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.

  • National Security Council meeting tomorrow as terrorism on rise

    National Security Council meeting tomorrow as terrorism on rise

    The National Security Council (NSC) is set to hold a meeting on Friday (tomorrow) as terrorist activities in Pakistan continue to rise.

    The council will discuss a strategy to combat the new wave of terrorism in the country along with reviewing the situation at the Pak-Afghan border.

    The country’s federal ministers, military brass, and representatives from the security apparatus will attend the meeting, chaired by the head of government—Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif.

    Pakistan is facing a resurgence of terrorism since the militant Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its ceasefire with the government in late November.

    Currently, security is on high alert in Islamabad after a foiled suicide bomber blew himself up while threats have also hit Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur.

  • ‘Establishment neither approached PML-N nor PTI for technocratic setup’: Rana Sanaullah

    ‘Establishment neither approached PML-N nor PTI for technocratic setup’: Rana Sanaullah

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said the that establishment neither approached the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nor the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in connection with a rumored technocratic setup that might be installed to govern the country.

    “Imran Khan makes up fresh stories every other day, however, no message regarding the technocratic setup was conveyed,” he stated.

    He said that the institution has pledged to the nation that it will remain apolitical. “From now on, whatever happens will be in line with the Constitution,” Sanaullah categorically said.

    Speaking to senior journalists in Lahore, Imran had stressed, “I don’t see elections happening now. There is hearsay about a technocratic government being brought forward,” he had told the media personnel in an informal talk.

    PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had addressed the rumors, calling any such plan a “joke”. The former minister had said, “It is a joke to form a technocratic government for two and a half years after wrapping up this government and sending it home. Experimenting and playing jokes with Pakistan should come to an end now.”

    “You will bring ‘imported technocrats’ from the United States if the Shehbaz Sharif-led government is not functioning,” he added. “The solution to the country’s problems is holding elections.”

  • PM Shehbaz directs to reduce electricity use in government offices by 30%

    PM Shehbaz directs to reduce electricity use in government offices by 30%

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has formed a committee that will work on reducing electricity consumption in government offices by 30 per cent.

    The Prime Minister gave the directives while chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet where a “Proposed Energy Saving Plan” presented by the Power Division was also under discussion. The meeting was briefed on consultations held with stakeholders about energy saving.

    Shehbaz Sharif said that the consultation process with all the stakeholders including the provincial governments should be completed soon.

    Conversion of federal government buildings to solar energy

    Last week, the Premier directed relevant authorities to convert federal government buildings to solar energy at the earliest.

    He issued special instructions for formulating a comprehensive strategy to effectively resolve the issues faced in the early completion of the solar energy projects.

    The PM said the use of solar energy in electricity production could effectively resolve many fiscal issues including the energy crisis in the country and rising prices of electricity.

  • ‘Benazir ke sandwich khanay unkay college jata tha’: Imran Khan

    ‘Benazir ke sandwich khanay unkay college jata tha’: Imran Khan

    A clip from a two month old interview of Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has gone viral on social media. In the interview, Imran Khan narrates his memories with former Prime Minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benzair Bhutto when they were both studying in London.

    Journalist Haroon Rasheed interviewed Imran Khan in October and asked him about the food in Oxford. In response, Khan said, “I remember that I was hungry all the time in England’s winters. We used to have three meals in Pakistan, breakfast, lunch, evening tea and dinner. Then my mother used to give me milk.”

    Khan said that when he went to England, he would get hungry again as soon as he ate in the dining room. “This hunger would take over the time,” he recalled.

    Imran Khan then said that Benazir Bhutto, who was also studying in another college in Oxford at the time, would hold an open house on Sunday. “She was contesting union elections. I was friends with Benazir. An Indian friend, Vikram Mehta, used to be with me. We both used to go to Benazir’s college because we would be hungry,” added Khan.

    “Benazir was living in great splendor and used to make sandwiches herself, which we would go and eat,” he told Haroon Rasheed.

  • Plans of long-term caretaker govt in pipeline, claims journalist

    Plans of long-term caretaker govt in pipeline, claims journalist

    News anchor Meher Bokhari in her programme ‘Program Hum Meher Bokhari Kay Sath’ on Hum News has claimed that a crucial meeting has taken place where plans of installing a long caretaker government in Pakistan have been discussed.

    She said that considering the worsening economic conditions in the country, the caretaker government can be in place for six months or even two years, emphasising that the situation has slipped out of politicians’ hands.

    During her show, she pointed out that the incumbent government has failed to steer the country out of the economic crisis, despite making promises to do so. Moreover, she said that since the takeover of the coalition government, the dollar value rose exponentially, plunging the country into economic disaster.

    She highlighted Pakistan’s failure to get the next International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) tranche and the reluctance of friendly countries to help Pakistan.

    Reacting to the journalist’s claims, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Fawad Chaudhry termed it a “stupidity”, stressing that the “country’s crisis is more political than economic”.

    In a tweet, he said that these are “schemes” to keep Imran Khan out of politics but are not in Pakistan’s favour. Terming general elections as the only solution to the country’s problems, he added that PTI will resist the move of forming a technocrat government.

    However, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday assured the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) that the country will not default but admitted that the economy is in a “tight position”.

    “It’s been three months since I took charge. We hear every day that we will default. How will there be a default? There is no chance that Pakistan will default,” the finance minister said.

    It should be noted that the financial situation in the country is perilous with inflation at the highest levels in recent years. A day earlier, the price of gold rose by Rs4,500 to a fresh all-time high of Rs182,700 per tola. The price of gold has increased by more than Rs20,000 per tola since the beginning of December.

  • Stab in the back? PTI, PML-Q’s MPAs contact PML-N’s Opposition ahead of no-confidence against CM Elahi

    Stab in the back? PTI, PML-Q’s MPAs contact PML-N’s Opposition ahead of no-confidence against CM Elahi

    Several members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) have approached the Opposition in Punjab Assembly ahead of the no-confidence session against Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi, reports ARY News.

    According to the news outlet, a total of 11 lawmakers contacted the Opposition and they reportedly planned to skip CM Elahi’s trust vote session.

    Earlier, senior Vice President of PTI, Fawad Chaudhry, announced that Elahi will get a vote of confidence from the provincial assembly before January 11.

    Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan has already summoned a session of the assembly on Jan 11.

    The magic number required to show a majority in the assembly is 186. However, it has been claimed by PTI that the coalition government in Punjab has the support of 187 lawmakers.

    If the news is to be believed, the joint alliance of Punjab will have the support of 176 members on the day of no-confidence session.

  • ‘Who will wipe my tears’: Twitter reacts to column about ‘General (Bajwa) Sb ki roohani azmatein ‘

    Journalist Javed Chaudhry has written an article about his meeting with Former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa. In the article he wrote that he met Bajwa on December 22.

    Describing how the former head of the military is spending his time after retirement, Chaudhary paints a very vivid description of the house. He said that General Bajwa’s wife has decorated the home with antiques that she had bought on cheap rates. He specifically remarks on the cleanliness of Bajwa’s house, seemingly impressed by it.

    We find out that the former COAS and his wife are like ordinary married couples, arguing over the AC thermostat.

    Moving on to serious matters, Chaudhary says that General Bajwa considers accepting the extension in his tenure as his biggest mistake and he feels very very sorry for it, but it is true that Imran Khan took this decision without taking him into confidence.

    “Woh chai bohot achi peete hain, cup mein cake rusk dabo kar khate hain aur apni iss saadgi ko enjoy karte hain.”

    The columnist says that he observed that General Bajwa is aggrieved over the narrative of Mir Jafar and Mir Sadiq, the accusations of treason and the narrative of conspiracy. He said that he knows such details about his critics that if he spoke up, they will find nowhere to hide but he does not want to answer them and enjoy retired life with hid twin grandsons.

    Twitter is having all kind of reactions about the column. Have a look at some of them:

  • ‘Not a Banana republic’: Ahsan Iqbal hits out at people saying that Pakistan is going to default

    ‘Not a Banana republic’: Ahsan Iqbal hits out at people saying that Pakistan is going to default

    Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has hit out at speculation that Pakistan is going to default.

    Talking to Geo News’ programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada kay Sath‘, he said, “Pakistan is not Africa’s banana republic. We have a large economy. Voices saying that the country is heading towards default shouldn’t come from inside of Pakistan.”

    The federal minister said that when people were saying Pakistan is going to default in two weeks, the coalition government took tough decisions to pull the country out of danger.

    He also took a jibe at the rival party— Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)— accusing the former ruling party of building the narrative that Pakistan is going to default.

    “Even India is not speculating about Pakistan’s financial crisis but PTI and Imran Khan have launched a war against the country,” he pointed out.

    The federal minister also claimed that 80 per cent of Pakistan’s total debt was taken during Imran Khan’s tenure, which the current government has to handle now.

    He reiterated his government’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme but added that the administration is trying to minimise the burden on people as inflation is already at a historic high and Pakistan has just suffered a natural disaster that caused damages worth $30 billion.

  • After Islamabad and Balochistan, threat of terrorism reaches Karachi

    After Islamabad and Balochistan, threat of terrorism reaches Karachi

    The Sindh government has informed provincial police and DG Rangers that three banned organisations have planned major terrorist incidents in three major cities of the province—Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur.

    According to an official letter sent to the concerned authorities, the banned organisations include Baloch Revolution Army, Baloch Raaji Ajoi Sanga and Sindh Revolution Army.

    Moreover, the letter stated that the aforementioned organisations have also distributed arms and ammunition to their associated terrorists.

    On the other hand, Islamabad Police on Tuesday issued a “special security plan” after analysing the current security situation of the capital.

    The law enforcement agency said that at least 25 temporary security check posts have been established at different locations in Islamabad.

    Authourities will be using safe city cameras to record traffic at Red Zone entrances while the videos of metro bus service passengers will also be recorded.

    The police have also requested residents and foreigners to carry their identification documents.

    Since the suicide attack in Islamabad on December 23, multiple foreign missions including the United States (US) Saudi Arabia and Australia have advised their citizens and staff to limit their movement in the capital.

    Pakistan is facing a resurgence of terrorism since the militant Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its ceasefire with the government in late November.

  • President Alvi to discuss ‘game of audio and videos leaks’ with COAS Munir

    President Alvi to discuss ‘game of audio and videos leaks’ with COAS Munir

    President Dr Arif Alvi has said that he had made it a point to discuss the “game of audio and videos leaks” with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.

    “I am surprised why this is going on. It should not continue in any sense of morality,” said Dr Alvi during a wide-ranging conversation with journalists, leaders of business community and foreign diplomats at a dinner on Saturday.

    Alvi revealed that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and his team helped Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Senate and during the elections as well.

    The president that Khan had no thought of sacking Gen (retd) Bajwa, stating, “No, I don’t think so. That was a rumour.”

    The president said that we should let go of the past and forgive people for the mistakes they had committed earlier, so a new beginning could take place.

    “Let’s make a country that we deserve,” the President said. He rued that institutions had not played their role, even the judiciary, pointing out that the courts had given verdicts allowing a dictator to change the constitution. He referred to the Reko Diq case in which Pakistan had to pay a fine of $7 billion.

    “If you criticise the judiciary, it will reduce the efficacy of the entire judiciary. If you criticise the army, it becomes a matter of disrepute and we don’t want that,” the president said. He, however, added that this principle was often stretched and applied to every situation, due to which one could not say anything against them.

    Discussing Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s response to India, Dr Alvi remarked that the minister had done the right thing. He said the world and the global order was based on vested interests. “A good reply was given by Bilawal sahib,” he stated.