Current Final

Tag: PTI

  • Asad Umar accuses govt of wasting eight months in starting Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway project

    Asad Umar accuses govt of wasting eight months in starting Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway project

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the 306-kilometre Sukkur-Hyderabad M6 motorway on Monday. The Rs307 billion project is expected to bring economic benefits in terms of saving significant travel time.

    During the ceremony, the premier said, “I ask Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to keep an eye on the entire project so that quality is maintained and the project is completed in a timely manner.”

    The premier also said that the project should be completed within 30 months. He also said that it is being completed under a public-private partnership agreement.

    He credited his brother and former PM Nawaz Sharif for laying the foundation of constructing motorways in the country. Moreover, he pointed out that this project was unnecessarily delayed by the previous government.

    It is pertinent to mention that the project was announced by the then PM Imran Khan last year, and is being described as the biggest project in the development package announced by him.

    Ahead of the PM’s address, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and former planning minister Asad Umar congratulated the people of Sindh for the start of work on the motorway but highlighted the delay of this project by the incumbent government.

    Taking to Twitter, he said Public Private Partnership Board gave approval for the project on 31st March 2022. “Before this, the contractor was also selected. Now after wasting 8 months, the imported government is starting work,” he wrote.

  • No one is ready to invest in Pakistan, says Imran Khan

    No one is ready to invest in Pakistan, says Imran Khan

    Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), addressed his supporters on Monday about the alarming economic crisis in the country.

    He started off by clarifying that he was not only addressing the nation but was also speaking to the institutions as economic deterioration would affect the entire country.

    Khan said that amid the ongoing economic downturn, small and large-scale businesses are the most affected. He added that exports are also declining gradually.

    “This might be the biggest economic crisis that this country has ever witnessed,” the PTI chief said.

    Moreover, he urged the business community to speak up. “I want to tell all of you that you will be responsible for the destruction of the country if you do not speak up,” he said.

    He pointed out that no one is ready to invest in Pakistan as they have lost trust in the country’s economy.

    Khan, concluding the address, said that the only solution to the crisis is free and fair elections.

    The former Prime Minister has been asking for early general elections, however, the government has said that polls will take place on their scheduled time in October 2023.

  • Session court to announce verdict in Toshakhana case against Khan on Dec 15

    Session court to announce verdict in Toshakhana case against Khan on Dec 15

    A district and sessions court reserved its verdict on a plea filed by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Toshakhana case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

    The verdict will be announced at 2pm on December 15.

    During today’s hearing, ECP’s lawyer Saad Hassan appeared before the court and presented his arguments.

    “Imran Khan said that he constructed a road with the money [acquired from] Toshakhana [gifts],” he said, adding that a prime minister has to deposit any gift they receive to the Toshakhana.

    He further stated that the Toshakhana gifts could be retained after paying 20 per cent of the gift’s price until the PTI government introduced a new law which allowed taking the Toshakhana gifts after paying 50 per cent of its price.

    “The price of the watch was estimated at Rs.85 million,” he said, adding that Khan failed to state the amount for which he sold the Toshakhana watch.

    Imran Khan said that he has deposited the amount [ he paid for] for all the items in the same bank account, the counsel told the court.

    Last month, ECP, in a consensus verdict in the Toshakana reference, disqualified the former prime minister and ruled that the PTI chief was no more a member of the National Assembly.

    The ECP stated that the PTI chief had submitted a false affidavit and was found involved in corrupt practices under Article 63(1)(p).

    The ECP stated that the PTI chief had submitted a false affidavit and was found involved in corrupt practices under Article 63(1)(p).

  • Some PTI members don’t want to dissolve assemblies, says Asad Umar

    Some PTI members don’t want to dissolve assemblies, says Asad Umar

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and former federal minister Asad Umar has admitted that there is a difference of opinion among party members on the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies, reports Daily Jang.

    He also revealed that while a few party members are in favour of the immediate dissolution of assemblies, however, others are against it.

    It is pertinent to mention that PTI has given December 20 deadline to the government to finalise a date for general elections or else assemblies will be dissolved as announced by Imran Khan on November 26.

    A day earlier, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry warned the ruling coalition that the party would order the dissolution of assemblies if a final date for the next general election is not announced by next week.

    Earlier this month, Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Pervaiz Elahi said that he did not see elections taking place in the next four months. However, he showed full support for Khan’s decision over the dissolution matter.

  • Bilawal Bhutto calls Imran Khan a ‘ghari chor’

    Bilawal Bhutto calls Imran Khan a ‘ghari chor’

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took a jibe at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after the PTI chief did a press conference about the Toshakhana watch scandal.

    Taking to Twitter, the minister called Khan a “ghari chor”. He asked whether Khan had dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies. “Of course not”, he said.

    He said that Khan’s efforts to turn “institutions into his tiger force to do his unconstitutional bidding failed before and will fail again.”

    On Sunday, Khan accused the media of looking the other way on important matters and instead focusing on what he implied were trivial issues, such as the Toshakhana watch scandal.

    “The channels that used to bash the PTI government for inflation, those channels are quiet now and are instead focused on a watch,” he said in a press conference in Lahore.

    “It’s my watch. I can sell it, or do whatever I want. No one is talking about the economic murder being committed right now.”

    Last month, Bilawal predicted that Khan’s party would not resign from assemblies despite his announcement to do so. He, further claimed that Khan is “lying” as he will not resign from Punjab and KP assemblies.

  • ‘Meri gharri hai, mai bechoon ya jo marzi karoon’: Imran Khan

    ‘Meri gharri hai, mai bechoon ya jo marzi karoon’: Imran Khan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has accused the media of looking the other way on important matters and instead focusing on what he implied were trivial issues, such as the Toshakhana watch scandal.

    “The channels that used to bash the PTI government for inflation, those channels are quiet now and are instead focused on a watch,” he said in a press conference in Lahore.

    “It’s my watch. I can sell it, or do whatever I want. No one is talking about the economic murder being committed right now.”

    Referring to his opponents, Imran Khan said the “gang of thieves” has properties in foreign countries worth billions of dollars, hence they do not care about the economic collapse of the country.

    He added that the US dollar will further shoot up and there would be no foreign investment “if Pakistan defaults”.

    “A group of thieves has been imposed on us,” the deposed premier said, adding that the gang has been stealing national wealth for the past 30 years. He also said they were laundering the looted money abroad via illegal means including hundi and hawala.

    He again criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan and the establishment of supporting the ruling alliance led by the PML-N during the recent by-polls in the country.

    “Maryam Nawaz reached [homeland] first, then Ishq Dar was dry cleaned and now Suleman Shehbaz will be dry cleaned,” Imran Khan said.

    “We all knew who gave them NRO-II,” the former Prime Minister said and asked if the Constitution has room for NRO-II.

    The PTI chairman feared that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will not move towards elections.

    Addressing the new military leadership in the presser, the former premier said: “The new regime which has recently taken over should think about the country for God’s sake. National security institutions should see what is happening with the country.”

    He also stressed that the nation and army go hand in hand, not separately.

  • Rana Sanaullah acquitted in narcotics case by Lahore court

    Rana Sanaullah acquitted in narcotics case by Lahore court

    A special court in Lahore on Saturday acquitted Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in a narcotics case filed against him during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s tenure.

    In his plea filed today, Sanaullah argued that the case against him was “concocted, devised and fabricated”.

    The minister urged the court to acquit him of the charge “in the interest of justice, equity and fair play”.

    Sanaullah was arrested in 2019 by the Anti-Narcotics Force’s (ANF) Lahore team while he was travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore.

    The ANF claimed to have seized 15 kilogrammes of heroin from his vehicle. A special team of the force had also arrested five others, including the driver and security guards of the PML-N leader.

    He was twice denied bail by the trial court, however, the Lahore High Court ordered his release on December 24, 2019.

  • Sanaullah says Azam Swati ‘maligned’ army, judiciary, not govt

    Sanaullah says Azam Swati ‘maligned’ army, judiciary, not govt

    Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanauallah has said that the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati were a part of “political revenge”, adding that Swati did target the army and judiciary but not the government.

    Addressing a press conference in Lahore, the Minister said that the government has got nothing to do with the cases against Swati.

    “If we wanted to frame [PTI leaders] in court cases or treat them the way they treated us, we would have had them charged with the possession of heroin,” he said, referring to the case made against him under the PTI government.

    Sanaullah added that cases are being filed against them in accordance with the law. “Recently, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) cancelled cases against Azam Swati. On the other hand, we have fought our cases for years,” he said.

  • Bushra Bibi’s bestie Farah left Pakistan right after Khan was removed as PM

    Bushra Bibi’s bestie Farah left Pakistan right after Khan was removed as PM

    Farah Khan, a close friend of former First Lady Bushra Bibi, left Pakistan nearly 20 days after former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was removed from power, it has been revealed.

    Farah left the country on April 29 on a private jet owned by a private firm in Pakistan, reports Naeem Hanif for Samaa News, 19 days after Imran Khan was removed through a no-confidence motion.

    The news report has revealed that on her way out of Pakistan, she was accompanied by two people— Zainab Bashir and Muhammad Zoraiz Malik. According to the news outlet, Farah most likely used one of her foreign passports to travel out of the country.

    It is pertinent to mention that Farah is the prime suspect in Toshakhana reference.

    Last month, Dubai-based businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor claimed that he had bought an expensive Graff set— gifted to Imran Khan by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2019— through former accoun­ta­bility minister Shahzad Akbar and Farah Khan. He said that he had paid the equivalent of $2 million in cash for the set.

    Earlier, The News reported that Farah’s wealth grew exponentially within the first three years since former PM Khan formed his government. Her total declared assets grew four times from Rs231 million in 2017 to Rs971 million in 2021.

  • IK should say sorry to PM Shehbaz after Daily Mail’s apology, PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb

    IK should say sorry to PM Shehbaz after Daily Mail’s apology, PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Marriyum Aurangzeb, on Thursday, talked about the apology issued by the British newspaper Daily Mail, saying that the paper had failed to produce even a single piece of evidence in the court to prove its allegations against Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.

    The federal minister also said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the former advisor on accountability, Shahzad Akbar, levelled baseless and false accusations against the Sharif family.

    Aurangzeb added that they did it to satisfy their egos.

    Moreover, she pointed out that Imran Khan handed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) reference to Daily Mail. Hence, an apology should be tendered by Imran Khan and Shahzad Akbar, not just the British newspaper. She asked that they should now apologise to PM Shehbaz and the nation. The minister also alleged that David Rose, the Daily Mail journalist who wrote the now-deleted story, conspired with Imran Khan against Shehbaz Sharif.

    The statements have come forward after Daily Mail tendered an apology to the premier and withdrew all allegations of corruption against him and his son-in-law Imran Ali Yousaf.

    The case:

    In July 2019, renowned media law firm Carter-Ruck sued British newspaper The Mail on Sunday, online news site Mail Online and its journalist David Rose on behalf of Shehbaz Sharif for publishing a “politically motivated” article. The story, published on July 14, 2019, had suggested that Shehbaz and Yousaf “stole British taxpayers’ money” given to Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) set up to help the victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.