The deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Wednesday that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman is likely to visit Pakistan soon. Dar confirmed that the date of the Saudi Prince’s visit will be finalised this month.
“InshaAllah, the visit is due [and] I believe we may receive final dates [of the visit from Saudi Arabia] anytime in May,” Dar said while addressing the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The Saudi crown prince, also known as MBS, will visit Pakistan for the first time in five years. His last visit to the country was in February 2019, when Imran Khan was prime minister.
The deputy prime minister mentioned that during a recent meeting in Makkah, Pakistan’s delegation met with the Saudi crown prince. He assured Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that he will visit Pakistan soon.
Former caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda announced on Tuesday that they will not join either the government nor opposition sides in the Senate.
The Senate Secretariat released a notification about the six independent senators in the senate and their decision to join a party. According to the issued notification, two out of the six senators, Kakar and Vawda, decided to not join any side in the Senate.
Similarly, Senator Mohsin Naqvi, who is also a federal interior minister, was not sure about joining a side in the upper house.
However, Naqvi’s name was mentioned as a senator on the treasury bench with an additional note of “(Federal Minister, however, not yet opted)”.
Senator Abdul Qadir joined the government benches after winning the senate polls. The senator was initially part of PTI and then left the party after May 9.
Former speaker of the National Assembly and a senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Asad Qaiser, appeared on a talk show ‘Khabar’ with Meher Bokhari on ARY News and said that he refuses to apologise for the May 9 events.“We don’t even apologise to our fathers, why would we ask for forgiveness from anyone else,” he said.
On May 7, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the people involved in the May 9 riots must be punished as per the law.
The military spokesperson also said, “There can be no dialogue with an anarchist group,” he said firmly, adding that the “only way forward for the anarchists [group] is to apologise sincerely [for their acts], abandon the politics of hate and indulge in constructive politics [instead]”.
Asad Qaiser stated that PTI wants the constitution and law to prevail in the country saying, “We want all citizens to have equal rights, for that all the institutions have to work within their constitutional limits.”
The government on May 7 approved a supplementary budget worth Rs147 billion for various expenses including more than Rs36 crore for renovating the Prime Minister Office and expenses for the employees of the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Corporation.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved a budget of Rs162.5 million for renovating the PM’s Office, the Express Tribune has reported.
The ECC of the Federal Cabinet authorized the financial decisions, including increasing the federal government’s wheat procurement quota by another 400,000 metric tonnes.
Punjab farmers have suffered due to the flawed decision-making of the past caretaker government which imported 3.5 million tonnes of wheat despite domestic surplus.
Correspondingly, the government also allowed borrowing Rs41.5 billion to buy the commodity from farmers at Rs3900 per 40kg rate.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered on Wednesday to transfer former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, from Banigala to Adiala jail, Geo is reporting.
IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the decision on Bushra Bibi’s plea seeking her transfer from Banigala to Adiala jail. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan is also currently in Adiala jail.
IHC reserved a verdict on Bushra Bibi’s petition on May 2 after hearing arguments. On the other hand, the Adiala jail superintendent said that they can’t accommodate Bushra Bibi as the jail is already overcrowded and there are security concerns.
Bushra was placed under house arrest at her residence in Bani Gala on January 31, following her conviction in the Toshakhana case. Authorities had declared the Bani Gala residence a “sub-jail” to confine the former first lady at the request of the Adiala jail superintendent.
Karachi police and intelligence agencies caught two terrorists connected to India’s main intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), during a targeted operation, Korangi Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hasan Sardar confirmed on Monday.
Korangi police and agencies worked together to stop a major terrorist plan targeting a city.
The SSP confirmed that police found two hand grenades, a 9mm gun, and bullets from the arrested terrorists.
In the past, there have been several incidents where RAW agents were caught infiltrating Pakistani territory for intelligence gathering and terrorist activities.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Syrus Qazi exposed the “sophisticated and sinister” Indian campaign of extra-territorial and extra-judicial killings.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif asked an accountability court on Tuesday to drop charges against him in the Toshakhana reference.
Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer Rana Muhammad Arif Khan filed the petition. President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani are also accused in the same case. The prosecutor representing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) stated in court that he would forward the application to NAB headquarters.
After that, the court issued a notice on Nawaz’s plea for May 23 and adjourned the hearing till June 3. Earlier this month, NAB cleared the PML-N leader of any wrongdoing in a case about him getting a luxury car from the Toshakhana (gift repository).
Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the people involved in the May 9 riots must be punished as per the law.
“The issue of May 9 riots is not limited to the Pakistan Army but [in fact] concerns the whole nation,” said the General during a rare press conference.
The military spokesperson also emphasized that dialogue should take place between the politicians rather than institutions and said, “No talks will be held with any political leader, or group which attacks its own army and indulges in propaganda [against them].”
“There can be no dialogue with an anarchist group,” he said firmly, adding that the “only way forward for the anarchists [group] is to apologise sincerely [for their acts], abandon the politics of hate and indulge in constructive politics [instead]”.
DG ISPR remarked, “For such people, it is said: ’ You can fool all the people some of the times, some of the people all the times but you cannot fool all the people all the times.’”
When the General was asked about PTI’s demand of a judicial commission to probe the entire May 9 events, he replied, “Fine, we are ready, make a judicial commission but if you have to, then go to the root of this entire incident. The judicial commission should also determine what the goals of the 2014 dharna (sit-in) were and how Parliament was attacked. It should also look into the PTV attack and how people were encouraged to stand against the state, indulge in civil disobedience, and burn utility bills.”
The Commission, the army spokesperson said, should also investigate “How Islamabad was attacked in 2016 with KP’s federal resources, and then again in 2022.”
“It must also see how letters were written to the IMF and lobbying was conducted abroad so that Pakistan would not be given loans and fall into a state of default.”
The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Ali Amin Gandapur has threatened former foreign minister and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, saying, “Bilawal tera governor bhi KP house mein nai ghusse ga, [Bilawal, your Governor will not be able to enter KP House]” after a KP minister was allegedly not allowed to enter Sindh House.
“I will show you here [KP] that your governor won’t be able to come here to KP House,” exclaimed Gandapur.
The CM said that Pakistan is not the private property of Bilawal. Furthermore, he said, “If you continue to adopt this attitude then I will challenge you to even enter the Governor House here.”
A case has been filed against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Malik Tariq Awan for allegedly mistreating a servant of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) MNA Asif Khan, in Peshawar.
Police confirmed that the case has been filed against PML-N’s MPA on behalf of Asif’s servant. Malik Tariq Awan will face multiple charges, including terrorism, the police added.
The First Information Report (FIR) stated that at least 20 people came to the guest house, and Awan was leading them. They tortured the servant present there.
“At least five persons have been arrested on MNA Asif’s report, which alleges Awan of attacking,” said the police.
Superintendent of Police Faqeerabad, Usama Amin Cheema, stated that there was no firing incident during the entire episode. The SP mentioned that workers from both parties shouted slogans at each other during the face-off.
