Current Final

Tag: Shehbaz Sharif

  • Opposition leaders say Naya Pakistan is corrupt, attack PM Khan for new corruption report

    Opposition leaders say Naya Pakistan is corrupt, attack PM Khan for new corruption report

    As the government defends Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 report, Opposition leaders criticise Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for saying that the TI report supports PM’s claims and accuse his government of breaking all records of corruption.

    Joining the chorus of blames, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif said, “Corruption rampant in ‘Naya’ Pakistan of anti-corruption Mujahid, PTI govt has broken all records of corruption in the last 20 years.”

    He further tweeted that under his brother and Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s rule, corruption had decreased despite massive development projects being undertaken. Shehbaz further wrote that it went down due to “transparency, good governance, and legal reforms”.

    PML-N’s Vice President Maryam Nawaz said, “Imran Mafia, who emptied the pockets of the people, bravely wiped his hands on Pakistan.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Shazia Marri said that Imran Khan’s past claims that he would root out corruption from the country were lies.

    Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Siraj-ul-Haq said that PM Khan had proven, quite literally, that he was dangerous for the country. He claimed that the blunder committed by this government over three years was unmatched in the country’s 74-year history.

  • Contempt of court petition to be filed against Shehbaz if he fails to submit Nawaz’s medical report: AGP

    Contempt of court petition to be filed against Shehbaz if he fails to submit Nawaz’s medical report: AGP

    The Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) has written a letter to the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif to bring back Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan.

    The AGP has instructed Shehbaz to submit Nawaz’s medical reports within the next 10 days; in case he fails to do so, contempt of court petition will be filed against Shehbaz.

    The AGP also mentioned that according to media reports, Nawaz is in good health, while when he was leaving the country, his condition was described as critical.

    The letter further said that as soon as Nawaz reached London, “his condition improved”.

    “After reaching London, Nawaz did not stay in the hospital for a single day and remained involved in his political activities,” the letter stated.

    The AGP highlighted that the affidavit and the court order were “violated as Shehbaz did not submit Nawaz’s medical reports”.

    In line with the federal cabinet’s decision, the Punjab government formed a medical board to examine Nawaz Sharif’s health reports submitted in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

  • ‘If I am forced out of the office, I will be more dangerous’: PM Khan

    ‘If I am forced out of the office, I will be more dangerous’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Sunday warned the Opposition said, “If I exit the government, I will pose a greater threat to you. Right now, I am sitting quietly in my office and watching the drama unfold. But if I take to the streets, you will have nowhere to hide.”

    PM Khan’s remarks came while answering callers’ questions, during the telecast of the fifth ‘Aap Ka Wazir Azam Aap Ke Sath’, a town-hall-style broadcast where the premier takes questions from the public and responds back to their queries.

    ‘I am waiting for you [Nawaz Shahrif]… please come back’: Khan

    PM Khan called on former PM Nawaz Sharif to come back to face the cases against him, saying: “I am waiting for you… please come back.”

    ‘I do not consider Shehbaz Sharif an Opposition leader, he is a criminal’: PM Khan

    PM Khan lashing out at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership, said that he was willing to talk to the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), but he would never sit down with Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif — even for dialogue on key national issues.

    “The office of the Opposition leader has respect, but I do not consider him (Shehbaz Sharif) an Opposition leader, rather he is someone who has committed serious crimes against the country,” he said.

    ‘My party will complete its current term and also win another full term’: PM Khan

    PM Khan was confident that he and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would not only complete their current term in office but would also win another full term, adding that the nation stood behind him, as he knew the people better than the Opposition did.

    “The reason why people came out for me was that I was trying to get back their looted wealth. You are only trying to cover your own [corruption],” he said.

    “The people recognise your true face now and whatever you have done with this country over the last 30-35 years. You need to understand that the lava is simmering. Once people take to the streets, they only need to be pointed in your direction, and you’ll see everyone of them running off to hide in London,” he said, addressing the Opposition.

    ‘Inflation only problem that gives me sleepless nights‘: Prime Minister Khan

    In response to a caller’s question, he admitted that inflation was the only problem that gave him sleepless nights.

    Insisting that inflation was a global phenomenon that had taken a toll on developed economies like the United States and the United Kingdom as well, he blamed the price hike of commodities on the disruption in the supply chain caused by the pandemic.

     “The biggest challenge we face today is inflation and the rising prices of commodities. I am well aware and cognisant of the issues being faced by the common man due to rising prices.”

    The prime minister said that the corporate sector has made a profit of Rs980 billion and “I would call them and ask them to increase the salaries of their staff because you have never made such a profit before today.”

    Chastises media, judiciary for protecting mafias: PM Imran Khan

    Chastising the media for not presenting a full picture of what was happening on the economic front, PM Khan accused journalists of only painting what he called a ‘bleak’ picture of the economy. Terming certain journalists ‘mafias’, he said they were merely trying to advance the agenda of the Opposition and never projected the achievements of the government.

    The prime minister called on the judiciary to be “merciful to the people” and not to support “mafia and cartels”.

  • ‘They [PML-N] are mafias, always influence courts’: PM Khan

    ‘They [PML-N] are mafias, always influence courts’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Thursday, lashing out at the Opposition, said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are known for “using unfair tactics” to influence courts.

    While referring to the affidavit case of the former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim, the prime minister said the PML-N generated the controversy of the affidavit to pressurise the court which was hearing the case of its leaders Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz.

    “They [PML-N leaders] are mafias and they always influence courts when they feel that they are about to decide their cases,” said the premier.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed informed the media that PM Khan had said that the Sharif family had again been exposed for trying to pressure the judiciary, reports The Express Tribune.


    “The PML-N has pressured courts in the past as well for making decisions in its favour. Everyone knows that the PML-N has a history of pressuring the judiciary” the senator quoted the prime minister as saying.

    “The Sharif family is fighting for its survival while we [PTI] are fighting the nation’s war,” said Javed.

    Talking to a group of spokespersons, the premier urged his spokespersons to vehemently counter “controversies” being created by Opposition leaders, especially in the media, reports Dawn.

  • Shehbaz Sharif, Shaukat Tarin test positive for Covid-19

    Shehbaz Sharif, Shaukat Tarin test positive for Covid-19

    Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif has tested positive for Covid-19 again.

    Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has also tested positive for coronavirus 

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) official Twitter handle shared the news.

    The PML-N president, had last tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020.

    Shehbaz is currently isolated at home and resting as per his doctor’s advice.

    Pakistan is currently battling a fifth wave of the pandemic with a current positivity rate up to 9.5 percent and 5472 positive case of the coronavirus.

  • ‘We want to engage’: Fawad Chaudhry offers conditional friendship to the Opposition

    ‘We want to engage’: Fawad Chaudhry offers conditional friendship to the Opposition

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership on Tuesday appeared to want to befriend the Opposition and want to reconcile amidst tensions.

    Informa­tion and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference after the federal cabinet meeting, said, “We want to engage the opposition on important national issues like electoral and judicial reforms and the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.”

    Accompanied with Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, Chaudhry said that the National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaisar and the Prime Minister (PM) himself had invited the Opposition to negotiate on these three issues.

    However, Fawad said that despite constant efforts to engage the Opposition on the government’s reform agenda, they were only interested in formulating conspiracies and trying to topple the government.

    It is pertinent to state here that the Opposition has shown interest in talks with the government, provided the premier himself participated in the talks.

    Fawad categorically said that PM Khan would not sit with any Opposition leader, including Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

  • ‘[PTI leaders] spent winter nights in heated bedrooms,’ Maryam blasts govt, says no rift in party

    ‘[PTI leaders] spent winter nights in heated bedrooms,’ Maryam blasts govt, says no rift in party

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday rejected the claims of the government of having a forward bloc within the party and said that the government was fabricating such stories to divert attention from its incompetence.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday claimed that four PML-N leaders were “hell-bent on removing the party supremo Nawaz Sharif from the party.”

    Addressing a gathering in Lahore, Fawad said that there is a “rat race going on among senior PML-N members as to who would lead the party next,” adding that, “four top-most party leaders want to remove PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in a bid to take over the party’s leadership.”

    When asked about the reported attempt by her party leaders to replace the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Maryam said that Fawad’s statement was a way to hide from the questions of media about rising inflation and the government’s inabilities that led to the recent Murree tragedy.

    She said that after the death of tourists, instead of providing a balm to the wounds of the bereaved families, the inconsiderate ministers and government machinery started victim-blaming.

    Criticising the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership who used to make fun of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam said, “Instead of following his example and borrowing the boots from him, they [PTI leaders] spent winter nights in the heated bedrooms of their official residences, maintained on public expense while tourists were dying in the snow.”

  • Finance minister says no option but to ask for IMF’s help, NA passes mini-budget

    Finance minister says no option but to ask for IMF’s help, NA passes mini-budget

    The National Assembly (NA) on Thursday passed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2021, termed widely as a “mini-budget”, despite vociferous protests by the Opposition over rejection of their proposed amendments and disagreement over the vote count. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led coalition government bulldozed 16 pieces of legislation.

    The approval of the supplementary finance bill was necessary to ensure Pakistan’s sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFE) gets cleared by the IMF’s Executive Board which is scheduled to meet later this month to decide the disbursement of the $1-billion tranche.

    The prime minister, who generally only attends parliamentary sittings at crucial junctures, remained in the house for most of the session’s duration, which lasted until midnight.

    Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Zardari also remained in the assembly for most of the session. They initially left the house after the first vote on the amendment but rushed back to their seats when the speaker ordered another physical vote on the opposition’s demand.

    In the amended bill, the government rolled back its plan to impose additional sales taxes on children’s formula milk, bread, and small cars. It also withdrew the proposal to impose taxes on laptops and computers.

    The government’s amendments to the proposed bill were approved by the NA. The changes include:

    No general sales tax will be imposed on a 200-gram carton of milk.

    A 17 per cent GST will be imposed on formula milk worth Rs500.

    Tax on imported vehicles has been increased from 5 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

    The federal excise duty on all imported vehicles will remain unchanged.

    A 2.5 per cent duty will be charged on locally manufactured 1,300 cc vehicles, which was previously around 5 per cent.

    Duty on locally manufactured 1,300 to 2,000cc cars was also reduced to 5 per cent from 10 per cent.

    A 10 per cent duty will be imposed on locally manufactured cars greater than 2,100 cc.

    No sales tax will be imposed on iodised salt and red chilies.

    Opposition members made an attempt to disrupt proceedings by pointing out quorum, but the chair hastily called for presentation of the bills one after the other, reports Dawn.

    The Opposition also protested the non-laying of Senate recommendations on the finance bill before the house for consideration, with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal terming it an “insult to the Senate”.

    “If you suspend the rules and bulldoze the bill in the darkness of the night, your name will go down in history among those who conspired to sell the country’s economic sovereignty,” he said.

    “Why are we giving an impression that we are doing it on gunpoint,” asked PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar.

    Bilawal termed the SBP Bill a threat to national security and questioned why the government was making it binding to have only one bank account for defence expenditures. By doing so, he said they were providing an opportunity to world powers to scrutinise the country’s defence budget and its nuclear programme which, he added, could be the next target.

    “Your prime minister has been installed to destroy Pakistan politically and economically,” said Asad Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F).

    Shedding light on the criticism regarding the supplementary bill being the “International Monetary Fund (IMF) bill”, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that during the previous government’s tenure, 13 agreements were signed with the Fund.

    “They [the Opposition] are saying that IMF has destroyed the economy of Pakistan, while they went to the IMF in their tenures as well,” he said.

    Tarin further said that the PTI government is being accused of “mortgaging country’s sovereignty”; however, the government was forced to approach the IMF.

    “We had no other option but to ask for IMF’s help,” he reiterated.

    However, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak seemed to lose his patience with the process and, at one point, asked the speaker to ignore the opposition and “bulldoze” the bills through.

  • ‘Never been hospitalised, activities uninterrupted’: Attorney General wants committee on Nawaz’s health

    ‘Never been hospitalised, activities uninterrupted’: Attorney General wants committee on Nawaz’s health

    The attorney general’s office on Wednesday asked the Punjab government to consider establishing a medical board or a committee that could determine the current status of Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, reports Dawn.

    In November 2019,  Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s supreme leader was granted one-time permission by a bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

    In a two-page letter, addressed to Punjab Home Secretary Zafar Nasrullah Khan, the attorney general’s office wrote: “In order to initiate the process of verification in the light of the Nov 16, 2019, Lahore High Court order, the government of Punjab is requested to constitute a medical board/committee to examine the documents submitted as medical reports on behalf of the petitioner and Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif so that expert medical opinion regarding the physical condition of Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and his ability to travel back to Pakistan is made available.”

    The letter was written in line with the federal cabinet’s instructions to the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan to initiate proceedings against the Sharif family.

    The letter pointed out that Nawaz Sharif’s “apparent present physical condition was available in the media”.

    “Given the fact that he had left the country claiming to be in extreme critical condition which prima facie improved significantly after his arrival in London and the fact that he has apparently never been hospitalised and his political, social and other recreational activities have continued uninterrupted… indicate that severe ailment, if any, that may have existed in [the] past is no longer evident or [constrains] his activities,” the letter said.

    “This is further reinforced by the public statements made and reported in the media by his close family members including Shehbaz Sharif and other political associates, who recently met Nawaz Sharif in London,” the letter recalled.

    Earlier this week, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference after a cabinet meeting, said that Nawaz Sharif was not seeking medical treatment for the past 17 months.

    “Shehbaz Sharif was the guarantor of Nawaz Sharif,” said the minister.

    “The drama of Nawaz Sharif’s health was created here,” said Fawad, adding that Nawaz went out of Pakistan through fraud.

    “[PML-N President] Shehbaz Sharif is involved in this fraud. According to his statement, Shehbaz Sharif should take steps to bring Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan,” said Fawad.

    “The Federal Cabinet has decided to approach the High Court on the false affidavit of Shehbaz Sharif,” said the minister.

  • No PTI minister present in front row of Parliament, Opposition lashes out at non-seriousness of govt

    No PTI minister present in front row of Parliament, Opposition lashes out at non-seriousness of govt

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif took to Twitter to lash out at the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said, “The ongoing session of the Assembly, which has been called to pass the catastrophic budget and the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) slavery bill, is currently suspended due to lack of quorum.”

    “Neither the government has its members beside it nor its allies,” tweeted Asif, adding, “How will both, the budget and the SBP’s bill will get passed.”

    “No minister is present in the front row,” said Asif.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during his speech in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday lamented how the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has imposed taxes on the people of Pakistan. He further said that PTI was bringing a “tsunami of taxes” through the mini-budget.

    He also criticised the government over the SBP Amendment Bill 2021, which was approved by a National Assembly panel on Monday, saying that the IMF had demanded the central bank’s autonomy during the eras of PPP and PML-N as well but neither party had agreed.

    He said Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had talked about a national dialogue on the country’s economy but the government refused because of its “stubbornness”.

    PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah pointed out the lack of quorum as the opposition walked out in protest over the absence of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin. The session was subsequently suspended for a short while.

    When the opposition returned, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar defended the government’s economic performance and blamed its predecessors for the country’s financial problems.