Current Final

Category: Politics

  • PPP to attend Shehbaz Sharif’s dinner today

    PPP to attend Shehbaz Sharif’s dinner today

    The PPP has decided to attend a dinner being hosted by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif for members of the opposition parties today (Monday).

    The PPP delegation will reportedly include Opposition leader in the Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Sherry Rehman.

    PPP leader Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said that this was an invitation for opposition leaders and not of the Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance ( PDM). He further added, “Neither does the PDM president nor its secretary-general has the authority to kick PPP out of the alliance.”

    “The differences with PPP could have been resolved over discussions or sit downs instead of sending show-cause notices,” Bukhari added.

    Sources in the PPP said the party’s senior leadership thought attending the dinner would serve in the best interest of the opposition, in giving a tough time to the PTI government in the up coming budget session in the National Assembly, The News had reported.

    As per earlier reports, Shehbaz Sharif invited the opposition leaders for a dinner on Monday, in Islamabad.

    However, PPP and ANP were not invited by the PML-N at an Opposition meeting luncheon in Senate earlier today.

  • No new group being formed within PTI, says Fawad Chaudhry

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference in Lahore with the members of Jahangir Khan Tareen group, said that no new group is being formed within PTI and the party “is one family”.

    “We are all in agreement on fundamental issues. Nauman Langrial and other leaders are second-generation politicians,” and the party should benefit from their experience. “There was just a need to improve communication between us,” he said.

    During the presser, the minister said that the JKT group has, “expressed confidence in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s leadership and they are proud of their relationship with the PTI and these are the basic things which we are all united on.”

    He continued by saying that everyone in the party is clear on these issues. “Imran Khan is our leader and PTI is our party.”

    “The opposition is under the false impression that there are differences within PTI, hopefully, now the opposition’s celebration will end.”

    Talking about the ongoing investigation against Jahangir Khan Tareen, Fawad said that “neither Jahangir Tareen is expecting any undue favours from Imran Khan nor the prime minister is the type of a person who will extend any.”

    Earlier on May 19, Jahangir Khan Tareen hosted a dinner at his residence and announced a ‘group of like-minded people’. The group appointed PTI’s Raja Riaz as Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly while PML-N’s Saeed Akbar Nawani will lead in the Punjab Assembly.

  • Maryam, Shehbaz condemn alleged attack on Nawaz

    Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif have condemned the alleged attempted attack on former prime minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif by unidentified men. As per details, masked, unidentified men tried to break into the office of Nawaz Sharif in London after insisting that they had an appointment with him.

    The Metropolitan police said that a criminal case has been registered and they are looking into the complaint.

    “Strongly condemn cowardly attempt to barge into the office of Hussain Nawaz where Mian Nawaz Sharif was also present,” wrote Shehbaz on Twitter.

    “They seemed to be armed and clearly had a sinister design but thankfully, could not succeed,” he added.

    Sharif also requested the London police to “investigate the incident from all angles.”

    Referring to the incident, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said: “People’s voices will not be silenced by low-life third rate criminals.”

    “Nawaz Sharif is the voice of the people of Pakistan and will not be silenced,” the PML-N leader added.

    In a separate tweet Maryam hinted that the people who played with the life of her father during his arrest are behind the attack.

    Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communications Dr Shahbaz Gill asked Maryam to apologise for her false allegations, adding that the incident was related to a car fraud and took place on Thursday. Gill further alleged that the incident was planted to stop Nawaz’s deportation from UK.

  • Shehbaz Sharif invites opposition leaders over a dinner to discuss PDM

    Shehbaz Sharif has invited the opposition leaders for a dinner on Monday (May 24) at 07:30 PM in Islamabad, according to media reports.

    Reports say that among others, former President Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and JUI-F chief and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman have been invited to the dinner.

    PDM and the current political situation will be discussed in the dinner.

    Read more- Friendship ended with PPP? PDM removes party leaders from WhatsApp group

    Yesterday, PPP Sindh President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that PPP has not left PDM yet, adding that a decision will be made in this regard when the PPP will be invited to PDM’s meeting with the heads of all parties involved.

  • ‘Forget Nawaz-Zardari; what is your govt doing?’ Shahid Afridi lashes out at PM Khan

    ‘Forget Nawaz-Zardari; what is your govt doing?’ Shahid Afridi lashes out at PM Khan

    Cricket legend Shahid Afridi believes that Prime Minister Imran Khan is ‘stuck in the system.’

    Talking to The Current, Shahid Afridi said that the government should focus on its own performance rather than focusing on what past governments did or did not do.

    “Why is the Prime Minister always saying he will not give anyone an NRO. If the state institutions and judiciary are independent, let them do their work.” Afridi added that the government needs to show what it has done so far instead of just targeting Opposition leaders.

    Afridi made this comment in an interview on ‘Samaa TV show, ‘Sawal’, saying that when PM Khan used to speak before becoming the Prime Minister, the entire nation would stand up in favour of Khan, but now all he does is give explanations.

    https://twitter.com/taimoorze/status/1394932459708600320

    Advising the PM, he said that the premier should now leave Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Since the past two and a half years only talks about them where ever he goes.

    He stressed that Khan should become the change for which people voted for him in 2013 and 2018.

  • Jewish employees at Google urge CEO to support Palestinians

    Jewish employees at Google urge CEO to support Palestinians

    A group of Jewish diaspora wrote a letter to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google Sundar Pichai and urged him to support the people of Palestine against Israeli military human rights violations.

    The group, Jewish Diaspora in Tech, describes itself as a community of members working in the technology industry.

    In an internal letter sent to the chief, the group said the community is concerned about the latest situation, and we as “Jews do not endorse the views of those who have written to you seeking to garner support for exclusively pro-Israel and pro-Zionist actions.”

    Rockets fired in Israel

    “When we Jews ourselves speak out against the barbarism and oppression of Palestinians by the Zionist regime, that means Palestinians People have been going through a rough time,” read the letter.

    They further objected “to the conflation of Israel with the Jewish people [and] affirmed that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism.”

    Hamas firing rockets towards Israel

    Reportedly, the group that wrote the letter formed last year against pro-Israel attitude in Google’s official employee resource group called Jewglers.

    According to reports, people in “the group were supporting pro-Israel discussions and expressing Zionist views. It is unethical, and having such discussions is creating an unsafe space for others in the group.”

    So far, almost 250 people have signed the letter online that was sent to the chief of Google.

  • CM Buzdar to meet JKT group today

    CM Buzdar to meet JKT group today

    Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar will meet members of the Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) group today to hear their grievances.

    Talking to the media, Punjab MPA and JKT group member Nazir Chohan said they would meet the chief minister and tell him about his “faults”.

    “The purpose of our meeting is the betterment of the province. Punjab’s affairs are being run by the bureaucracy.” Chohan added that while the MPAs have elected Buzdar as the chief minister, he did not get them elected.

    Earlier, PTI MNA Raja Riaz had claimed that CM Buzdar is ready to address the reservations of the Tareen group.

    Riaz claimed CM House Punjab had contacted him and said that he expects to meet the chief minister soon.

    These development come after Jahangir Tareen announced that his supporters had decided to form a separate group after the Punjab government initiated vindictive actions against them. However, he clarified that this was not a forward bloc and all members of the JKT group are still part of PTI.

  • SMQ labelled ‘anti-Semitic’ by CNN host

    CNN’s Senior Global Affairs Analyst and anchorperson Bianna Golodryga has labelled Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi “anti-Semitic” after she interviewed him on the ongoing violence in Gaza.

    Qureshi, who had appeared on Bianna’s show Thursday night, stated that the “tide was turning” against Israel as it was losing the media war despite its connections. The foreign minister had lashed out at Israel for its state-sanctioned massacre in Gaza, where nearly 250 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed in less than two weeks.

    The minister during the show had said a ceasefire was inevitable since Israel “is losing out”.

    When Golodryga asked Qureshi to explain Israel’s “connections”, Qureshi had said: “Deep pockets.”

    Golodryga further asked him to explain his point of view on the situation, to which Qureshi said: “They are very influential people, I mean they control media.”

    In response to this, the CNN journalist labelled him anti-Semitic.

    “The point is, they have a lot of influence, and they get a lot of coverage. What’s balanced that is the citizen journalist who has been reporting, sharing video clips, and that has jolted people and woken up people…people who were sitting on the fence are today, speaking up,” added Qureshi.

    Golodryga further stressed on the “anti-Semitic talk and rhetoric”. She stated that someone like Qureshi, who is in a powerful position, should say that’s wrong.

    Antisemitism is generally considered to be a form of racism and is defined as “hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews”.

    When Qureshi was talking about the heavy Palestinian casualties as a result of Israeli airstrikes, she urged him to be objective and also focus on Israeli casualties caused by Hamas rockets.

    After two weeks of violent attacks, Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire early on Friday.

  • Maryam Nawaz: the next Prime Minister?

    Maryam Nawaz: the next Prime Minister?

    In a programme on ARY News, ‘The Reporters’, journalist Sabir Shakir said that PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz will succeed PM Imran Khan as Pakistan’s next prime minister.

    “She [Maryam Nawaz] will become the next prime minister, in my opinion,” he said.

    “She can,” agreed Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain, another senior journalist who has critised PML-N in the past and has spoken in favour of PM Imran Khan over the years.

    Shakir said there will be a ‘break’ in the prime minister’s term, stating that he will lose the next general elections.

    “This is his first innings, he is learning how to play,” said Shakir. “Hence, he will lose first and will then emerge again stronger the next time,” he added.

    Another senior journalist, Arif Hameed Bhatti, said this was PM Imran Khan’s “first and last innings” as the prime minister of the country, adding that Maryam Nawaz can become the country’s next premier.

    Journalist Sami Ibrahim said that ‘politics demands performance’ and that giving lectures like Ibn Khaldun was of no use until rulers did not have any realization of the hardships that masses were facing

    Prominent journalists, who have been known for their pro-Imran Khan views over the past couple of years, think the prime minister will not be able to win the next general elections, making Maryam Nawaz a popular choice for Prime Minister.

  • ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme’ was made in ‘Purana Pakistan’, alleges journalist

    ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme’ was made in ‘Purana Pakistan’, alleges journalist

    Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated a low-cost housing colony for labourers and industrial workers on Wednesday.

    The PM said the housing scheme for workers in Peshawar was launched in 2011 but it remained incomplete since then as it was not a priority because it was meant for the poor labourers. He said he wanted to see how much the condition of the poor had improved after the five-year tenure of the PTI government. This new project has now been put under the ‘Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme’.

    However, a report by journalist Izharullah sets the record straight about the origins of the scheme. 

    




    The labour colony in the Regi Lalma area of Peshawar was approved in 2008 during the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) regime. Work on the project began in 2011, with a total of 1,200 flats. However, in 2013, construction of 1,000 additional flats was approved. 
    




    The project was funded by the Workers’ Welfare Board, an organisation working for the welfare of workers, and funding for it was obtained from the Workers’ Welfare Fund set up under the same board.
    




    Addressing the inaugural function, PM Imran Khan said that the government had launched a ‘new Pakistan housing scheme’ under which the working class and the poor would get houses. 
    




    At the time the colony was approved, there was a PPP-Awami National Party coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Work on the labour colony began in April 2011, and was completed in 2020. Some work is still pending though.
    




    These flats were approved for labourers in Hattar, Peshawar, Takht Bai, and Haripur. These projects were later inaugurated in 2013 by the then PPP Provincial Labour Minister Sher Azam Wazir. The old name plates have been removed and the housing scheme has been inaugurated once again. 
    




    Special Assistant to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Kamran Bangash, tweeted that about half of the flats were started in 2011, while the rest were started in 2013. “However, due to the Workers Welfare Fund being a federal department, the funds of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were cut off during the Nawaz era,” tweeted Bangash.