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Tag: PTI

  • Farhan Ali Agha joins PTI

    Suno Chanda’s Farhan Ali Agha has joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). In a press conference held in Karachi Monday, Farhan announced his decision to join the ruling party.

    During the press conference, Farhan thanked PTI for giving him the opportunity and shared why he took this step.

    “I decided to Join PTI because it is need of the hour that honest people come forward and be a part of the movement so that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision and Quaid-e-Azam’s dream can be fulfilled,” said Farhan. “A dream of a country where common people will get justice.”

    Farhan further said that his father was in armed forces and he grew up listening to stories of sacrifices for the country.

    He shared that he has been following Imran Khan from his cricketing days and believes the future of Pakistan is with PTI.

    Read more – Shaan says PTI is the ‘last hope’ for Pakistan

    The press conference was held at the PTI Sindh’s Insaaf House at Shahr-e-Faisal.

    It is pertinent to add here that Abrar ul Haq is also a member of PTI. Other celebrities who openly show support for PTI include Hamza Ali Abbasi, Farhan Saeed, Mawra Hocane, Shaan Shahid and Ali Zafar.

    Earlier, Shamoon Abbasi had also announced that he has joined the ruling party to revive the cinema industry.

    “I’ve joined PTI, not as a politician; I’ve joined the development department of the media industry. We’ve created and forwarded new policies that the government has accepted and started implementing. Thankfully, Prime Minister Imran Khan is supporting us,” Abbasi had said.

    “A department is being created which will visit sets without notice and make sure things are functioning professionally. If a producer has employed someone without an agreement, he will be questioned and we will work things out accordingly,” he added.

  • Govt mulls Rs3.3 hike in power tariff to meet IMF demand

    Govt mulls Rs3.3 hike in power tariff to meet IMF demand

    The government is likely to hike power tariff by Rs3.30 per unit in line with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions to get the programme rolling that has been suspended since Feb 2020.

    Daily Jang quoted a senior government official, saying the increase in the power prices will be made before the start of the next year and the government will take measures to take the masses into confidence over the move.

    The IMF bailout was availed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2019 to provide crucial support to fast depleting foreign exchange reserves. But the package was suspended at the start of this year.

    Pakistan has to return $4.4 billion on account of foreign commercial loans during the current fiscal year for which it desperately needs the money from the monetary fund. It has also already returned $2bn to Saudi Arabia and will return $1bn soon to clear the Saudi debt.

    Earlier this week, Pakistan secured a $1.7 billion (Rs272 bn) debt relief agreement to help offset the financial headwinds sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.

    The deal provided a moratorium on debt payments for large swathes of the current fiscal year and help ease the cash-strapped country’s massive financial obligations.

    “The Government of Pakistan has successfully negotiated and concluded rescheduling agreements with 19 bilateral creditors, including members of the Paris club,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.

  • PM Imran says had no idea how to run govt for first three months

    PM Imran says had no idea how to run govt for first three months

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said when his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), came to power it virtually had no idea how to run the government and it took them at least three months to understand the state of affairs.

    Addressing a special ceremony to sign ‘Performance Agreements of the Federal Government for the Year 2020-21’ in Islamabad, the PM said the new government shouldn’t assume power without preparation. “From the outside, it looked different compared to what is actually happening within the system,” the PM said.

    “When the PTI came to power, it took us three months to understand things and form our team,” he said, adding that Pakistan needed to review its systems. “We’re gradually learning things.”

    According to the premier, this system that keeps the incoming governments in the dark about the state of affairs must be changed. “We need to tweak it, so a new setup can be given enough time to learn the ropes after a comprehensive briefing by the outgoing government,” he said, adding that the first thing was that we should review the system and after once your team was made, then it should be given full time to prepare.

     Imran said it was his habit to look at everything in his life to see what could be done better or improved.

    “We have two-and-a-half years left to make the government’s performance better. We no longer have any excuses. It’s time for us to perform… It’s time for performance now. We need to put pressure on ourselves to perform and our ministers also need to put pressure on themselves to improve performance as well,” he added.

  • Vawda claims Musadik Malik, a PhD, served as ‘doctor to royal family’ in Dubai

    In another spat on live TV, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Faisal Vawda accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Dr Musadik Malik (a PhD) of being a “doctor to a royal family in Dubai” before he supposedly joined hands with military dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf.

    This took Malik by surprise, who retorted he has a PhD in Healthcare Administration and Policy that has nothing to do with an MBBS degree. “How can you say I was a doctor to a royal family when I don’t have the required qualification,” he questioned Vawda, who appeared alongside him on a Dunya News show.

    But this did not stop Vawda from speaking further.

    The PTI lawmaker then accused Malik of serving as a caretaker minister during Musharraf era. “I didn’t ask why you were made a caretaker minister by Musharraf,” Vawda said, adding that this helped Musadiq Malik “manipulate pharmaceutical sector for personal gains”.

    Vawda reiterated that the PML-N leader was introduced as a doctor to the royal family during Musharraf’s time. “Which royal family,” asked Malik.

    “You were a doctor to the royal family in Dubai,” Vawda said. Dr Malik responded: “I’ve never even lived in Dubai.”

    The PML-N leader asked Vawda does he live in the same world as the rest of us. “Where are you getting your information from,” Malik hit back at Vawda, saying his “lies cannot go on”.

    At this, Vawda said: “I don’t know, I haven’t joined politics to study your personal history.”

    It may be noted here that Musadiq Malik didn’t serve as a caretaker minister during Musharraf era.

    According to a Dawn article, “Dr Malik first appeared on the national scene when he joined Gen Musharraf’s signature programme, the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD)” as a “volunteer”.

    He was later appointed as a caretaker minister in 2013 by then president Asif Ali Zardari.

  • Maryam trolled for sharing ‘doctored’ image of Lahore jalsa

    Maryam trolled for sharing ‘doctored’ image of Lahore jalsa

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz was trolled by social media users after the PML-N vice president shared a supposedly edited picture of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally held in Lahore last Sunday.

    The PDM held a gathering in Lahore on Dec 13. The government had played down the number of people who attended the gathering, saying only 10,000 people attended the rally. The opposition, on the other hand, put the number above 100,000.

    However, the picture of the rally shared by Maryam added to the controversy and also attracted flak for being “fake”. PTI wrote: “Decisive moment in PDM; after #LahorePDMJalsa turnout, PDM has resorted to utilizing its trump card; Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop.”

    Prime Minister’s aide Shahbaz Gill tweeted that Maryam has “such a bad luck that she always gets caught”.

    Federal minister Hammad Azhar also didn’t miss the chance to troll the PML-N de-facto president.

    A user advised the PML-N leader to “fire her graphic designer”.

    Another user used this opportunity to make a meme.

  • 77% Pakistanis believe country is heading in wrong direction: survey

    At least 77 per cent Pakistanis believe that the country is heading in the wrong direction, whereas 23 per cent think there’s nothing wrong with Pakistan, said a survey by research company IPSOS.

    According to The News, the survey was conducted in the first week of December and over 1,000 people participated in it. “The findings were released on Tuesday for the last quarter (Q4) of 2020 and compared with people’s responses from the same period a year ago,” it added.

    Last year, 21 per cent people believed that Pakistan was on the right track, while 79 per cent contested this view.

    This year, 36 per cent said that their current personal financial situation was weak, while 51 per cent said it was neither strong nor weak, and 13 per cent said they were in a strong financial position.

    In comparison with the results of the last year, the people are in a better financial position: the data showed that 38 per cent believed that their financial situation was weak, 5 per cent viewed it as strong, and 57 per cent said it was okayish.

    Meanwhile, on province-wise assessment, the report found that a “poor financial situation” featured in almost all the provinces and inflation ranked number 1 among the list of top four contributors.

    “In Sindh, the second-highest contributor was viewed to be unemployment (20 per cent), followed by COVID-19 (17per cent) and poverty (16 per cent). In Punjab, 23 per cent people felt the province’s poor financial situation was due to unemployment, 8 per cent thought it was due to COVID-19 and 14 per cent believed poverty played a key role,” the newspaper stated.

    Meanwhile, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa about 18 per cent believed the poor financial situation was the result of unemployment, 12 per cent viewed coronavirus and 8 per cent felt it was poverty that was behind the province’s financial situation.

    Similarly, in Balochistan about 25 per cent responded by blaming unemployment, a mere 2 per cent felt COVID-19 played a role, and 25 per cent felt it was poverty that has led to the province’s dismal state of financial affairs, said reports.

  • Govt seeks early Senate polls: report

    Govt seeks early Senate polls: report

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to hold the Senate elections in February instead of March, reported Geo News.

    The decided to change the date of the polls was taken amid protests by the opposition parties, who have threatened to march on Islamabad in Feb if the prime minister fails to step down.

    Unlike previous elections of the upper house, this time the voting will be through ‘show of hands’, the report claimed. However, in order to change the Senate election procedure, the government will need an amendment for which it doesn’t have the required majority or approach the Supreme Court.

    Addressing a press conference following a weekly meeting of the federal cabinet, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said that the government is striving to make the Senate elections “free and fair”.

    “Controversies have always surrounded the Senate elections. It is such an old practice that it is assumed that in the elections, [horse trading] will surely take place,” he said.

    He said the government has decided to move the apex court regarding the reforms in Senate elections. “The government seeks an election that is conducted through a “show of hands”, Faraz said, adding that the government expects to get guidance from the SC long before the elections.

    “This is in favour of all parties,” he said.

  • Ministers call PDM jalsa in Lahore ‘flop show’

    Ministers call PDM jalsa in Lahore ‘flop show’

    The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) jalsa in Lahore has drawn flak from the ruling party’s ministers for organising a ‘flop’ rally amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Shibli Faraz said the atmosphere at the PDM’s Lahore jalsa was “as cold as today’s weather”, adding that the opposition could only gather “10,000-15,000 people”.

    “Lahore has outright dismissed them. Lahore has rejected Maryam Nawaz,” he commented, adding that while the atmosphere could be “heated up on the television, it was cold at the venue”.

    Punjab CM’s information aide Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the PDM failed to attract Lahoris to its jalsa. She said the government allowed the joint opposition to organise its power show and didn’t resort to tear gas or anything of the sort.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Pakistani people were “not ready to be fooled by these thieves and looters” again.” The political clowns who looted people have reunited once again,” he added. “How can those who hold rallies amid a strong [second] wave of the coronavirus pandemic be well-wishers of the common people,” he inquired.

    PM’s Special Assistant on Political Communications Dr Shahbaz Gill called the jalsa a “flop show”, whereas PTI lawmaker Ali Zaidi announced Umrah tickets for first five opposition lawmakers to resign.

    “The Opposition will have to account for its corruption. NROs will not be given to anyone,” Zaidi added.

    PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan commented on how today’s jalsa was “another flop show” and that the “PDM is doing back-to-back flop rallies”.

    “The number of people who come to their [PDM’s] meeting in total are equal to the number of people we have on the stage in our [PTI’s rallies],” he added.

  • ECP finds ‘serious discrepancies’ in Hammad Azhar’s assets: report

    ECP finds ‘serious discrepancies’ in Hammad Azhar’s assets: report

    The Election Commission of Pakistan is likely to take action against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and federal minister Hammad Azhar over “some serious discrepancies observed during scrutiny of [his declared] assets”.

    The News reported that the minister did not declare his “shares in a flour mill and few other businesses in one of his declarations submitted to the ECP”.

    “After he became MNA in 2018 and later became a member of the cabinet, the assets declared by him and his spouse were different from those he had declared earlier” while filing his nomination paper, the report said, adding that this prompted ECP to launch the scrutiny some two years back.

    “Our [ECP’s] team found an apparent mis-declaration, serious discrepancies and deficiencies in Hammad’s declarations, and he failed to explain his position before the electoral body scrutinising his and his wife’s assets and liabilities,” the report quoted an ECP official.

    Meanwhile, Hammad Azhar has refuted the content of the report and said that it “is compiled without reading my reply to ECP which easily answered all queries in May 2019”.

    He said the reporter ignored his written filed in the election commission in response to the scrutiny.

    About his response in 2019, the ECP official quoted by The News said that it was “unsatisfactory”.

  • PDM is ‘foreign-funded’ movement, says govt

    PDM is ‘foreign-funded’ movement, says govt

    As the opposition-led movement to oust the Imran government gains momentum, Human Rights Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf senior leader Shireen Mazari has alleged that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a joint opposition alliance, is receiving foreign funding.

    In an interview with Dawn News, the federal minister claimed that a lot of people who are part of the PDM have received “a lot of foreign funds”. She, however, couldn’t provide any proof.

    “If we get the evidence […] but when we receive hardcore evidence, then it will become the responsibility of the government to take action,” she said, adding that “let’s see how things unfold”.

    According to Mazari, it had come to her knowledge that that evidence was now surfacing regarding funding for the opposition alliance from abroad.

    “[I have] heard that a lot of evidence has been found that funding, encouragement is being sent. You know Pakistan has dissident groups abroad. Every country has them, dissident groups from Pakistan are also abroad, the way they are living, after all they are receiving money from somewhere.”

    A similar claim was made by the prime minister of Pakistan a couple of days, when he told a delegation of senior journalists that certain countries were supporting the PDM in its bid to oust his government, Daily Pakistan reported.

    It may be noted here that PTI is also case pertaining to foreign funding in the Election Commission of Pakistan. The ECP officials will meet on Dec 31 to discuss the audit of the PTI after multiple delayed hearings.

    Meanwhile, PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, flanked by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, addressed a press conference on Wednesday. He had said that the rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on December 13 will be held “at all costs”.