senator Sherry Rehman and Raza Rabbani, visited the protest camp and addressed the protesters.

    “We have repealed all the ordinance regarding media censorship, whether it was Ayub Khan or Zia-Ul-Haq. This is why the government won’t bring this on the Parliament floor because we will repeal the PMDA bill and they are scared”

    Marriyum Aurangzeb, along with PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal, also visited the protest site on Monday.

    Addressing the protesters, Iqbal criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for “attacking and attempting to muzzle” the media.

    Referring to the PMDA bill, he called it a “conspiracy” and said if the bill was passed, “democracy will die in this country”.

  • ‘Never happened even under Martial Law’, reporters stopped from attending Parliament session

    In a first in Pakistan’s history, reporters were not allowed to enter a joint session of Parliament on Monday.

    Parliamentary reporters were to be present in the press gallery for President Dr Arif Alvi’s address but entered the hallway to find that the door was locked. The press gallery was closed for the journalists.

    The Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) strongly condemned the closure of the press gallery and said, “Closing the gallery is the worst dictatorship.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator PPP, Sherry Rehman condemning the closing of the press gallery tweeted, “This did not happen even in martial law era. Govt [government] is on collision course with democracy”

    Twitterati lashed out at the government for banning the journalists from entering the session.

    Journalist Absar Alam tweeted, “This is the Parliament’s Press Gallery, which was never closed during the Martial Law era, but is closed today so that journalists cannot enter.”

    Journalist Nusrat Javeed tweeted, “Have been covering Parliament since 1985. Even in [the] worst of times governments never behaved so humiliating to media. Sad. Really sad.”

    Journalist Owais Tohid took to Twitter and said, “Highly condemnable act to ban accredited journalists from covering joint parliament session. So-called punishment for protesting proposed draconian laws to silence Pakistani media.”

    Even though the reporters have been banned from covering the session, the joint session is being aired live on news channels.

  • ‘Media Martial Law’, Journalists sit in protest against proposed media authority bill

    ‘Media Martial Law’, Journalists sit in protest against proposed media authority bill

    Pakistani journalists are protesting in front of the Parliament House against the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), which aims to muzzle media freedom. The on-going protest started on Sunday. Journalists marched from the National Press Club to the Parliament House and stayed overnight.

    They said the sit-in would continue till President Dr Arif Alvi’s address to the joint session of parliament, which is scheduled to assemble on Monday.

    DETAILS OF THE PROTEST

    Renowned journalists including Mazhar Abbas, Hamid Mir, Fahd Husain, Kashif Abbasi, Saleem Safi, Asma Shirazi, Gharidah Farooqi Imtiaz Alam, and Afzal Butt are participating in the protest, headed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

    PFUJ general secretary Nasir Zaidi, while talking to Voicepk.net said, “Prior to this, we struggled against every law to control the press in the eras of dictators, and we will struggle against such laws even today.”

    Senior journalist Afzal Butt said, “Many attempts had been made in the past to silence the media by dictators, but journalists successfully fought for their rights and this time too, the journalist community would protect freedom of the press.”

    Journalist Imtiaz Alam stated that, “The government through the PMDA was trying to impose ‘media martial law’. “as per Dawn.

    Journalists and politicians are criticising the government. “Parliamentary reporters have banned from sitting in the press gallery of Parliament for joint session,” tweeted PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman.

    SUPPORT BY JOURNALISTS

    Other journalists have expressed their concerns and showed solidarity with fellow journalists on social media accounts.

    https://twitter.com/zburki/status/1436954006820118537

    INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION

    Pakistani journalists in Britain also condemned the Pakistan government’s plans to establish the PMDA.

    “The officials of the High Commission called journalists individually and asked them not to hold the protest outside the High Commission premises and also issued threats of serious consequences for organising the protest,” wrote Murtaza Ali Shah for Geo News.

    “The journalists particularly singled out the current information minister [Fawad Chaudhry] for first playing his role in the economic murder of journalists and now pushing through a black law to completely finish the private media which provides thousands of jobs to media workers,” he added.

  • VIDEO: President Alvi shares ad on stigma surrounding contraceptives

    A government-sponsored advertisement addresses the social stigma surrounding the use of contraceptives in Pakistan. President Dr Arif Alvi shared the public service announcement (PSA) and tweeted, “The health of the nation is closely linked to maternal and child health”.

    “Make the right family arrangements for prosperity, keep a check on the number of children. Ensure good health. Don’t ignore this topic but discuss it and spread the message,” the president added.

    At the end of the PSA, a helpline number is also given: 0800-1117.

    https://twitter.com/ArifAlvi/status/1437311083497328641

    People on social media are lauding the government’s initiative

    https://twitter.com/lemonfresh02/status/1437353973317570560
    https://twitter.com/ReemKhurshid/status/1437338920572887045

  • PTI leads in Cantonment Board polls, PML-N in second place

    PTI leads in Cantonment Board polls, PML-N in second place

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the biggest winner in the Cantonment Board elections held across Pakistan on Sunday, reports Radio Pakistan.

    According to the unofficial results, PTI got 58 seats, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) scored 51. Independent candidates claimed 49 seats.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has managed to win 14 seats and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) got 10 seats. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) won five seats while Balochistan Awami Party (BNP) got two seats.

    Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet said the Cantonment Board election results show that the Opposition has left with no standing following a crushing defeat.

    Reacting to the ruling party’s victory, federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said: “Cantonment elections once again show the PTI not only as the largest party but also the only national party.”

    PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif called party leaders and congratulated them on their success in the cantonment polls.

    Province wise results:

    PTI won the most number of seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) — 18 — followed by 28 in Punjab, 14 in Sindh, and three in Balochistan.

    PML-N won big in Punjab, bagging 51 seats, managing only five in KP, three in Sindh, and none in Balochistan. In Lahore, the PML-N bagged 15 of 19 wards.

    PPP was surprisingly unable to defeat PTI in Sindh, instead of tying with them for 14 seats. The remaining three seats were won in KP, meaning none were won in either Punjab or Balochistan.

    Independent candidates scored big in Punjab, bagging 32 seats. They secured nine in KP, seven in Sindh, and four in Balochistan.

    MQM won all of its 10 seats in Sindh, whereas JI won five in Sindh and two in Punjab.

    ANP won two seats in KP, whereas BAP won two in Balochistan.

  • ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, Shaan calls out ex-Indian army officer for spreading fake news

    ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, Shaan calls out ex-Indian army officer for spreading fake news

    Pakistani actor Shaan Shahid reacted to a viral picture from his movie ‘Yalghaar’ after an ex-Indian army officer tweeted a photo of Pakistani actors, falsely claiming that they were Pakistani soldiers who had been martyred in Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. Apart from Shaan, others actors in the picture include Umair Jaswal and Bilal Ashraf.

    Shaan responded to the tweet by sharing his movie poster and said, “Hello from the other side. Pakistan Zindabaad!”

    Umair Jaswal also made fun of the picture. He tweeted, “Hello dear! From Pakistan.”

    The confusion started after a former Indian army officer, Maj Gen GD Bakshi, claimed on Twitter that the Pakistan Army had suffered heavy casualties in Panjshir Valley.

    A Twitter user mocked Bakshi by sharing a picture from the set of Pakistani movie ‘Yalghaar’ and wrote: “My class fellow from school days Maj Aijaj 2nd from left and Capt Jufar 1st from left embraced martyrdom in Panjshir. They were buried yesterday in Peshawar. ISPR is trying to hide these casualties. They fought bravely and should be honoured as such. This is injustice by Pak Army.”

    Following the false claim, an Indian general Lt Gen H S Panag(R) criticised his own general.

    Earlier, an Afghan journalist mistook Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Aamir Liaquat as a martyred soldier in Afghanistan.

    Indian news channels, Republic TV, and Zee Hindustan ran visuals from a video game — Arma-3 — stating that it was the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attacking the anti-Taliban fighters.

    Then a Twitter user shared a picture of a fighter jet, claiming that a PAF plane was shot down in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley. Later, a fact-check by Dawn showed that the picture is actually from 2018 in the United States.

    Bakshi, who has had a long career in the Indian army, is known for spreading fake news. An article by Indian publication The Print last year referred to him as the “shrillest warmonger in the media”, as per Dawn.

  • Moonis Elahi meets Bilawal Bhutto, discuss political situation

    Moonis Elahi meets Bilawal Bhutto, discuss political situation

    Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and Federal Minister for Water Resources Chaudhry Moonis Elahi on Sunday met Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at Zardari House in Islamabad.

    The PPP Media Office issued a brief statement after the meeting, stating that the two leaders “discussed the overall political situation in the country”.

    The statement said the two leaders also discussed issues relating to water distribution among the provinces and the historic water shortage in Sindh.

    Bilawal also inquired about the health of Elahi’s uncle and party president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar was also present during the meeting.

    The meeting between the two leaders took place a day before the president’s address to a joint sitting of parliament.

    In June, Punjab Assembly Speaker and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had a meeting with former president Asif Ali Zardari in Lahore.

    During the meeting, both leaders discussed matters of mutual interest and the national political scene.