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Tag: PTI

  • Aleem, Aun Chaudhry not forming a new party: report

    Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Awn Chaudhry and Abdul Aleem Khan have dismissed reports that they are forming a new political party, reports Raees Ansari for Geo News.

    The news report states that Chaudhry clarified that former PTI stalwart Jahangir Khan Tareen, Aleem and Chaudhry Sarwar are “not forming a new political party”.

    “Currently, we are part of the government and are standing with it. Tareen group is an ally of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and will remain an ally,” Chaudhry said.

    It was also reported that senior politician Aleem Khan denied joining a political party or forming a new one, saying: “There is no truth in the reports of my inclusion in a new political party.”

    “I am neither a part of any political party nor have any intentions to become one,” Aleem said adding that he has good ties with former PTI leaders Chaudhry Sarwar and Jahangir Tareen but has no intentions of becoming active in politics.

    It is pertinent to mention here that Aleem and Tareen were the most prominent leaders in the PTI’s early years. Internal differences got in the way with Tareen first and then Aleem parting ways with the PTI chief Imran Khan.

  • Gen Bajwa makes appearance at Gen Faiz Hameed’s daughter’s wedding

    Gen Bajwa makes appearance at Gen Faiz Hameed’s daughter’s wedding

    Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa attended his former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General (retd) Faiz Hameed’s daughter’s wedding on Saturday.

    The wedding was attended by many prominent personalities and politicians such as former director general Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) General (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the current Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza along with other famous names.

    Faiz Hameed had filed an application to seek early retirement from the army days after the federal government appointed Gen Asim Munir as the new army chief in November 2022.

    Meanwhile, Gen (retd) Bajwa retired from his post on November 29, 2022, after serving six years in office.

  • Fawad Chaudhry extends best wishes to Maryam Nawaz after she underwent throat surgery

    Fawad Chaudhry extends best wishes to Maryam Nawaz after she underwent throat surgery

    Putting aside political rivalry, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has extended his best wishes to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president Maryam Nawaz after she underwent throat surgery in Switzerland.

    A day earlier, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb had said that Nawaz is in good condition after her three-hour-long throat surgery that took place in Geneva.

    The minister said the PML-N senior vice president had extended gratitude to all the people, especially the party workers, who had prayed for her and conveyed good wishes to her.

    According to media reports, during the three-hour-long surgery, two of her throat glands were operated on by the doctors.

    Earlier this week, both Nawaz and Maryam travelled together to Geneva from London.

    Maryam is expected to return to Pakistan in the third week of January to assume her new responsibilities as Chief Organiser of the party.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will also be visiting Geneva to co-host the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan — along with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — on January 9 (Monday).

  • ‘It was military vs PTI’: Gen Bajwa was actively involved in sending PTI govt packing, says Fawad

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said that in the no-confidence motion against his party’s Chairman and then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, it was actually the PTI versus the military.

    Fawad claimed during a BBC HARDTalk interview yesterday that “some army generals, as well as ex-chief General [Qamar Javed] Bajwa were actively involved in sending the PTI government home”.

    Establishment played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan

    “And in that conspiracy, some army generals were involved, there is no doubt about that and the establishment actually played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan. In fact, the last army chief was [also] actively involved in sending our government home,” he alleged.

    Host Stephen Sackur asked Fawad about DG ISI Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum’s press conference, in which he, alongside then ISPR chief Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar, said Imran Khan asked the military to perform an unconstitutional act during the no-confidence vote.

    Chaudhry responded: “The current [army] leadership has just assumed the office and we are hoping there will be a change in the policy, but the last chief was not speaking truth when he said we asked [for their] help. We only asked for their neutrality.”

    Unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution

    Dismissing the notion that the PTI was against the military, Fawad said his party was not against anyone. “In Pakistan, unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution [in the past], which is known to everyone.”

    Bygones are bygones: PTI looks forward to having good relations with US

    Talking about how Khan blamed United States for his ouster and then later changing his narrative that he wants to have good relations with US, Fawad said that the PTI never said it seeks a war with the superpower. “Instead, it wants good bilateral ties. No party wants confrontation with the US,” Fawad noted. However, at the same time the PTI doesn’t want any country including the US to dictate Pakistan, he opined.

    Saying bygones are bygones, Fawad said his party looks forward to having good relations with the US, and hopes the superpower too would like to collaborate with Pakistan’s most popular political party.

    Calling Osama bin Laden a “martyr” was a slip of a tongue

    To a question, he clarified that Imran never called Osama bin Laden a “martyr”, saying he had a slip of a tongue in one speech which was clarified later.

    Shehbaz govt ruined all efforts due to their ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems

    Chaudhry said the then-PTI government was holding “continuous negotiations” with the Afghan government “and we were close to actually resolve the issue”.

    He, however, blamed the incumbent government for “ruining” all efforts due to their “ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems”.

    PTI could wait for elections but….

    The PTI leader said his party could wait for elections “but this government is not ready to hold polls as they know people will oust them through vote”.

    He insisted that elections were needed for Pakistan and not for the PTI. “We are asking that elections should be held at the earliest so that a new responsible government can take care of economic affairs.”

    Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle

    Stephen Sackur said Pakistan’s debt stood at $116 billion when the PTI took over in 2018, but it rose to $230 billion when the party left government.

    Fawad responded saying his party’s government had to borrow funds to return the loans taken by the previous government. He maintained that his party’s government worked to restructure the loans and did as far as economy is concerned.

    He said, ” Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle.

    Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in 75 years of history

    Sackur said figures did not bear out his claim, referring to promises made by the PTI before elections, especially those about corruption, He said that Pakistan fell by 20 points on the corruption perception index (CPI).

    Fawad disagreed, arguing that these were the departments related to rule of law, for example judiciary, not the political side, that had contributed to that index. He said Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in its 75 years of existence.

    The PTI leader said it is not possible to create economic stability without political stability as [political uncertainty in the country is such that] no one knows who will rule the country three or five months from now.

  • Resign, Khan tells his Punjab MPAs, if Punjab Assembly dissolution doesn’t go his way

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has given instructions that if his desired dissolution of the Punjab Assembly (PA) is halted, all of his party’s Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) will resign, reports Geo News.

    According to news outlet sources, PTI has prepared a new strategy to deal with the political crisis in Punjab.

    Khan has also directed all party members to ensure the trust vote for Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi.

    Earlier, a session of the Punjab Assembly was called on January 11, but later the date was changed to January 9.

    While it seems like PTI is gearing up for the no-confidence motion, on the contrary, Khan-backed CM Elahi said that he will not take orders from Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligur Rehman, hence he will not take a vote of confidence.

  • ‘Imran se mil ke dosti ka ailaan kareinge’: Gen Faiz convinced Modi to visit Pakistan in 2021, claims Javed Chaudhry

    Journalist Javed Chaudhry continues with bringing inside details of the working of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government in his column. In the fourth part of the series published today, Chaudhry alleges that in 2020 the establishment had convinced Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to visit Pakistan, and former Bahawalpur corps commander Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed played a significant role in arranging the proposed trip.

    The journalist writes that in this regard Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, who was then the head of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and both agreed upon Modi visiting Pakistan on April 9, 2021.

    All the details of the trip had been planned out. Modi would have first visited the Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Balochistan and on his way back home he would have met Imran Khan who was Prime Minister. Chaudhry said that it was planned that “Modi would shake hands with Khan and declare peace between the two countries and opening of trade”.

    Continuing with the sensational claims, the journalist writes that both leaders would announce that there will be no interference or terrorist activities from both countries. At the time, Modi was of the view that both countries would sit together after 20 years to decide about the future of India-occupied Kashmir.

    However, this tour was cancelled because Khan—on the advice of his foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi—backed out. Chaudhry writes that Qureshi scared Khan by telling him it would give a perception to the masses that he [Khan] has compromised on Kashmir.

    Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed helped Khan in confidence motion

    According to the journalist, the establishment helped Khan throughout the confidence motion that Imran voluntarily announced he will take, right after Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated PTI’s Hafeez Sheikh in the senate elections. Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed ensured full numbers for PTI so Khan could win the motion. Calls and visits were made to ensure that disgruntled MNAs voted in favour of Khan.

    Moreover, the journalist writes that as per his sources, Khan advised showing leniency towards former President and co-chairman of PPP, Asif Ali Zardari, from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the court.

    LNG deal was ruined by Khan

    In the column, another detailed passage says that former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa admits that former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz signed the best LNG deal with Qatar to ensure supplies for Pakistan during winters but it was ruined by Imran Khan.

    Chaudhry said that then-Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar, asked for just three gas shipments from Qatar despite a one-time generous offer to take ‘as much as required’ amidst a looming gas crisis at home, so he could sell his own furnace oil.

    In another episode, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) caught a ship loaded with cheaply bought Iranian petrol. It was for none other than Babar. According to him, Khan was informed about it but chose to stay quiet.

    Also, prior to Nadeem’s appointment, Khan was warned by the establishment but he didnt listen.

    Babar isn’t in the country anymore but Pakistan is still paying the price of his decisions to serve his own interests, all because Imran wanted to retain him as his aide, writes Chaudhry in his column.

  • ‘Woh kaun tha’: Khan claims one man did not let him register FIR after assassination attempt

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday reiterated that despite his party governing Punjab, he couldn’t register a First Information Report (FIR) and record the statements of the people he named in the attempt on his life.

    Addressing his supporters, the PTI chief said that an investigation should have been held when he named the people who were involved in his attempted assassination in Wazirabad in early November.

    He also questioned who was the powerful person who stopped the investigation and who was afraid of it. Dismissing the FIR which was later registered, he termed it “scripted” as it named only one shooter.

    During the address, Khan repeatedly said that there were more than one shooter at the scene and backed the recent Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report.

    Accusing four unnamed individuals for plotting his murder, which he said was not the first attempt at murdering him, Imran said that a narrative of a religious fanatic was created to misdirect investigations.

    “If these four people would have killed me they would be exposed, that is why they tried to kill me by planting a religious fanatic,” he said.

    “People from inside the agencies had already informed me about the plot to assassinate me,” he claimed.

    Backing the findings contained in the JIT report, he said one of the gunmen was the man who had been repressed near the attack site by onlookers. Another one had fired from the roof with police recovering empty bullet casings from the nearby rooftop. The third was somewhere else. But he defended his security guard, noting that he acted heroically to protect them.

    Khan also claimed that Naveed (the man who shot at Khan and was immediately arrested) was trained to do this and confess in this manner. He said that people had already posted Naveed’s confession of firing at Khan even before he reached the hospital.

    The former prime minister also requested the formation of a powerful committee, under Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial’s supervision to probe the assassination bid.

  • 33 candidates passed away waiting for local govt elections in Sindh

    33 candidates passed away waiting for local govt elections in Sindh

    33 candidates who had filed their nominations for the Local Government (LG) elections in Karachi and Hyderabad passed away waiting for the election to happen.

    The second phase of the local election has been postponed repeatedly.

    According to details provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), as many as 12 candidates for Union Council (UC) chairman and vice chairman have died since the time their nomination papers were submitted. Similarly, 22 candidates who were running for the district council, town committee, municipal committee and UC ward members seats also passed away.

    Last year, the ECP had told the Sindh government that the second phase of the LG polls in Karachi and Hyderabad would be held on July 24 but it was postponed due to floods.

    The electoral body rescheduled the LG elections for August 28, 2022 but they were put off again due to the same reason.

    On October 18, 2022, the ECP rescheduled the elections for October 23, 2022, but the provincial government sought their postponement for three months because it had deployed police in flooded areas, due to which it was unable to provide the required level of security to polling stations.

    After repeated delays, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami moved the Sindh High Court. In November, the ECP announced January 15 as the new date.

  • Azam Swati finally released from jail for talking against army

    Azam Swati finally released from jail for talking against army

    Senator Azam Swati of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has finally been released from sub-jail after remaining behind bars for more than a month.

    The senator had been in the custody of law enforcing agencies since November 27 last year, after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) booked him in Islamabad over a “campaign of intimidating tweets against state institutions”, including the former chief of army staff General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    On Monday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted bail to Swati after he filed a petition seeking post-arrest bail.

    In December, PTI chief Imran Khan had said that Swati had been “taken away by Quetta police” from Islamabad despite health concerns.

    According to media reports, the arrest was made over different cases registered against the senator across Balochistan. However, Balochistan High Court (BHC) later ordered that no more cases should be registered against him.

    Later, Swati was brought to the capital via a special plane from Sukkur.

    Swati had criticised persons within the establishment in tweets posted from his account.

  • ‘Together we will bounce back as a nation’: PM Shehbaz remembers flood victims on Jan 1

    ‘Together we will bounce back as a nation’: PM Shehbaz remembers flood victims on Jan 1

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif began the first day of the new year by remembering the victims of 2022’s devastating floods.

    On his twitter account, Shehbaz Sharif said, “In 2022, one-third of Pakistan paid the heavy price due to climate change and for no fault of theirs”. He also hoped that Pakistanis as a nation will bounce back.

    President Alvi, in his message, said that the past year saw the loss of life and money due to floods in 2022 but the nation faced the challenges with steadfastness, unity, and determination.

    However, as the new year has arrived, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan pledged that his party will form a strong government through elections in 2023.

    In a series of tweets, mentioning the best and worst times of 2022, Imran Khan shared, “A government with one of the best econ performances was removed through a conspiracy triggered by supreme self-interest, and Pakistan was handed over to a bunch of criminals.”