Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Names of opposition Senators revealed who may vote in favour of the Constitutional Amendments

    Names of opposition Senators revealed who may vote in favour of the Constitutional Amendments

    Veteran journalist Azaz Syed has revealed the names of opposition senators who might vote in favour of the government’s proposed Constitutional Amendments.

    Speaking on the YouTube channel Talk SHOCK, Azaz Syed disclosed that there is a possibility that Senator Faisal Saleem, Senator Ahmad Khan, Senator Abdul Shakoor Qasim, Senator Naseema Ehsan, Senator Dr Zarka Suharwardy Taimur and Senator Saifullah Abro might vote in favour of the 26th Constitutional Amendments in the Upper House.

    “Although, these Senators did not confirm their support for the government,” he added.

    Commenting on the suggestion of military court inclusion in the 26th Constitutional Amendment draft, Syed cleared that it is not part of the coalition government’s proposed Constitutional Amendment draft.

    Meanwhile, talking to media outside the parliament, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif today claimed that the coalition government has achieved the magic number to pass the Constitutional Amendments from parliament.

  • Justice Mansoor Ali Shah unlikely to be next CJP: Report

    Justice Mansoor Ali Shah unlikely to be next CJP: Report

    Justice Mansoor Ali Shah is unlikely to become the next Chief Justice of Pakistan after Justice Qazi Faez Isa if the coalition government manages to pass the 26th constitutional amendment, The News has reported.

    The News report stated that according to government sources, the ruling coalition and its allies will choose Justice Yahya Afridi as the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) after Justice Qazi Faez Isa retires on October 25.

    The three most senior judges after Isa who are next in line for the slot of CJP will be Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi.

    In recent months, Supreme Court judges have been involved in controversy upon contriversy, and there has been a clear lack of consensus amongst the higher judiciary on many things.

    Justice Afridi, however, has remained neutral, The News reported.

    How will the proposed constitutional amendment affect the next CJP?

    The constitutional draft the government is trying to pass suggests: “The Chief Justice of Pakistan shall be appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from amongst three most senior Judges of the Supreme Court. The Committee, constituted for the aforesaid purpose, shall send the name of the nominee to the Prime Minister, who shall forward the nominee to the President for appointment. Provided that where the nominee under this clause declines, the next most senior judge shall be considered by the Committee and so on till the appointment of the chief justice of Pakistan.”

    Suppose the government succeeds in passing the amendments with a full majority in Parliament. In that case, the ‘special parliamentary committee’ will decide the next Chief Justice of Pakistan, making it significantly different from the past procedures.

    “The Special Parliamentary Committee, in this article referred to as the Committee, shall consist of the following twelve members, namely:- (i) eight members from the National Assembly; and (ii) four members from the Senate. Provided that when the National Assembly stands dissolved, the total membership of the Committee shall consist of the members from the Senate only…” proposed the 26th constitutional amendment draft.

    Representation of each political party would be according to the strength it holds in the Parliament. According to this draft, the parliamentary committee would send the nomination to the Prime Minister fourteen days before the retirement of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

    In September, the coalition government remained unsuccessful in passing the Constitutional Amendment Bill amidst protests by the opposition party and senior lawyers. The Government failed to get the magic number to pass the bill, with JUI-F President Fazal ur Rehman holding the key. Fazl took centre stage as the opposition and coalition government raced to meet with him to get his support.

  • PTI MNA speaks out on harassment ahead of Constitutional Amendments

    PTI MNA speaks out on harassment ahead of Constitutional Amendments

    Journalist Hamid Mir, while talking to Aaj News on October 18, revealed that an unnamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA is allegedly being subjected to harassment to get him to vote for the upcoming constitutional amendments in the parliament.

    “A PTI MNA from Punjab called me from a different number. He is currently hiding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Not only was his house demolished, but also the women of his family were subjected to severe pressure,” revealed Hamid Mir.

    However, Mir also stated, “This has been done so that they [PTI MNAs] show their detachment from PTI and vote for the constitutional amendment in favour of the government. However, despite oppression and repression, these MNAs are steadfast and will not vote for the government under any circumstances.”

    Mir narrated that he received calls from an Indonesian number, but he did not pick up. Then he received a message from a UK number telling him the identity of who was calling.

    Hamid Mir further stated that this PTI MNA belongs to Punjab, but currently, he is hiding in Peshawar. Mir said, “I asked him why he was calling me. He replied: I am calling you to make you a witness that I am resisting and won’t go to Islamabad to participate in any voting.”

    On October 16, PTI member Meher Bano Qureshi, the daughter of former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, posted on X that her sister-in-law, the wife of PTI MNA Zain Qureshi, was abducted from near their home by “masked men in plain clothes and multiple cars.”

    “They have not been able to break us for the last year and a half despite all kinds of threats and are now resorting to such low-level tactics. Mine & my family’s faith in Allah is unbreakable. He will see us & Pakistan through this fascism,” she wrote.

    A few hours later, Qureshi posted a photo with the caption: “Alhamdulillah, she’s home. Thank you for your prayers and support!”

    In a separate post, the PTI member also revealed on X: “She was taken literally yards away from interior minister’s @MohsinnaqviC42 house who happens to be our neighbour.”

    Furthermore, Chairman Balochistan National Party (BNP) Akhtar Mengal, who recently handed over his resignation as an MNA citing unheard grievances of Balochistan, took to X (formerly Twitter) to write that his lodges in Islamabad had been raided.

    Mengal also wrote: “My party Senator Naseema Ehsan is confined to her apartment, and her son has been abducted. Meanwhile, my party’s other Senator Qasim Roonjo, who went for his dialysis at 8 a.m. in Islamabad, has been untraceable along with his son since then. Is this what democracy looks like?!!!”

    Mengal also showed solidarity with PTI’s Meher Bano Qureshi, writing, “All boundaries have been breached to ensure the votes get pushed through. It’s a déjà vu of Musharaf’s dictatorship. Shameful act.”

  • Here’s how the chief justice will be appointed after 26th Constitutional Amendment

    Here’s how the chief justice will be appointed after 26th Constitutional Amendment

    A draft of the government’s proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment has unveiled the process of the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).

    Ruling out the scenario of the most senior judge being appointed the Chief Justice of Pakistan, it has been suggested in Constitutional Amendments that the appointment shall be made from among the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court on the recommendation of a special parliamentary committee.

    Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi are in the running on the basis of seniority.

    Eight members of the National Assembly and four members of the Senate will be part of the 12 members of the special parliamentary committee.

    The majority of the special parliamentary committee will be from the ruling government.

    The proposed Constitutional Amendments further suggested that if the National Assembly is dissolved, then all committee members will be from the Senate.

    However, the special parliamentary committee will send the name of the judge to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and then the President will give consent to the appointment of the top court judge.

    The next senior judge’s name would be considered for the CJP if the Prime Minister rejects the special committee’s proposed judge name, and the process will continue until the CJP is appointed.

    The majority of the special parliamentary committee would be responsible for sending the name of the nominated judge to the Prime Minister prior to 14 days of retirement of the CJP.

    No decision or action of the commission or committee shall be questioned or deemed illegal following the vacancy in membership or the absence of any member in the special parliamentary committee, the 26th constitutional amendment concluded.

  • ‘Nation salutes you’: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tells Qazi Faez Isa

    ‘Nation salutes you’: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tells Qazi Faez Isa

    Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari praised Chief Justice Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa over his verdicts on risky cases in the past.

    Speaking at a PPP rally in Hyderabad held to mark the 17th anniversary of the Karsaz incident, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in a roaring tone, remarked that Qazi Faez Isa delivered a brave judgement on the Faizabad Dharna case, which no other judge had the courage to deliver.

    “History will remember you (Qazi Faez Isa) for declaring former dictator General Musharraf a traitor and showing courage in calling Musharraf a dictator,” the former Foreign Minister stated.

    “The nation salutes you,” he added.

    Responding to the political parties’ lack of consensus on the 26th Constitutional Amendment in parliament, Bhutto said that he would be forced to push the Constitutional Amendments through parliament using a “brute majority” to break the ‘one unit’ system in the judiciary.

    “It is my desire to have consensus among all political parties in parliament for this amendment. The second option, which is not my preferred path, is to rely on the majority’s vote to pass it,” he maintained.

    However, the incumbent government is reportedly short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (Lower House) and nine in the Senate (Upper House) to pass the Constitutional amendments.

  • PM Shehbaz writes to Joe Biden for Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s release

    PM Shehbaz writes to Joe Biden for Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s release

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to the President of the United States Joe Biden on Friday for the pardon and release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.

    Dr Siddiqui, a neuroscientist, has been serving an 86-year sentence at Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell in Texas, USA.

    Pakistani PM’s letter to the US read: “Now 52 years old, she has spent approximately sixteen years behind bars in the US.”

    Sharif also noted that several Pakistani officials have made consular visits to Siddiqui at the prison over the years and have expressed “significant concerns regarding her treatment.”

    Concerning the health of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the Prime Minister’s letter to Joe Biden noted: “In fact, they even fear that she could take her own life.”

    “Keeping these facts in view, I request you, Mr President, to kindly exercise your constitutional authority and accept Dr Siddiqui’s clemency petition and order her release strictly on humanitarian grounds,” the letter maintained.

  • Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee endorses Donald Trump in hopes of justice for Imran Khan

    Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee endorses Donald Trump in hopes of justice for Imran Khan

    The Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee (PAKPAC), an organisation registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the United States founded in 1989, has endorsed Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump in the 2024 US Presidential election.

    The organisation’s official X page posted a detailed statement with the caption: “After extensive meetings with the Trump & Harris campaigns, we believe the former President is the candidate who will improve US-Pak relations and promote true democracy in Pak.”

    In the detailed statement, it was written, “While we certainly do not agree with the former President on every issue, after extensive meetings with his campaign and with the Harris campaign, we believe the former President is the candidate who will improve US-Pakistan relations, secure the release of all wrongfully imprisoned political prisoners in Pakistan and work towards reversal of Pakistan’s dangerous democratic backsliding.”

    The PAKPAC also emphasised that during former President Donald Trump’s presidency, relations between the two countries were ‘better’ as his administration was directly engaged in talks with Pakistani ministers.

    It also said that those efforts remained absent under the Biden/Harris administration.

    “In contrast, the Biden/Harris administration has not demonstrated the same commitment to bilateral relations. Under President Biden, the Pakistani government was pushed into a legislative coup against the popular and democratically elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, and the administration has nothing done nothing to secure the release of former Prime Minister and other political prisoners,” said the statement.

    The PAKPAC also exhibited fears with the Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, writing, “We fear these policies would persist under a Harris presidency, further straining relations between our two nations.”

    It should be highlighted that PACPAC is the organisation that has extensively lobbied for former Prime Minister Imran Khan; moreover, it also lobbied for the US Congress legislation in June that called for a “full and independent investigation” of Pakistan’s election and “condemns attempts to suppress the people of Pakistan’s participation in their democracy” through “harassment, intimidation, violence, arbitrary detention.”

  • Will PTI lawmakers support the 26th Constitutional Amendments?

    Will PTI lawmakers support the 26th Constitutional Amendments?

    A day after Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Barrister Gohar Khan claimed that seven lawmakers of the ruling coalition lawmakers will vote against the 26th constitutional amendments, the incumbent government reportedly played its card and brought over opposition members to its side.

    Speaking on the YouTube channel ‘Talk SHOCK,’ veteran journalist Azaz Syed disclosed that 11 Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of PTI are with the incumbent government. “The government will only use four to five PTI lawmakers” to vote in favour of Constitutional Amendments in parliament, he said.

    Speaking about the possible timing of tabling the 26th Constitutional Amendments in parliament, Syed predicted that in the next 48 hours, the Constitutional Amendments will be passed from the Senate (Upper House).

    “Chief Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman will support the constitutional amendments in the Senate,” Syed predicted.

    JUI-F on Thursday disclosed its key suggestions for the 26th Constitutional Amendment, suggesting the establishment of a constitutional bench within the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan as well as at high courts, reports said.

    According to reports, all political parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), have reached a consensus on the formation of a constitutional bench at the top court, and no party has objected to this suggestion.

  • Shahzeb Khanzada schools Info Minister Azma Bukhari for threatening journalists

    Shahzeb Khanzada schools Info Minister Azma Bukhari for threatening journalists

    Veteran journalist Shahzeb Khanzada scolded Punjab Information Minister Azma Zahid Bokhari in his show over her threat to journalists before a press conference held by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz addressing the matter of the alleged ‘rape’ case of Punjab Group of College.

    Azma Zahid Bokhari on Tuesday, while threatening journalists, stated, “If anyone creates a nuisance in the press conference, I will not spare anyone, and my complaint means you have to face difficulties in your employment.”

    Later, the Information Minister clarified her statement on X (formerly Twitter) by saying that her video clip was not fully shared.

    Responding to the open threat, Shahzeb Khanzada, on his programme, criticised the Information Minister, saying, “Aap hath jor kar karain ya buland awaz ma karain, ap tameez se karain ya badtameezi say karain, dhamki tu dhamki huti hai.”

    “Who are you to threaten journalists,” he questioned.

    Khanzada highlighted the double standard of the Information Minister, stating that when they (indirectly named PML-N) are in opposition, they stand with journalists, but once they form the government, they show their true colours.

    On the other hand, Azma Bokhari told journalists at the Lahore High Court (LHC) that there would be no more pampering.

    “Jo mujhy meri auqaat bataty hain un ko pehly apni auqaat dekhni chahiye,” she added.

    Responding to a journalist’s question, she replied, “Now there is no brotherhood and no pampering.”

  • Real reason behind Imran Khan’s expulsion from Oxford chancellor race

    Real reason behind Imran Khan’s expulsion from Oxford chancellor race

    Journalist Murtaza Ali Shah has listed down the probable reasons that led to Oxford University blocking founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, from the University chancellorship race.

    Appearing on the Neo News programme Madde Muqabal, journalist Murtaza Ali Shah disclosed that Imran Khan does not fulfil the requirements of becoming Oxford University chancellor, which demands a “fit and proper person.”

    According to the Oxford University criteria for Chancellorship, a convicted person is not eligible to become the University chancellor. “Imran Khan was convicted in Tosha Khana case,” the journalist said.

    Murtaza Ali Shah further revealed, “A chancellor candidate shouldn’t be the member of a legislative assembly. Although currently Imran Khan is not a lawmaker, there is the possibility of his premiership in future, on which the University has reservations.”

    Meanwhile, The Telegraph lambasted Imran Khan shortly before Oxford University released its list of ineligible candidates to run for the Chancellorship post.

    An oped printed by The Telegraph declared Imran Khan a narcissistic man and a sympathiser to Taliban who had restricted women’s education in Afghanistan, adding that if Khan was elected Oxford Chancellor, he would help Western enemies.

    The newspaper wrote that 20th-century cricketer Imran Khan, who presented himself as a quasi-islamist in the 21st century, though in reality he is not Islamist, was among the candidates competing for Oxford chancellorship.

    He is remembered either as a cricketer or for his frivolous stories in magazines in the 1980s, yet some people in the United Kingdom (UK) advocating for Imran Khan, the oped said.

    Meanwhile, Imran Khan’s Advisor on International Affairs, Syed Zulfi Bukhari, claimed that Oxford University blocked Khan from contesting the chancellor election after the Pakistan government pressured the administration.

    “The Oxford University has made a very narrow-minded and pressured decision to block Imran Khan. The decision came as a big disappointment because the whole of Pakistan wanted Imran Khan to take part in the Oxford University chancellor election. People from India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and many Islamic countries wanted Imran Khan to take part,” Bukhari told Geo News.