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Tag: PTI

  • ‘Benefit of doubt’ for Gen Asim Munir: Imran Khan

    Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), while talking to journalists at his Zaman Park residence, discussed his strained relationship with the establishment and said that he gives the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, the “benefit of doubt”.

    When asked if the incumbent army chief is following the policy of former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa with regards to the PTI, Khan responded that that Munir had been in office for a mere two months and he was willing to give him the “benefit of the doubt”.

    Khan reiterated that a three-year extension given to Bajwa during his tenure as Prime Minister was a “big blunder”. He alleged that his rival Nawaz Sharif had struck a deal with Bajwa in return for endorsing his extension in parliament. In return, Bajwa started securing relief for Nawaz and others in corruption cases.

    “Nawaz had set two conditions for his return — my disqualification and victory in Punjab polls,” Khan claimed.

    He warned: “But let me tell you that my disqualification is not possible in any of the fake cases they have instituted against me if legal procedures are followed.”

    Speaking about the ‘court arrest’ movement, which he announced last week, Imran Khan said he would be at the forefront of the struggle. “I will be leading the Jail Bharo Tehreek — which is a non-violent drive — after recovering from bullet wounds in two weeks or so,” he said, adding that preparations for the movement have already begun.

    Imran Khan has had an estranged relationship with the military since he was removed from power in April 2022 through a Vote of No Confidence. Since being deposed, the former Prime Minister has criticised high-ranking officials in the army, including General (retd) Bajwa.

  • Court suspends National Assembly Speaker’s order to accept PTI MNAs’ resignations

    Court suspends National Assembly Speaker’s order to accept PTI MNAs’ resignations

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday suspended National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s order accepting the resignations of 43 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers last month, putting by-elections in these constituencies on hold.

    During the hearing today, PTI lawyer Ali Zafar contended that PTI MNAs had withdrawn their resignation before the NA speaker had accepted them.

    The former ruling party had filed a petition stating that PTI lawmakers had requested the speaker not to de-notify them, as they had withdrawn resignations but the speaker still went ahead and accepted their resignations “without following due process”.

    Pervez Ashraf ‘approves’ resignations of 43 more PTI MNAs

    Earlier, Ashraf approved the resignations of 43 lawmakers in the lower house.

    Reacting to the development, senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said the main reason to return to the assembly in small numbers was to remove Raja Riaz as the opposition leader because the legislature had “no importance”.

    “Right now, Shehbaz Sharif has lost the support of 172 members and is relying on lotas (turncoats) to save his government,” tweeted Fawad.

    He also pointed out that 40 per cent of seats in the NA were now empty. “The only solution to this crisis is elections.”

    NA speaker accepts resignations of 35 more PTI lawmakers

    Ashraf on Friday, January 20, accepted the resignations of 35 more PTI Members of Provincial Assembly (MNAs), days after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified 34 PTI MNAs after their resignations were accepted by Ashraf.

    PTI lawmakers had resigned en masse from the lower house of parliament following the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan in April last year through a Vote of No Confidence.

    A total of 69 resignations were accepted this week after the PTI announced to return to the assembly and threatened to move a no-trust motion against the incumbent Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.

    According to reports, President Arif Alvi had been all set to ask PM Shehbaz Sharif to take a vote of confidence from the lower house of the parliament.

    Raja Pervez Ashraf had previously accepted the resignations of only 11 MNAs in July last year.

    After ECP de-notified 35 PTI MNAs, the party’s senior leader Fawad Chaudhry announced that party Chairman Imran Khan himself will contest on all 33 National Assembly constituencies.

    This is not the first time that such an announcement has been made.

    Last year, in October, Khan announced that he would contest on seven seats of the national assembly. At the time, he lost from only one seat and won the remaining six.

  • Nawaz Sharif was taken out of power unconstitutionally, says Qureshi

    Nawaz Sharif was taken out of power unconstitutionally, says Qureshi

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi has acknowledged that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif was removed from power unconstitutionally.

    Speaking with journalist Meher Bokhari, Qureshi said that PTI believed that Sharif would have learned from what happened to him and would not have repeated the same thing.

    “These experiments have not worked in the last 75 years. We were expecting that what he [Nawaz Sharif] went through as a leader, he would have learned from it and taken up a new attitude in politics,” said Qureshi.

    “If someone is removed unconstitutionally from power, a democratic mind will not accept it,” added Qureshi.

    It is pertinent to mention here, that PTI Chairman Imran Khan was removed as the prime minister in April, 2022 through a vote of no-confidence.

  • Elections should be held once: Saad Rafique

    Elections should be held once: Saad Rafique

    Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation, Khawaja Saad Rafique, has said that elections in Pakistan should be held once, otherwise there is a risk of anarchy.

    Talking to the media in Lahore on Tuesday, he said that the country cannot face another crisis.

    Taking a jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader said that Khan cannot dissolve the assemblies as the constitution has given that power to the leader of the House.

    Saad said that there were no particular circumstances that led to the dissolution of provincial assemblies, claiming that pressure was put on chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to do so.

    He also said that Khan should participate in All-Parties Conference (APC), as he was of the view that all political parties should unite and play a role against terrorism.

  • ‘Death cell mein reh kar aayi hoon, phir bhi kabhi media ke saamnay nahin royi’: Maryam Nawaz recalls time in jail

    ‘Death cell mein reh kar aayi hoon, phir bhi kabhi media ke saamnay nahin royi’: Maryam Nawaz recalls time in jail

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) newly-appointed Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz took a jibe at arch-rivals Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for their leaders’ reactions after getting arrested.

    Recalling the time when her father, former Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, was imprisoned in Attock Fort in 1999 after a military coup by the-then army chief General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, she said, “You cannot even spend an hour there, he remained there for 14 months.”

    Talking about her own time in jail where she spent five months, Maryam Nawaz said, “Death cell mein reh kar aayi hoon, phir bhi kabhi media ke saamnay nahin royi” (I stayed in a death cell but didn’t shed any tear in front of the media), adding that she was incarcerated during extreme heat but didnt pity herself.

    “I had one charpai; the bathroom and room were the same”, she elaborated.

    She reminded the members of the press that other PML-N leaders also spent months in jail and were unable to get bail.

    Discussing the jail time PTI leaders had to face, Maryam Nawaz said that they couldn’t even bear jail for two days, stressing that this is nothing compared to what PML-N has faced.

    She reiterated that PTI was under the protection of former spymaster, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence, General (retd) Faiz Hameed but now it’s gone.

  • ‘PTI will consider participation in APC if we receive official invitation from PM’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘PTI will consider participation in APC if we receive official invitation from PM’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said on Twitter that if Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif sends an official invitation for the All-Parties Conference (APC) set to take place on February 7 in Islamabad, then his party will consider attending.

    Fawad tweeted, “Shehbaz Sharif came in media and invited PTI for the All-Parties Conference. But Tehreek-e-Insaf has yet not received any invitation in this regard. If we receive an official invitation, we will consider participation.”

    Khan rejects PM Shehbaz’s invitation to APC

    PTI Secretary General Asad Umar has confirmed on Friday, February 4, that party Chairman Imran Khan will skip the federal government’s APC.

    PM Shehbaz Sharif invited the former prime minister and his party at an apex committee meeting in Peshawar.

    Umar, while speaking to the press outside the Lahore High Court, said: “How can we sit with them [PDM-led government] while cases are being registered against us?”

    Stating that the constitution is being violated by registering cases of treason against opponents and all the government resources are devoted to arrests and detentions, he said to the members of the press.

    Earlier today, during the apex committee meeting in Peshawar, Shehbaz Sharif, without naming Khan, said: “I have also invited the person who does not want to even shake hands with me,” stressing that all parties are invited to APC and Apex committee meetings. ‘I hope that it will not be rejected,” said the Premier.

    “We need to fight the menace of terrorism by setting our differences aside and moving forward,” said the PM.

    Recalling his time as opposition leader in the National Assembly, the premier said: “Whenever he [Imran Khan] wrote a letter to me, he never wrote my name on it, however, I always responded with my name and my signature on the letter.”

  • ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’: Khan asks workers and supporters to prepare for new movement

    ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’: Khan asks workers and supporters to prepare for new movement

    Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has on Saturday asked his workers and supporters to prepare for “Jail Bharo Tehreek” (Movement to Fill Jails) across the country.

    In a televised address, the former Prime Minister announced the movement as the next step to be taken by the PTI in light of the prevailing political situation that has seen several of its top leaders and allies spend time behind bars.

    “We have two options: Considering what they have been doing, we could have gone for a wheel-jam strike and demonstrations — which is one option and a democratic one.”

    However, Imran Khan said that because the state of the economy will worsen with a strike, “I ask all my workers, the Pakistani nation and everyone to prepare for the Jail Bharo Tehreek.”

    This way, he said, the federal government’s “new hobby” of putting every senior PTI leader in jail will also be fulfilled.

    “The entire party and the people should prepare for the Jail Bharo Tehreek”, Imran said. “Whenever I give the signal, we all will get out and get arrested by the authorities.”

    Khan claimed his party never committed such atrocities in its tenure as the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government in the centre has.

    “Fawad Chaudhry was picked up from home at 3am. What did Shandana Gulzar do that made her a terrorist? As the court gives bail to Sheikh Rasheed, more cases are being filed against him,” the PTI chairman said, insisting that action has been taken against every person who called out the regime change.

    The former prime minister said human rights violations have continued since the “imported government” arrived.

    “No example can be found for the way Shehbaz Gill was tortured. The effects of the torture are still there,” Khan said.

    Speaking about the attempted assassination attack that left him injured, the PTI chairman said he couldn’t get the FIR of his choice registered despite being a former prime minister. However, he said, 60 FIRs were filed against him.

    Imran pinned the responsibility of rising terrorism on incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as he recalled the sacrifices made by the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the war on terror.

    “Look at the graph of terrorism and how it came down during the PTI government,” he said. “Why wasn’t there any terrorism when PTI was in the federal government?”

    “This is why they (KP public) came out yesterday and thronged the streets in fear that there might be another operation,” he said, adding that countless innocent lives are lost during anti-terror operations.

  • ‘Iss ladlay ko bachaya ja raha tha’: Rana Sanaullah claims that Bajwa and Faiz facilitated Khan until November 28

    ‘Iss ladlay ko bachaya ja raha tha’: Rana Sanaullah claims that Bajwa and Faiz facilitated Khan until November 28

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has claimed that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and ex-Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed facilitated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan until November 28, a day before Bajwa retired and passed over the command of the army to General Asim Munir.

    Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’ on Friday, Sanaullah said, “Iss ladlay ko bachaya ja raha tha” (They were protecting their favourite).

    Declaring that Khan has “gone crazy” after being denied the facilitation which he was previously being provided, “to bring him to the streets”. Backed by this facilitation he wanted to launch a long march and seize Islamabad, Rana Sanaullah said.

    Moreover, he claimed that Imran Khan’s long march was all about the appointment of the new army chief.

    The minister also denied that General Bajwa was going to retire in November. “The date came and he had to retire,” Sanaullah disclosed, hinting that the ex-COAS wanted to continue in his post.

    On February 2, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice-President Maryam Nawaz claimed that her party’s actual rule commenced after November 28 as before this date, the PTI chief’s patrons were still holding powerful positions.

  • Sheikh Rasheed booked in another case for speaking against Bilawal

    Sheikh Rasheed booked in another case for speaking against Bilawal

    Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief and Former Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has been booked in another case in Karachi for allegedly using inappropriate language against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

    On Thursday, Rasheed was handed over on a two-day physical remand for accusing former President Asif Ali Zardari of plotting an assassination attempt on Imran Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    In the early hours of February 2, Rasheed was arrested from his home in Islamabad.

    Islamabad court grants 2-day physical remand of Sheikh Rasheed

    An Islamabad court on Thursday granted police two-day physical remand of Ahmed, hours after the politicians was arrested in connection with remarks he made against Zardari.

    ‘My crime is that I’m standing with Khan’: Rasheed arrested for levelling allegations against Zardari

    Rasheed was arrested late last night after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Division President Raja Inayat Ur Rehman filed a case against him in Islamabad’s Aabpara Police Station for alleging that Zardari was hatching a plot to assassinate the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan.

    The FIR said that Rasheed’s allegations were designed to get PTI and the PPP to fight each other, disrupting the country’s peace.

    Three sections — 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) — have been added to the FIR.

    Talking to the media after his arrest, Rasheed said he feared for his life.

    “My crime is that I’m standing with Imran Khan,” he said at the Polyclinic hospital in Islamabad, where he was taken for a medical checkup.

    “I have been a minister 16 times. Never for a single time, I have been charged with corruption in these ministries,” he added.

    Rasheed alleged that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah is behind his arrest.

    Former Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the arrest of his close aide and blamed the interim Punjab government — Moshin Naqvi — of being biased.

    “Question is can Pak afford a street movement which we are being pushed towards at a time when Imported Govt has bankrupted us?” he asked.

    Khan in January alleged that Zardari was hatching as well as financing a plot to assassinate him, for which the ex-president had hired “terrorists”.

    “…there’s a Plan C. Asif Zardari is behind it. He has amassed a lot of money through corruption and he has invested that money in terrorists and hired a militant organisation,” the PTI chief had alleged. However, the PPP strongly denied the claim and served a legal notice to Khan.

  • Khan will not contest in upcoming National Assembly by-polls

    Khan will not contest in upcoming National Assembly by-polls

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has decided not to contest on National Assembly (NA) vacant seats, multiple media outlets have reported.

    According to Geo News, former Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of the PTI will participate in the upcoming national assembly by-elections. Khan has reportedly directed them to submit their nomination papers and start election campaigns in their constituencies.

    A day earlier, Khan also withdrew his nomination papers from National Assembly Constituency NA-193.

    It is pertinent to mention that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that by-elections for 33 vacant seats will be held on March 16.

    PTI leaders had announced that their party chief will contest on 33 seats out of 35 seats, leaving aside the two women’s reserved seats.

    On Thursday, it was reported that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will also participate in the upcoming by-polls with the party completing the process of finalising its candidates.

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