Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Opp’s Gilani met PTI’s Tareen ahead of Senate elections, but both deny it

    Opp’s Gilani met PTI’s Tareen ahead of Senate elections, but both deny it

    As the country witnesses what are being termed by pundits as the “most controversial” Senate polls in its 74-year history, it has emerged that joint opposition’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani met with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen days before the critical electoral process marred by horse-trading allegations.

    Sources claim that Gilani, who is the Upper House candidate of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from Islamabad besides being a critical election for the opposition to give the ruling PTI a tough time, met Tareen at the wedding of another ruling party lawmaker’s son.

    Interestingly, both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart and Tareen, who reports claim is at odds with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government since after the sugar crisis scandal, have over the days leading to the Senate elections denied having met each other.

    “I have always strived for the PTI with my heart and soul and my support is always for the party,” Tareen was quoted as saying when he denied the meeting of which The Current also has photographic evidence.

    The former premier, on the other hand, had also refuted speculation that he met Tareen. “I have neither met Jahangir Tareen neither established contact with him,” he had told media persons on the same day as the PTI leader.

    “The two spent quite a lot of time at the wedding of veteran politician and PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana’s son on February 11. They exchanged pleasantries and were seen dining together on top of spending almost all their time at the event with each other,” sources told The Current.

    Sources, however, could not confirm the topics of discussion between the two leaders from rival parties and if then-forthcoming Senate polls or Gilani’s election, in particular, were among the things discussed between Gilani and Tareen.

    While Tareen and Gilani could not be reached out for a comment, another attendee of the said event, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has confirmed the encounter.

    Speaking to The Current, Sadiq said that Fatyana has good relations in each and every party and he had known the now PTI and former PML-N leader since the year 2000.

    “We have been colleagues since 2002. At his son’s wedding, I was the only MNA from PML-N. Gilani Sahib was the only one from PPP during the one hour I was there. If others came later, I have no idea. But there was no discussion on the issue of Senate at all.”

    While Sadiq did confirm Tareen’s presence and exchange of pleasantries between the politicians, he said that he did not notice any interaction between Gilani and Tareen for as long as he himself was there.

    A contest for the crucial Islamabad seat in the Senate is currently underway between Gilani and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The vote count is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.

  • ‘I am not a fortune teller,’ says Shehbaz Sharif

    ‘I am not a fortune teller,’ says Shehbaz Sharif

    Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif says that he is not a najoomi (fortune teller).

    Read more – Vawda resigns from National Assembly after casting Senate vote

    Speaking to the media while in the Parliament to cast his vote in the ongoing Senate polls, Sharif said: “Every member will vote as per his/her conscience…we hope that the Election Commission will ensure transparency in polls.”

    When asked how hopeful he was of a [PDM] win, Sharif replied: “I am not a najoomi [fortune teller],” adding that the government’s incompetence is out there for the world to see.

    Sharif, who is in custody, was released on production orders in order to cast his vote in the Senate Elections. He also presided over a parliamentary party meeting of the PML-N.

  • Senate Election: After Gillani’s video, Sindh minister’s alleged audio suggests horse-trading

    Senate Election: After Gillani’s video, Sindh minister’s alleged audio suggests horse-trading

    As lawmakers elect colleagues to the upper house of the Parliament amid controversies, Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah has purportedly been heard in a leaked audio making assurances to ruling party lawmakers.

    The audio clip being reported as a conversation between Punjab MPA Ali Haider Gillani and Shah emerged shortly after a video of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani’s son instructing a lawmaker on how his vote can be wasted in the Senate election went viral on social media.

    In the audio, two people can be heard talking about offers of millions of rupees to PTI lawmakers ahead of the Senate polls.

    Ali can allegedly be heard saying that he spoke to Shah, who asked him to bring down the “offer”. An assurance is given in the audio that development work will be done in constituencies as per the wishes of PTI lawmakers.

    “We could carry out uplift projects worth around Rs100 million,” said a voice being attributed to Ali.

    The son of the Senate candidate allegedly said it would be difficult to carry money if payments are made in cash as it would attract attention.

    The same voice further said that ‘friends’ (PTI lawmakers) were standing with him and wanted to talk to the provincial information minister.

    “Tell four of them that they would be taken care of,” another man responded. The voice is said to be of Shah.

    The provincial information minister has denied that the voice is his.

  • Vawda resigns from National Assembly after casting his Senate vote

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved its judgement in the case seeking Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda’s disqualification. Prior to this development, Vawda cast his vote for the Upper House and resigned from his National Assembly seat, The Express Tribune has reported.

    Read more – Aamir Liaquat trolls Vawda over award of Senate ticket

    A single bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq was hearing the petition moved against the federal minister by Barrister Jahangir Jadoon. During the hearing, Vawda’s counsel argued that the case against him in the court stands ineffective following his resignation.

    However, Jadoon objected to the argument, stating that several members of the assembly resigned from their seats and joined the parliament again in the past. He added that a person remains a member of the assembly unless the Speaker of the National Assembly accepts the resignation.

    Faisal Vawda was a dual national at the time of filing nomination papers for 2018’s General Election and concealed his American citizenship by falsely declaring on the oath he submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

  • ‘I was there’: Ali Haider Gillani reacts to leaked video

    With less than 24 hours to go, another controversy has come to the fore regarding the Senate elections.

    A leaked video of Ali Haider Gillani – son of former Prime Yousaf Raza Gillani – was aired by ARY News, where he is heard talking about how to waste Senate vote.

    It seems that the other person is from the ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). According to reports, the video was recorded a week ago.

    Addressing a press conference after the leaked video was aired, Ali Haider Gillani admitted the video was real and that he met more than one MNA over the course of campaigning for his father.

    He said he was not buying votes but was telling PTI member of how to waste his vote as that member did not want to vote for his own party.

    “Where do I talk about money in the video? I did no wrong. This is to distract us.”

    The Election Commission of Pakistan has taken notice of the video and Gillani’s response and will be taking up the issue.

    https://twitter.com/profaltafkhan/status/1366783802849296386?s=21

    Yousaf Raza Gillani will face Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh in the Senate elections.

  • ‘ECP should ask IT Ministry, not PTA for phone data,’ says Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘ECP should ask IT Ministry, not PTA for phone data,’ says Fawad Chaudhry

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has approached the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to share the call record data of the 20 presiding officers who went ‘missing’ during the Daska by-polls in NA-75, The News has reported.

    Last week, the ECP had announced that new elections in the entire constituency will be held in NA-75 (Daska) after its returning officer alleged irregularities during the by-polls in a report submitted to the commission. Government sources told The News that the PTA has asked the government whether to share the data with the ECP or not.

    Speaking to The Current, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that the ECP has all the right to secure phone data though it “should ask the IT Ministry and not PTA under rules of business”.

    According to the story published in The News, the government may be uneasy about the phone data as it could reveal who had planned and supervised the Daska by-poll rigging. The phone records “will not only establish the whereabouts of these 20 presiding officers during the time when they were missing but will also uncover those they were in contact with”.

    On February 22, Prime Minister Imran Khan had tweeted that as he had always struggled for fair and free elections, he would ask the PTI candidate in NA-75 to ask for re-polling in the 20 polling stations that had become controversial. But the ECP later called for new elections in the entire constituency.

    The PTI has now decided to challenge the ECP’s decision for re-polls.

  • VIDEO: PTI members wrestle each other in Sindh Assembly

    VIDEO: PTI members wrestle each other in Sindh Assembly

    Just a day before the Senate Elections, lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) decided to wrestle each other in the Sindh Assembly creating havoc.

    As per details, PTI’s disgruntled MPAs – Aslam Abro, Shehryar Shar and Karim Bakhsh Gabol – were beaten up by their own party members during a session of the Sindh Assembly.

    The three MPAs had earlier said that they will not vote for PTI candidates in the Senate polls. The fighting match that ensued can be seen in the tweets shared by journalists Murtaza Ali Shah and Gharidah Farooqi.

    https://twitter.com/MurtazaViews/status/1366702520467415042

    Later, a video of PPP MPA Sharmila Faruqi running out of the assembly emerged and the lawmaker clarified that she was running to get security.

    When asked about this incident by journalists outside the Sindh Assembly, PTI’s Haleem Adil Sheikh started shouting at them.

    He said that he is very sad that today, some senior journalists are posing as PPP workers and also called them lifafa sahaafi (journalists who take money). He also raised slogans against journalists.

    Responding to Sheikh’s comments, senior journalist Asma Shirazi asked why is it that whenever tough questions are asked, PTI members resort to attacks on journalists.

  • Senate Election on March 3 will be conducted as per past practice: ECP

    Senate Election on March 3 will be conducted as per past practice: ECP

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday said that it deliberated on the order/opinion of the Supreme Court passed yesterday in Presidential Reference and has “decided to implement it in letter and spirit”.

    In a statement, the ECP said that it is taking all possible steps and measures to fulfil its constitutional duty to check that corrupt practices in the Senate Elections are guarded against.

    The ECP has decided to constitute a committee in this regard so that they can give their recommendations regarding the use of technology in the Senate Elections within a period of four weeks.

    The ECP has decided that “due to time constraint, ensuing Senate Election scheduled for March 3, 2021 will be conducted as provided in the Constitution and Law as per past practice”.

    https://twitter.com/profaltafkhan/status/1366629264746020866

    In a short order issued yesterday, the Supreme Court observed that the Senate Elections are held in accordance with the law and the Constitution, saying it “is the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to protect the polls from the menace of corruption”.

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that though the Supreme Court’s opinion on the matter was different, the ECP’s decision to delay the use of technology till the next Senate polls was astonishing.

    He added that both the apex court and ECP are respectable for him.

    All eyes will be on former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s election tomorrow.

    He is contesting as the joint candidate of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) against PTI’s Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh.

    The election between Gillani and Sheikh is important as a Gillani win would prepare the ground for a no-trust vote against Prime Minister Imran.

    Meanwhile, the premier is taking this contest quite seriously and is leading the Senate campaign for the government. He held back-to-back meetings with lawmakers on Monday and will also host a luncheon today for National Assembly lawmakers.

  • PML-N’s Hamza released after First Lady Bushra Bibi’s relatives became involved: sources

    PML-N’s Hamza released after First Lady Bushra Bibi’s relatives became involved: sources

    Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz Sharif was on Saturday released after spending 20 months in jail as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) probed money laundering accusations against him.

    But there is more to last weekend’s development as sources claim that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader’s release became possible when relatives of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s wife became involved.

    According to sources, First Lady Bushra Bibi’s cousin and nephew became two of the three guarantors in younger Shehbaz’s case.

    “The cousin is Masood Akhtar, and the nephew is Adeel Ali Khan,” they told The Current, adding that the third guarantor, namely Idrees Bhatti, is the son-in-law of Akhtar.

    Sources, however, could not comment over the state of ties the guarantors share with the first lady.

    Speaking to The Current, PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar neither confirmed nor denied that the three guarantors were related to Bushra Bibi.

    “Masood Akhtar Sahib is the father of a very hardworking MPA of ours. Aneeza Fatima has been working very hard for the party since before becoming a lawmaker,” he said.

    The PML-N leader went on to say that the guarantor was the father of a trusted lawmaker of the party, and they checked the characters of the people, “not their cousins”.

    HAMZA’S RELEASE:

    Hamza was released on Saturday after an accountability court issued the order and dispatched the same to Kot Lakhpat Jail.

    The Punjab lawmaker was welcomed by his cousin and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz outside the jail premises.

    The PML-N had prepared well in advance for the party leader’s release as 12 different camps had been set up across Lahore to welcome him.

    Arrangements were made to bring Hamza from Kot Lakhpat Jail to his residence in the form of a rally.

    PML-N workers showered rose petals and danced while celebrating for hours outside the jail in anticipation of Hamza’s release.

    Earlier, on Wednesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) had granted bail to Hamza in the money laundering case after a two-member bench of the court heard his bail plea.

    PM’s Focal Person on Digital Media Dr Arslan Khalid is yet to respond to The Current’s query. The story will be updated when we receive his comment.

  • Khashoggi: Pakistan in solidarity with KSA while world demands holding MBS accountable

    Khashoggi: Pakistan in solidarity with KSA while world demands holding MBS accountable

    While rest of the world demands that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman be held accountable for journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, Pakistan has said it stands in solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

    “We have noted that the Saudi government termed Jamal Khashoggi’s murder as an ‘abhorrent crime’ and a ‘flagrant violation of the Kingdom’s laws and values’,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement after public release of the US Administration’s declassified intelligence report, containing its “assessment” on the killing of Khashoggi.

    The Saudi government has further underlined that it took all possible measures within its legal system to ensure that the individuals responsible were properly investigated, convicted and sentenced and that justice was served, the Pakistani statement maintained.

    “Pakistan recognises Saudi efforts in this regard and expresses solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said the press release.

    It added that Pakistan underscores adherence to the rule of law, respect for national sovereignty, and protection and promotion of human rights by all states, in accordance with their respective constitutional frameworks and international obligations.