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Tag: PTI

  • PTI caught off-guard as allied BNP-M quits coalition govt

    PTI caught off-guard as allied BNP-M quits coalition govt

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government appeared to be caught off-guard as the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), one of the eight political parties who either support the federal government or are a part of the ruling coalition, on Wednesday announced to end its alliance with the Imran Khan government.

    Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly (NA) during a session, party President Sardar Akhtar Mengal officially announced that his party was separating itself from the government. “We will stay in parliament and will keep talking about issues,” he said.

    The two parties had signed a six-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August 2018 for an alliance in centre. The six points included recovery of missing persons, implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), implementation of six per cent quota for Balochistan in the federal government, immediate repatriation of Afghan refugees and the construction of dams in the province to resolve the acute water crisis.

    Mengal reminded the House that his party had two agreements with the ruling party, adding that it was the Imran Khan-led party which had come to him for an alliance, not the BNP-M which went to Bani Gala — the personal residence of PM Imran.

    “The first agreement was done on August 8, 2018 and signed by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen and Yar Muhammad Rind,” recalled Mengal. 

    He added that his party had demanded that the missing persons issue be resolved and the National Action Plan be implemented in letter and spirit in the agreement.

    “Can someone tell us if there was anything unconstitutional in both these demands? Why were they not implemented?” asked the lawmaker from Balochistan. 

    He regretted that the ruling party’s mindset was “the same one running in the country since 1948”.

    “We waited for two years for the implementation of the agreement; we are ready to [wait] further, but start something,” appealed the nationalist leader. 

    He added that if the government wishes to take his province along, then they should implement their agreements with BNP-M.

    While highlighting his grievances in the assembly, the lawmaker stated that the foundations for the road from Chaman to Karachi were laid in 1973, and it has killed 4,500 in road accidents. He added that instead of giving them a six-lane road, the government gave them only a two-lane road.

    The BNP-M leader also claimed that “no one can find justice in this country” and that “justice is being sold”. 

    While hitting out at the government, he noted that Pakistan Steel Mills were being privatised and thousands were being unemployed.

    “The disappointing thing is that no one here is ready to listen to their [the laid off workers’] demands,” said Mengal. He added that if the demands could not be met, then they should at least be noted.

    “It has become a tradition here that the last government is held responsible for everything,” said Mengal.

    The alliance with the PTI was only in the centre, while the BNP-M’s alliance with the Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Balochis­tan continues at the provincial level.

    The coalition government has been struggling over “broken promises” for quite some time now as the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also do not seem much satisfied with the ruling PTI’s performance.

    Wednesday’s development and its consequences could spell trouble for PM Imran who was elected as the leader of the house with a thin majority.

  • PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari among South Asia’s Best Dressed Men

    PTI’s Zulfi Bukhari among South Asia’s Best Dressed Men

    UK-based entertainment and lifestyle magazine, Asian Style Magazine, has made a list for South Asia’s 5 Best Dressed Men and the list includes two Pakistanis.

    The magazine has listed Pakistani businessman and Pakistan Tehkeek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) leader Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, popularly known as Zulfi Bukhari as one of South Asia’s best-dressed men. Bukhari also serves as the Special Assistant to the PM for Overseas Pakistanis.

       “The Minister of Overseas and Tourism manages to pull off both western and eastern wear,” read the magazine.

    Responding to the honour, Bukhari said that he was “humbled”.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBaVCYqhpTN/?igshid=5x4do4khx2o9

    Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with The Current, when asked how he would describe his style, Bukhari has said that it was “normal”.

    Check out some pictures of the SAPM below:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_5Cotshxmn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-9NPJxhSvB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
    https://www.instagram.com/p/B4kyY1rhiqB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    The list also included Pakistan’s heartthrob Fawad Khan.

    “From well-tailored suits to perfect ethnic jackets, Fawad can make anything he wears, work,” said the amagazine and we agree!

    Other personalities on the list include Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed and Indian actor Ranveer Singh.

  • VIDEO: ‘Ch Nisar secretly facilitated Imran, Qadri’s 2014 Islamabad sit-ins against PML-N govt’

    VIDEO: ‘Ch Nisar secretly facilitated Imran, Qadri’s 2014 Islamabad sit-ins against PML-N govt’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Javed Latif has claimed that former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar secretly facilitated the 124-day-long demonstration jointly organised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in 2014 against the PML-N government.

    Latif, who was part of a three-guest panel at anchorperson Hamid Mir’s show on Monday, said that Nisar released the “violent protesters” who attacked the parliament and state-owned broadcaster Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV).

    According to him, Nisar facilitated the entrance of protesters in the heavily guarded Red Zone that houses the president and prime minister houses in addition to several other highly-sensitive secretariats.

    “Nisar’s disagreement with Nawaz Sharif’s GT Road rally was also part of his plan. He continuously opposed the party policy on certain important matters and today we all know about his current political standing and reputation,” Latif said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    It merits a mention here that since his association with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the mid-80s, Nisar was Sharif’s go-to man in matters involving the country’s powerful establishment — until he fell out of favor as a result of his advocacy of a non-confrontational policy with the military following Sharif’s judicial ouster in 2017. 

    Hailing from a respected military family himself, Nisar had allegedly played a key role in the appointment of retired General Pervez Musharraf as the Chief of the Army Staff in 1998. 

  • Naya Pakistan: Govt starts paying unemployed people to plant trees

    Naya Pakistan: Govt starts paying unemployed people to plant trees

    When construction worker Abdul Rahman lost his job to Pakistan’s coronavirus lockdown, his choices looked stark – resort to begging on the streets or let his family go hungry.

    But the government has now given him a better option: Join tens of thousands of other out-of-work labourers in planting billions of trees across the country to deal with climate change threats, Reuters reported.

    Since Pakistan locked down starting March 23 to try to stem the spread of COVID-19, unemployed day labourers have been given new jobs as “jungle workers”, planting saplings as part of the country’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami programme.

    Such “green stimulus” efforts are an example of how funds that aim to help families and keep the economy running during pandemic shutdowns could also help nations prepare for the next big threat: climate change.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Due to coronavirus, all the cities have shut down and there is no work. Most of us daily wagers couldn’t earn a living,” Rahman, a resident of Rawalpindi district in Punjab province, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    He now makes 500 rupees ($3) per day planting trees – about half of what he might have made on a good day, but enough to get by.

    “All of us now have a way of earning daily wages again to feed our families,” he said.

    The ambitious five-year tree-planting programme, which Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan launched in 2018, aims to counter the rising temperatures, flooding, droughts and other extreme weather in the country that scientists link to climate change.

  • PM Imran to raise funds for corona relief through live telethon today

    PM Imran to raise funds for corona relief through live telethon today

    Prime Minister Imran Khan will collect donations from the public for the PM’s Corona Relief Fund while appearing on different channels today at 4 pm.


    According to PTI Senator Faisal Javed, a large number of philanthropists and humanitarians would be part of the telethon. The donations would be made to an account in the Karachi branch of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

    He announced that religious scholar, Maulana Tariq Jameel will also be a part of the telethon today.

    Earlier, the senator has tweeted that every citizen can also contribute towards Prime Minister’s COVID Relief Fund by sending a text message “Fund” at 6677.

    PM Imran had announced the relief fund on April 1 to fight the pandemic in the country.

    “Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020 has been set up to help us fight this pandemic. I want everyone to donate towards this fund which will be used to take care of all those who have been made destitute by the lockdown,” the premier said on Twitter.

    PM Imran asked the citizens to send their tax-deductible donation to account number 4162 786 786 set up at the main branch of National Bank of Pakistan in Karachi.

    The PM had said money from the fund will be used to buy essential items for their families.

  • VIDEO: PTI, PML-N lawmakers join hands to flout social distancing at funeral of colleagues’ mother

    In a rather shocking development, lawmakers from both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) among other political parties have come together to attend the funeral of two of their colleagues’ mother, flouting social distancing as well as the ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

    As per the details, the mother of PTI MPA from Gojra Bilal Asghar Warraich and PML-N MNA Khalid Javed Warraich passed away on Friday. With her funeral prayers being held on Saturday morning, scenes from the venue in Gojra city of Toba Tek Singh district showed violation of the government-ordered ban on public gatherings to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak that has so far claimed 144 lives with 7,654 infections across the country.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Hundreds of participants at the funeral also included prominent personalities such as senior PTI leader and lawmaker Riaz Fatyana.

    A day earlier, a lack of consensus between religious leaders and the government saw congregational prayers still being held at some mosques across the country, in defiance of government guidelines on social distancing.

    In the federal capital, hundreds gathered at the Red Mosque, led by hardline religious leader Abdul Aziz, to offer prayers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and filling the mosque’s main hall to capacity.

    Reports indicated that congregational prayers were also held at major mosques in other cities, with varying levels of social distancing.

  • VIDEO: Zartaj Gul walks out of live show over JUI-F leader’s ‘disgusting’ remarks about her

    VIDEO: Zartaj Gul walks out of live show over JUI-F leader’s ‘disgusting’ remarks about her

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul has staged a walkout on live television to protest the “disgusting” remarks of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah against her.

    In a clip of the show from earlier this week, the minister can be seen expressing her disgust over what the JUI-F leader said regarding her in Pashto, in a video that went viral on Tuesday. “Such people, who do not respect women, should be boycotted by the society,” Gul tells the host of the private media outlet’s talk show before walking out in protest.

    She can also be heard urging media outlets to not invite people like Hamdullah to their talk shows, regretting that the JUI-F leader had spoken about a respectable woman such as herself, who was respected by men even in her conservative constituency of Dera Ghazi Khan.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “I don’t know if you know Pashto. But I didn’t say anything like that. She is like a sister to me. I have sisters and daughters… all women are like sisters to me,” Hamdullah tells the host after Gul’s walkout, when the anchorperson gives him a chance to explain his position and apologise if he had made those remarks.

    “The mood in which I spoke, I state under oath, I didn’t speak in a way as if I disrespect her,” Hamdullah responded. “Why would I? What issue do I have with her?

    “But despite all this… if she was hurt, then I apologise for that,” the JUI-F leader said. “I would not disrespect her even if she abused me.”

    The anchorperson praised the JUI-F leader for apologising to Gul. He, however, politely asked Hamdullah to quit the show as well.

    Meanwhile, sources informed The Current that Gul’s strong reaction had come in response to Hamdullah mocking her in a viral video, saying that his smile was great too. In an interview last month, Gul had praised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, saying that “the world knows of his killer smile that pulls people out of crises”.

  • PTI to reintroduce patwari system in Punjab experiment

    PTI to reintroduce patwari system in Punjab experiment

    After vilifying it over the past couple of years and turning the term ‘patwari’ into a slur for leaders and supporters of its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, in what is being called another “U-turn”, has decided to reintroduce patwari system in land revenue departments.

    A patwari is one of the most resourceful persons in any area or town despite having the lowest grade in official ranking. The reason for his immense power lies in the fact that he is responsible for land records and related issues. He is also responsible for many social, political and administrative tasks, including the record-keeping of weather and crop harvest, reporting village crimes and updating voters’ registers.

    While the PTI had risen to power after promises of getting done with patwari system, which it had back then accused of facilitating PML-N in making Punjab its stronghold, according to Dawn, a senior Punjab Land Revenue Authority (PLRA) has said that the Punjab Board of Revenue has asked divisional commissioners to allocate two revenue circles — known as kanungoi — in each district that will be controlled by a tehsildar and patwaris and serve as a model.

    In Rawalpindi, Mandra and Chakri were chosen in response to a letter from the Punjab Board of Revenue to the divisional commissioner at the end of January, and the PTI-led Punjab government’s reforms will be introduced there on an experimental basis in these two circles.

    The official said that the manual land records system had burdened the entire legal system because it could be altered by patwaris and field revenue officials, which was brought to an end by the computerised system. He said the Punjab bureaucracy is trying to persuade the government that the manual system was better than the computerised alternative.

    The report also quoted Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat as saying that reviving the patwari system had been proposed, but the government had not made a decision yet.

    He said they were completing their homework on the proposal, which would create parallel systems of manual and computerised land records systems in the province. However, he added, it would not be possible to run two parallel systems for land revenue records, and praised the project to digitise land records.

  • Dr Firdous reveals her favourite makeup brand

    Dr Firdous reveals her favourite makeup brand

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has a tough schedule. Apart from attending various meetings throughout the day with the Prime Minister, Dr Firdous also has to address press conferences to brief the media and public about daily happenings. For all this, Dr Firdous maintains an impeccable appearance and is always on top of her game.

    In an exclusive interview with The Current, when asked about her favourite makeup brand, Dr Firdous revealed that it is Clinique.

    “Because my skin remains in painting all day, Clinique is good at all this denting-painting,” the SAPM had said.

    Apart from that, Dr Firdous also revealed the one thing she admired about her predecessor, former federal minister for information Fawad Chaudhry. She said that she liked his “struggle to always stay in headlines”.

    According to the details, with cracks continuing to emerge within the ranks of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and rumour having it that both Awan and Chaudhry are not the best of friends ever since the latter was sacked and replaced by the former, the SAPM when asked what she liked the most about Chaudhry, she said, “His [Fawad Chaudhry’s] struggle to always stay in headlines.”

    To another question, Awan, who is not an elected member of the parliament, said that election defeat under Imran was not a defeat. “It’s a victory for my ideology,” she said.

    “Social media is an unguided missile with warheads but no target,” the SAPM said when asked what was that she disliked the most about social media.

    Awan also said that she was not a misogynist — her verbal attacks “were for people and not genders” and those who criticised her for not being an elected representative, “lacked sense”.

    WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW:

  • As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    The conversion of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s Lahore residence into a Panahgah [shelter home] by the Punjab government is reminiscent of the military rule of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, who had turned Sharif family’s Model Town residence into Gosha’aye Aafiat — an institution for elderly destitute people — nearly two decades back; while the former dictator’s own farmhouse remains untouched under the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    While this was also pointed out by senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, it was reported by The News that such an act was last carried out by a military dictator out of vengeance against the Sharifs, who had then departed for Saudi Arabia to live in exile for seven years.

    The present dispensation is a civilian arrangement that has taken the instant decision. While a quick action has been taken against Dar’s property, Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse attached by two courts separately has not been touched by authorities to convert it into a shelter home for the poor although he has been sentenced to death and declared a fugitive.

    In November 2016, an Islamabad district and sessions judge attached Musharraf’s farmhouse as the special court trying the dictator for high treason declared him an absconder. The special tribunal ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable properties.

    According to the details submitted to the special court by the Interior Ministry, he operated nine bank accounts and owned seven immovable properties, including the farmhouse, land in the Army Housing Scheme in Karachi, Khayaban-e-Faisal, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Karachi, Beach Street, DHA Islamabad and DHA Lahore.

    Musharraf’s wife claims ownership of the farmhouse just like Dar’s spouse does about the Gulber residence, but the latter’s plea has not been accepted.

    In January 2017, the Islamabad district administration had informed a district and sessions court that Musharraf’s properties have been attached in compliance with court orders after he had been declared as a proclaimed offender and absconder in the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdur Rashid Ghazi, the report said.