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Category: Politics

  • Secret ballot for Senate to continue, rules Supreme Court

    Secret ballot for Senate to continue, rules Supreme Court

    Announcing its verdict on a presidential reference seeking legal opinion on the holding of Senate election through an open vote, the Supreme Court on Monday said polls for the Upper House will be held through a secret ballot.

    The 4-1 majority opinion was announced by a five-judge larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed.

    The reference was forwarded to the apex court in January after Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his desire to curtail the practice of horsetrading in Senate elections by introducing an open-ballot system.

    READ: Open ballot in Senate polls: What do legal experts have to say?

    Following almost two months of proceedings, the court had on Thursday reserved its verdict, announcing to issue it on Monday (today).

    In a short order issued today, the court observed elections to the House 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”.

    While the order cited Article 226 of the Constitution to support its argument, the judges said the Parliament can decide if it feels the need to end the secrecy of the voting process.

    A detailed verdict is expected to be issued shortly.

  • Ceasefire, at last

    Ceasefire, at last

    On Thursday, Pakistani and Indian director generals of military operations (DGMOs) issued a rare joint statement declaring ceasefire along the line of control (LoC).

    The joint statement said: “Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors with effect from midnight 24/25 Feb 2021…In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two DGsMO agreed to address each other’s core issues and concerns which have propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence.”

    The ceasefire agreement between the two countries was originally reached in November 2003.

    The joint statement was welcome by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who tweeted: “I welcome restoration of the ceasefire along the LOC. The onus of creating an enabling environment for further progress rests with India. India must take necessary steps to meet the long-standing demand & right of the Kashmiri people to self determination acc to UNSC resolutions.” (sic) The US and the UN also welcomed this positive development.

    To say that the relationship between Pakistan and India is complex would be an understatement. The two nuclear neighbours have come to the brink of war many a time and have also fought conventional wars as well as unconventional ones. It has been two years since the Balakot strikes when they came close to a full-blown war. India could not do any damage to our territory despite falsely claiming otherwise but Pakistan managed to capture Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan after the Pakistan Air Force shot down his aircraft.

    In a joint session of parliament, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that as a peace gesture, Pakistan was going to release the Indian pilot. PM Imran also reiterated that there is no victory in a war. “Pakistan wants peace. Our interest lies in peace and de-escalation,” he said back in 2019.

    Pakistan has continued to extend a hand of peace towards India over the years but the Modi administration in India has not been very forthcoming.

    Thus, it was a surprise to see the joint statement, which could not have taken place without backdoor diplomacy.

    Innocent people across the LoC have lost lives due to the Indian violations of the 2003 ceasefire agreement. Now with this joint statement, it will be good for the people living across the LoC. We don’t know yet what prompted the Modi government to agree to this but we do hope that both countries eventually restart dialogue.

    Peace in the South Asian region cannot be achieved if India continues its strongarm tactics. Pakistan is committed to peace in the region. Let’s hope this ceasefire is just the first step in the restoration of peace.

  • Maryam welcomes Hamza upon release from jail

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz welcomed Hamza Shehbaz, her cousin and Punjab Assembly opposition leader, along with hundreds of party workers outside Adiala Jail.

    On Thursday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to Hamza Shehbaz in a money laundering case and ordered the authorities to immediately release him. Hamza spent 20 months in jail without conviction.

    “Sher Aya sher Aya [The lion is coming],” the workers chanted slogans as Hamza Shehbaz came out of Kot Lakhpat jail.

    Maryam Nawaz took to Twitter and shared her selfie with Hamza Shehbaz with Marriyum Aurangzeb sitting in the background.

    Earlier, Maryam lashed out at Imran Khan, saying his party leaders aren’t even ready to cast votes. She said that the prime minister will not come back to power again if he gets ousted.

    Maryam Nawaz said that PTI was now fleeing from re-election as their rigging has been exposed. She also paid tribute to Hamza Shehbaz, saying that the opposition leader of Punjab Assembly faced politically motivated cases bravely.

    Hamza was a worker of the party just like him, she added. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers, especially the women workers are excited and happy over release of their leader Hamza Shehbaz from Kot Lakhpat jail.

  • ‘Wake up and clap’: PM seeks applause over plan to save Rs6,000 billion

    ‘Wake up and clap’: PM seeks applause over plan to save Rs6,000 billion

    Prime Minister Imran Khan, during an address in Lahore, took a jibe at the audience, comprising federal and provincial ministers, over their lacklustre, rather sleepy, response to his speech.

    Speaking about his government’s project to control the unplanned growth of Lahore, the PM said Central Business District (CBD) project at the Walton Airport site would help create much-needed wealth to pay off foreign loans.

    https://twitter.com/ReemKhurshid/status/1365272068095438852

    By shifting the Walton Airport from the centre of the city, the prime minister said, some much-needed Rs6,000 billion would be generated.

    The PM excepted clapping at his plan to save Rs6,000 billion, but the lawmakers and the cabinet members remained non-responsive to the PM’s potential super-saving plan. This prompted PM Imran to complain that the lawmakers did not even acknowledge such a mega project to generate wealth, asking whether they were up all night.

    The venue later continued resounding with applause as the prime minister narrated achievements of his government.

  • ‘Tea is fantastic’: Pakistan Twitter has not forgotten Abhinandan

    On Feb 27, 2019, Pakistan shot down an Indian plane and captured its pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan and Twitter hasn’t forgotten it. The retaliation was in response to Balakot strikes that India conducted in Pakistan to destroy an alleged terror camp in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    To mark the downing of the Indian plane, Pakistan had announced to celebrate ‘Surprise Day’ on February 27 as a tribute to the retaliatory attack by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) after India’s Balakot airstrike.

    On Feb 27, 2019, the PAF carried out Operation Swift Retort and shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft and dropped bombs within the compounds of Indian military facilities in occupied Kashmir – as a warning to the country’s belligerent neighbour.

    The Pakistani military had lived up to its promise to ‘surprise’ India in wake of any misadventure, saying that ‘uncalled-for aggression’ from the Indian military  ‘would not go unpunished.

    PM Imran Khan also congratulated the entire nation on the second anniversary of Pakistan’s response to India’s military adventure.

    MEMES GALORE:

    The capture of the pilot and his subsequent video released by Pakistan has become a butt of many a joke: ‘Tea is fantastic’ most famous among them. Abhinandan was freed by Pakistan on March 1 as a peace gesture, but he has left many meme trends in his wake.

    So today, Twitter is buzzing with Abhinandan-related trend again. ‘HappySurpriseDayIndia’, ‘WorldsBiggestTeaParty’, ‘Abhinandan’, and BalakotAirstrikes topped Twitter on the second anniversary of India’s defeat in the dog fight.

    https://twitter.com/Quratulain_abru/status/1365403958920044553
  • US report on Khashoggi killing expected to single out Saudi crown prince

    US report on Khashoggi killing expected to single out Saudi crown prince

    A declassified version of a US intelligence report expected to be released on Thursday finds that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four US officials familiar with the matter said.

    The officials said the report, for which the CIA was the main contributor, assessed that the crown prince approved and likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi, whose Washington Post column had criticised the crown prince’s policies.

    President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded the Republican Donald Trump five weeks ago, told reporters on Wednesday he had read the report and expected to speak soon by phone with Saudi Arabian King Salman, 85, father of the crown prince, the country’s 35-year-old de facto ruler.

    The report’s release is part of Biden’s policy to realign ties with Riyadh after years of giving the Arab ally and major oil producer a pass on its human rights record and its intervention in Yemen’s civil war.

    Biden is working to restore the relationship with Riyadh to traditional lines after four years of cozier ties under Trump.

    White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday Biden would only communicate with the Saudi king and said the declassified Khashoggi report was being readied for release soon.

    While Biden restricts his contacts to the king, others in the Biden administration are talking to Saudi officials at various levels.

    “We have been in touch with Saudi officials at numerous levels in the early weeks of this administration,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.

    The 59-year old Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, and killed by a team of operatives linked to the crown prince. They then dismembered his body. His remains have never been found.

    Riyadh eventually admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a “rogue” extradition operation gone wrong, but it denied any involvement by the crown prince. Five men given the death penalty for the murder had their sentences commuted to 20 years in jail after being forgiven by Khashoggi’s family.

    In 2019, a UN human rights investigator, Agnes Callamard, accused Saudi Arabia of a “deliberate, premeditated execution” of Khashoggi and called for further investigation.

    “There is sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the crown prince demanding further investigation,” Callamard said after the six-month probe.

    A classified version of the report was shared with members of Congress in late 2018.

    But the Trump administration rejected demands by lawmakers and human rights groups to release a declassified version, seeking to preserve cooperation amid rising tensions with Riyadh’s regional rival, Iran, and promote US arms sales to the kingdom.

    Biden’s new director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, committed at her confirmation hearing to complying with a provision in a 2019 defense bill that required the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to release within 30 days a declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder.

    Biden pledged during the 2020 presidential campaign to reassess US-Saudi ties in part over Khashoggi’s murder. Since taking office, he has ended sales of offensive arms that Riyadh could use in Yemen and appointed a special envoy to boost diplomatic efforts to end that country’s grueling civil war.

  • What did PM Imran’s Sri Lanka trip cost taxpayers?

    What did PM Imran’s Sri Lanka trip cost taxpayers?

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka cost taxpayers a mere $34,800 (Rs5,507,771 or Rs5.5 million), his special assistant on political communication, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has revealed in a tweet.

    The 2016 visit of former premier Nawaz Sharif to Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had cost the treasury $276,266, he stated further.

    During his two-day-long visit to the country, PM Imran met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Sri Lankan counterpart besides notable business personalities.

    While Gill went on to say that PM Imran’s trip had proven to be more fruitful as compared to that of Nawaz, Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed also claimed that the incumbent premier’s Sri Lanka visit cost the treasury “just $34,000”.

    The minister further said the premier had cut his office’s expenses by 49%. He maintained the incumbent government was carefully spending public funds that were a sacred trust.

    Saeed’s statements come a week after it was reported that the expenditures of PM House and Office have reportedly reduced by 49% and 29%, respectively.

    According to reports, the total expenditure of the PM House narrowed down to Rs280 million (Rs28 crores) in 2020 from Rs339 million (Rs33 crores) in 2019 and Rs590 million (Rs59 crores) in 2018 — the year when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was handed reins of the country.

    The PM Office witnessed a considerable decrease in its expenditure from 2018 to 2020, but last year was slightly more than in 2019. It stood at Rs334 million (Rs33 crores) in 2020, Rs305 million (Rs30 crores) in 2019 and Rs514 million (Rs51 crores) in 2018.

    The premier, since assuming office in 2018, has been pushing for austerity measures to save taxpayers’ money and reduce the burden on the national exchequer.

    Despite the steps taken by PM Imran in this regard, the austerity drive has faced multiple setbacks owing to the apparent reluctance of the lawmakers in cutting down expenses.

  • PTI leaders fed up with PM Imran, claims Maryam

    PTI leaders fed up with PM Imran, claims Maryam

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday held a meeting to discuss the strategy ahead of the Senate election.

    Addressing a joint press conference in Lahore, Maryam claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was increasingly becoming unpopular within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Maryam added that she hoped that every pro-democracy would oppose Imran Khan in the Senate elections.

    The PML-N vice president also reaffirmed her support for joint opposition candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani, saying the PML-N fully backs Gillani.

    “I hope every pro-democracy person will not vote for the PTI [in the Senate elections] because we think the PTI is guilty of crimes against the people and Imran Khan is guilty of crimes against the nation,” added Maryam.

    Talking to reporters, PPP chief Bilawal said that the government had suffered defeats in the recent by-elections. “The people have rejected them in every by-election,” he said.

    According to the PPP chairman, the PDM’s decision to contest the by-polls and the upcoming Senate elections has made the government anxious about its future.

    The PPP leader said that the PDM was not bringing about a no-confidence movement against the government at the moment and was only contesting the Senate elections.

    Speaking about the Senate elections, the PPP head said his party would ask every lawmaker for a vote in the Senate election.

    Bilawal said that the PDM believed in the constitution and in the principal that each democratic government should complete its constitutional tenure. However, he said that the current system was an unjust one where political allies of the incumbent government were “tied together” to it by force.

  • Rigging: ECP announces re-election on Daska seat, summons IG and chief secretary

    Rigging: ECP announces re-election on Daska seat, summons IG and chief secretary

    The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that new elections will be held in NA-75 (Daska) after its returning officer alleged irregularities during the by-polls in a report submitted to the commission on Tuesday.

    The election watchdog has said that new elections in the constituency will be held on March 18, two weeks after the Senate elections. According to the ECP, polling will be held in all stations of the NA-75 (Sialkot-IV) instead of a mere 14 because elections weren’t transparent.

    The chief election commissioner (CEC) stated that the ECP came to the conclusion that a “conducive environment was not available for the candidates and voters and the election had not been conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in a transparent manner”.

    According to Section 9 of the Election Act, the ECP has the power to declare a poll void if “the commission is satisfied that by reason of grave illegalities …have materially affected the result of the poll at one or more polling stations … it can call upon voters to recast their votes.”

    ‘IG, SECRETARY SUMMONED’:

    Meanwhile, the election watchdog has decided to suspend the concerned government officials, particularly the deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner, district police officer over rigging in the election. The ECP has also sought an explanation from the police chief of Punjab and the chief secretary, said senior journalist Ansar Abbasi.

    The presiding officers, who went “missing” and submitted forged result after several hours, will face trial for their part in the electoral manipulation.

    RIGGING IN BY-POLLS:

    In a plea to the ECP, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had alleged that Daska by-polls were hijacked by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the final results were changed to favour Ali Asjad Malhi of the PTI. The vice president of the party, Maryam Nawaz, had also shared a number of videos to back her claims up. She had demanded fresh elections in Daska.

    Subsequently, the ECP withheld the results in NA-75 and started a probe into the rigging allegations. The commission had said results of the NA-75 constituency were received with “unnecessary delay”, adding that it tried to contact the presiding officers several times but with no success.

    During his appearance before the Election Commission of Pakistan committee on Tuesday, RO Athar Abbas had said that the initial investigation revealed that the presiding officers of at least 20 polling stations manipulated the result.

    The RO’s report quoted by Dawn said at least 20 presiding officers went missing for an entire night after the vote count at their station. It added that the presiding officers also appeared before the ECP panel after much delay.

    “The replies of almost all the presiding officers were stereotype that they were able to complete the counting process by 10 to 10.30pm and started back journey to the office of returning officer on the transport provided by the Election Commission and in escort of police but due to fog, they reached the office of returning officer at about 4.30am and most of them stated their phone batteries were low and they were having no chargers, in response to the questions that they were supposed to send snapshots of the result of the count through WhatsApp but they did not do the same,” the report read.

    As per the report, there was no discrepancy in the record of three out of 23 polling stations from where the presiding officers had disappeared. The returning officer has proposed re-polling at 14 polling stations were there was a marked difference between the number of polled votes in two different sets of form-45.

    On Friday, at least two people were shot dead as a result of firing at the polling place in Daska.

  • Govt reacts to Firdous Ashiq Awan’s ‘leaked video of planning Rana Sanaullah’s arrest’

    A viral video has shown Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Firdous Ashiq Awan discussing over the phone rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah’s arrest, which the opposition claims “exposes ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) politics of vengeance”.

    As per the details, a viral video deemed as leaked showed the Punjab government official saying to an unknown caller that Sanaullah had “once again escaped proceedings” and the government was filing a case against him.

    While opposition leaders claimed that Awan was speaking to Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed and planning the PML-N stalwart’s arrest, the government is claiming that she was talking to family of the late Majid Mehar.

    Mehar was one of the two people who died during violence that marred the electoral exercise in NA-75, Sialkot-IV Daska. Eight others were also injured in the incident that took place while the PML-N — a component of the 10-party PDM — led in the by-election last week.

    https://twitter.com/MashwaniAzhar/status/1364549713643585543

    “She was speaking to the family of Majid Mehar, who lost his life in Daska,” Punjab CM’s aide on digital media, Azhar Mashwani, tweeted.

    He maintained that the family was holding Rana Sanaullah responsible for Mehar’s death.