Category: Politics

News stories of Politics, for the topics that matter the most to young professionals and college students, political news reported with a different angle.

  • Sarfraz Bugti kis party kay ticket par election larrain gay?

    Sarfraz Bugti kis party kay ticket par election larrain gay?

    Sarfraz Bugti, former interim interior minister, sent his resignation to caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on December 13, which was accepted Friday night.

    He cited personal reasons for stepping down from his position.

    Interior Ministry spokesperson Qadir Yar Tawana confirmed the report on Friday when contacted for the version of the ministry by Geo News.

    Close aides of Bugti said he had decided to resign from the office about two months ago to take part in the upcoming general elections. His resignation was accepted hours before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the schedule of the general elections in 2024.

    As per sources of Geo News, Sarfaraz Bugti resigned to contest the election on a Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N)’s ticket.
    They said he was expected to call on the PML-N leadership in a few days.

    He is currently associated with the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

    Bugti had been elected as a senator from Balochistan in 2021.

    The 42-year-old had previously served as interior minister for Balochistan after winning a seat in 2013 as an independent candidate, but later joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    In a related development, Balochistan caretaker Minister for Sports and Culture, Nawabzada Jamal Raisani and Adviser to the Chief Minister on Mines and Minerals, Mir Umair Muhammad Hasni, also resigned from the interim provincial cabinet on Friday.

  • ‘PTI may withdraw stay order against ECP’, says PTI Senator Ali Zafar

    ‘PTI may withdraw stay order against ECP’, says PTI Senator Ali Zafar

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has confessed that it was a misstep to secure a stay order from the Lahore High Court (LHC) against Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on appointing District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) from the bureaucracy for upcoming general elections.

    PTI senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar said while speaking on Geo News’ ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ that PTI can approach LHC to request the removal of the stay order against the appointment of DROs and ROs for the forthcoming election set to take place on February 8, next year.

    “The PTI may withdraw the stay order to speed up the case hearing on merits to decide the fate of the appointment of DROs and ROs,” he remarked.

    The senator also said that the impression and criticism that PTI’s petition is delaying polls seems correct.

    However, the PTI leader also stated that the party’s stance on filing the petition against the appointment of officers from bureaucracy is right.

    “Even though we want elections to be held by judicial officers and the ECP probably wants them to be conducted by bureaucracy, whatever the results are, we should accept them as it is the mandate of the masses,” he said.

  • The war will last for ‘months’, says the Israeli Defence Minister to US envoy

    The war will last for ‘months’, says the Israeli Defence Minister to US envoy

    Israel pressed its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday after telling a key supporter, the United States of America that the war to crush Hamas will last “more than several months”.

    On Thursday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met in Tel Aviv with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

    During their meeting, Mr. Gallant warned that Israel’s fight with Hamas “will require a period of time — it will last more than several months, but we will win and we will destroy them”.

    Speaking in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden urged Israel to take more care to protect civilians in Gaza.

    “I want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives — not stop going after Hamas, but be more careful,” said Mr. Biden, whose government has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid.

    White House spokesman John Kirby, meanwhile, said Washington was “not dictating terms” to Israel and that the timeline given by Gallant was “consistent” with what Israeli officials had previously said.

    Mr Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to carry on “until victory”, and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the war would continue “with or without international support”.

    Mr Sullivan on Friday will head to the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority leaders, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

    The West Bank, which is ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), has seen a surge in violence since October 7.

    There, the Palestinian health ministry said 11 people had been killed since the Israeli military launched a raid in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp earlier this week.

    The war in Gaza has led to increased popular support for Hamas in the West Bank, further weakening the internationally recognized PA.

  • At least four security officials martyred in KP terror attacks

    At least four security officials martyred in KP terror attacks

    Two different attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Friday have resulted in the martyrdom of four security officials, as per the report of Geo News on Friday.

    In the terrorist attack at the Nala Joint Post in Khyber district, two security personnel have been martyred and seven injured.

    The terrorists used heavy weapons, including hand grenades, to attack.

    The administration of Hayatabad Medical Complex Hospital confirmed that the injured security officials are out of danger now. All seven injured have also been shifted to the neurosurgery, surgical, and orthopaedic wards of the hospital.

    On the other hand, at least two police officials have been martyred and three are injured in a terrorist attack in police line in Tank, KP.

    The terrorists attacked in the wee hours of Friday.

    One terrorist was also killed in retaliation by the police. The search operation is in progress to clear the area.

    According to the police, the injured officials have been shifted to the hospital.

  • After court blocks appointment of DROs, ROs, election date could be delayed

    After court blocks appointment of DROs, ROs, election date could be delayed

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued an order on Wednesday to decline a notification to appoint Returning Officers (ROs) from bureaucracy. General elections, set to take place on February 8 2024, could be delayed as a result of the decision.

    Former secretary of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and current caretaker Punjab CM’s Adviser on Law, Kanwar Dilshad, told The News that polls are likely to be late after the LHC verdict, stating that a few days delay in the polls is expected as the issue regarding suspension of ECP notification for appointments of ROs and District Returning Officers (DROs) will soon be taken up and decided by a larger bench of the LHC.

    He also said that after the LHC judgment, ECP declined its December 11 notification regarding the appointment of DROs and ROs.

    The LHC, in its order, said, “On factual ground, the apparent absence of a level playing field for the political party of the petitioner is visible to all and has also been seriously noted by many independent groups. With top political leadership locked inside the jail or gone underground, the electioneering by his political party would be a big question mark. The apprehension of the petitioner of avoiding fair and free elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan appears to be well founded as some District Returning Officer, Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers are appointed from the presently posted members of administration throughout the country with whom the petitioner’s political party does not inspire any confidence.”

  • ‘You yourself are the judge’; Nawaz appeals to followers in address

    ‘You yourself are the judge’; Nawaz appeals to followers in address

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) head Nawaz Sharif has addressed the nation today for the first time after his victory in all the corruption cases against him.

    “My people, you don’t need to reach out to any court as you yourself are the judge,” the former premier said as he addressed his supporters for the first time since his legal victory in the form of exoneration from major corruption cases.

    The former prime minister also thanked the nation for standing by his side in difficult times.

    “I am hopeful that you [the people] will announce your judgements on February 8 [2024] and end the punishments meted out to you,” Nawaz said in a recorded message to the nation, aired live on television channels.

    Nawaz, who returned to Pakistan in October after a four-year self-exile in London, has consistently emphasised the need to hold accountable those involved in the removal of his government in 2017.

    The three-time former prime minister is hoping to come into power for the fourth time, as he has no corruption charges against him now.

    The lifetime ban on Nawaz Sharif as a parliamentarian is the only hurdle for him to contest election on February 8 next year.

  • Bilawal gives interesting answer to question about marriage

    Bilawal gives interesting answer to question about marriage

    In an informal conversation with journalists in Peshawar, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was asked about marriage, prompting him to give an interesting answer.

    Talking to senior journalists in Peshawar, the former Foreign Minister was asked when he was getting married. “I have to get married, or you? What is your problem? Do you have a girl in your sights that you are asking about marriage,” Bilalwal replied. .

    He said that Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa wrote in the decision that the date of the election is a line in stone, and we have faith in his word.

    The PPP Chairman Bilalwal, also stated that his party is trying to reduce the fever of hate in the political charged climate, adding that unfortunately, some parties are still involved in politics of hatred.

  • ECP to announce election schedule on December 17

    ECP to announce election schedule on December 17

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce election schedule on December 17, allowing candidates to submit their nomination papers the next day, The News has reported on Thursday.

    ECP will take 54 days to complete the process of conducting polls in the country on February 8, next year.

    Article 220 of the constitution says that once the election schedule is announced, the caretaker government is bound to support the ECP to conduct free and fair elections in the country.

    On the other hand, ECP has halted the training of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) designated for the forthcoming general elections set to take place on February 8 next year.

    The ECP spokesperson issued a notification saying that the Lahore High Court (LHC) had ordered the training of DROs and ROs to stop.

    Election commissioners of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan have been notified. The training of DROs and ROs is currently in progress in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta.

    Previously, the high court declined the order of the ECP appointing ROs from the bureaucracy for the upcoming general election on February 8, 2024.

  • Iran executes murderer of Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani

    Iran executes murderer of Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani

    Iranian authorities executed a man convicted of killing a powerful cleric in April, the judiciary said Wednesday.

    Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani, a member of the Assembly of Experts that selects the country’s supreme leader, was killed on April 26 in a bank in Babolsar city in the northern province of Mazandaran.

    The murderer, who has not been named, was a security guard at the bank. CCTV footage published by local media showed him shooting the cleric from behind as he was sitting in a chair.

    “The sentence of qesas (Islamic law of retribution) for the murderer of Martyr Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani was carried out today after being approved by the country’s Supreme Court,” a local official said, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

    Under Islamic law, the sentence of qesas can be dropped if the victim’s family agrees to spare the convict.

    Soleimani, 75, was previously a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and led Friday prayers in the cities of Kashan and Zahedan.

    The 88-strong Assembly of Experts is tasked with supervising, dismissing, and electing the supreme leader. It is headed by ultra-conservative 96-year-old cleric Ahmad Jannati.

    Its members are elected for eight-year terms, but candidates are closely vetted.

    In April 2022, two clerics died in a knife attack in Iran’s second city of Mashhad. A 21-year-old suspected jihadist, Abdolatif Moradi, was hanged two months later for the crime.

    Rights group Amnesty International says Iran executes more people than any country except China.

    It has executed more than 600 people so far this year, already the highest figure in eight years, according to a report last month by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group.

  • Civilians to be tried in military court; Supreme Court decides

    Civilians to be tried in military court; Supreme Court decides

    The Supreme Court has, by a majority of 5-1, suspended its October 23 order that declared the trials of civilians in military courts null and void regarding the May 9 riots.

    The decision came in response to intra-court appeals (ICAs) filed by the federal and provincial governments, as well as the defense ministry, challenging the earlier verdict.

    A six-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard the set of intra-court appeals.

    Justice Hilali differed with the majority decision.

    On October 23, a five-member apex court bench headed by Justice Ahsan unanimously admitted the pleas and nullified the government’s decision to try civilians in military courts in connection with the May 9 riots which erupted after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-then chairman Imran Khan.

    Four judges out of the five declared that Section 2(1)(d) of the Army Act and 59(4) (civil offences) are “ultra vires the Constitution and of no legal effect”.

    “Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the trials of civilians and accused persons, being around 103 persons […] shall be tried by criminal courts of competent jurisdiction established under the ordinary and/or special law of the land in relation to such offences of which they may stand accused,” the short order read.

    Following its verdict, the federal and the provincial governments along with the defence ministry filed intra-court appeals (ICAs). However, the caretaker government of Sindh refused to file any plea against the SC order.

    Justice Masood, who faced objections regarding his inclusion in the bench, refused to recuse himself.

    Former Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and others had raised concerns about Justice Masood’s previous expressions on the matter, but the judge maintained his position.

    The Supreme Court’s recent decision to suspend the October 23 verdict means that the trials of 103 civilians will continue, with the final ruling conditional upon the Supreme Court’s subsequent orders.