Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary and former federal minister Asad Umar’s Twitter account has been hacked, confirmed PTI’s official Twitter handle early Wednesday.
“PTI Secretary General Asad Umar’s account has been hacked. Please report any uncharacteristic tweets to Twitter. We are working with Twitter to get access back,” tweeted PTI official.
Earlier in May, PTI leader and former federal minister Hammad Azhar’s e-mail, Twitter, and Apple accounts were also hacked
Former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Brigadier (Retd) Musaddiq Abbasi said that all the pending cases of politicians would have been solved by December 2022. Abbasi was SAPM to Imran Khan.
Speaking on Express News‘ political programme‘ Kal Tak‘ with anchorperson Javed Chaudhry, the former special assistant revealed that he was working to make amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) 1898 so that all the cases could be streamlined. According to him, when he took over the office as SAPM, he discussed it with Khan and he agreed.
Moreover, talking about pending cases of Nawaz Sharif and other politicians, he clarified that all the cases would have been decided either in their favour or against them.
On the show, Abbasi who is also the former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director-general, talked about the recent amendments to NAB law. He said that the bureau is almost closed. It is pertinent to mention that the incumbent government through the new amendments has limited the powers of NAB.
Abbasi also termed the allegations by Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir’s revelations as baseless. Dastagir alleged that in November when a new army chief would have been appointed by Imran Khan, the new chief would have violated the Constitution and would have helped Imran Khan make false cases against his opponents in order to disqualify them.
Earlier, Dastgir said, “This is based on information. Imran Khan and his followers would have stayed in power for 15 years. The entire Opposition would have been disqualified. He [Imran Khan] was of the point of view that he will remove everyone and will not spare anyone.”
Replying to Dastagir, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar said that he believes that Dastagir is lying but is still waiting for Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations’ (ISPR) statement because these are very serious allegations and the military spokesperson should respond to them.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General-Secretary Asad Umar in a press conference along with former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari demanded the formation of a judicial commission on the alleged “foreign conspiracy” to oust former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan from power.
Umar said that it would be better for the army and the country if the Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General (DG) Major-General Babar Iftikhar doesn’t find it necessary to interpret political affairs again and again.
Umar said Khan will again write to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial to constitute a judicial panel and hold a transparent inquiry into the matter.
“It was a clear threat. It was written that if the no-confidence motion fails, Pakistan would have to pay the price and if Imran Khan is shown the door, then Pakistan will be forgiven.”
He said that it is the people’s right to know the facts and who was behind the move.
Umar said that the party still wants this to be investigated by a judicial panel and an open hearing conducted.
“[The] DG ISPR is right in saying that some of the military leadership representatives actually said that they cannot see any evidence of a conspiracy. Most of the civilian leadership said there was a conspiracy,” Umar said.
Meanwhile, Mazari said, “Ever since Imran Khan said ‘absolutely not’ to the air bases, the conspiracy started.”
Mazari asked why the US diplomats met PTI MNA Noor Alam Khan.
“We are compiling a list of who the US envoy met in Pakistan. Why did the ambassador meet Raja Riaz? Was it to discuss foreign affairs?”
Umar on Tuesday while speaking on Hum News political talk show with anchorperson Meher Bokhari said, “At the outset, you were asking me a question that since it is a matter of national security so the army has a final word on the issue, [but] with due respect, I don’t agree with this.”
Umar’s comments were relevant to DG ISPR’s statement that no conspiracy was hatched to oust Khan. He said that the military leadership was present in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting and the participants were clearly briefed by the intelligence agencies.
“[They were] briefed that there was no conspiracy or evidence of any kind [against the then government], nothing like that happened. Participants were told in detail that there was no evidence of any conspiracy,” said the DG ISPR.
Barrister Hassaan Khan Niazi has been appointed as the focal person for legal affairs to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), reporting directly to party Chairman Imran Khan. His appointment was made official on Sunday (June 5).
The newly appointed focal person announced the news on Twitter. Twitterati reacting to the news, had both good wishes and skepticism for Hassaan as he is the former premier’s nephew.
Journalist Alina Shigri lauded Hassaan for earning the position through “sheer hard work” and “not through nepotism!”
Meanwhile, netizens questioned Hassaan’s appointment.
A Twitter user said, “Is this Hassaan Niazi the same person who attacked a hospital in Lahore along with other lawyers in which some patients died, or is he some one other?”
Another user questioned the appointment and wanted to know if it was through nepotism or morosi siyasaat? [dynastic politics]
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has once again said the government doesn’t plan to increase the prices of petroleum products. Talking to the media at the Karachi airport, he said that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif had ruled out the possibility of ending the subsidies.
“It will not happen. I have refused. Shehbaz Sharif sahib has refused. Nawaz Sharif sahib has refused,” said Ismail. “I am assuring you that I will not agree to [the terms] that Shaukat Tarin agreed to.”
He said that according to the deal finalised by former finance minister Shaukat Tarin, Pakistan would have to raise the price of diesel by over Rs150 and petrol by Rs100.
Miftah said that Imran Khan took a loan of Rs20,000 billion, which is 80% of the entire amount of loans taken in 71 years of Pakistan’s history.
He further stated that former planning and development minister Asad Umar caused Pakistan a loss of 9.1%, which was a record loss in 52 years.
“Pakistan exported wheat when we [PML-N] left the government but today the country is importing wheat,” Miftah said.
A team comprising State Bank of Pakistan and Federal Board of Revenue officials, as well as Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha and the finance secretary, are already in Doha to negotiate with the IMF.
The talks began on May 18. At the time, Ismail had told the IMF that the government understood the current economic crisis and agreed that it would have to take “tough decisions” while mitigating the effects of inflation on middle to low-income groups.
The Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) on Friday declared 25 dissident members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) de-seated while announcing its verdict in a case pertaining to the dissident members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs).
In a unanimous verdict, ECP announced that the MPAs will be defected from the party by voting in favour of Hamza Shehbaz, which means that the election that got Hamza Shehbaz the CM seat might not be valid. The reference against PTI dissidents who voted for Hamza Shehbaz in the election of Punjab chief minister was sent by Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
Former Planning Minister and senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar on Friday called out the de-seated members of the party and said that ‘lotay washroom kay elawa kisi kaam kay nahi rahay’. [Lotay are now only good for use in the washroom].
Speaking to journalists outside ECP Umar congratulated the nation saying “another chapter of heinous politics has closed today”. “Some of the political parties have used politics for businesses as they are involved in horse-trading,” Umar said, adding that these people [the current leadership] come into power by investing money and earn more by misusing their power.
In the election for the chief minister’s slot on April 16, 2022, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz got 197 votes as opposed to the required number of 186 in the House of 371, meaning the support of PTI dissidents was key to his victory.
Journalist Majid Nizami in his report said, “As per the rules of the Punjab Assembly (PA), the chief minister is elected with a simple majority, therefore 186 votes out of the 371-seat assembly. But if no candidate secures the votes of a majority of the total membership for the assembly in the first round then the second round of voting is held. In this round, the member who secures the most votes, from amongst the members present that day, will win.”
PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz reacting to the news said, “No matter what PTI does, the dream of snatching Punjab from the tiger will be shattered.”
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Sunday that the government has no plans to raise the price of petroleum goods for the time being.
Addressing a press conference, the finance minister said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had rejected the proposal of increasing petroleum prices today, adding that the government could not burden the people any further.
“We are not increasing prices today. Please do not go out in this heat to get your tanks filled,” said Miftah Ismail.
However, Miftah later tweeted, “But due to changing circumstances and international oil prices, we may have to revisit our decision soon.”
The finance minister stated that he will be part of a delegation travelling to Qatar for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next week and he hoped the negotiations would be productive for the country.
The newly-appointed Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has written a letter, inviting his predecessor former Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar to a farewell dinner “on a date and time of the Umar’s convenience.”
The federal minister said that in the meeting he would “like to be briefed on the developmental initiatives of greater public importance” that the PTI government “had started and which should be continued in the public interest”.
“I look forward to a positive response from you. My office will coordinate with your personal staff to schedule the proposed farewell dinner/meeting with you at the earliest,” the letter further reads.
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader is yet to make a comment on this invitation.
The PML-N’s leader move, however, has been widely appreciated by social media users.
During a meeting with the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan accepted his mistake of filing a presidential reference for the removal of Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, reports Hasnaat Malik for The Express Tribune.
As per the news outlet, several attendees of the meeting have said that Khan thinks that the then relevant officials had misguided his government and Khan himself was not interested in pursuing the reference against Justice Faez Isa. Former Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan had convinced him that Justice Isa was an honest judge and he was misled in this case.
A senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer said that Khan believed that one section within the judiciary was annoyed because of this reference case.
In 2020, Khan accused Justice Faez of concealing assets and filed a reference against him. Justice Isa then asked the Supreme Court that a full bench be constituted, a plea that was accepted by then Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and after a months-long trial, in November a full bench of the apex court dismissed the petition against him.
The purpose of the meeting with ILF was to discuss PTI’s social media activists who were being harassed by law enforcement agencies.
PTI Secretary Asad Umar has announced that a petition will be filed against these unlawful and illegal raids and harassment of the party workers in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) today (Thursday).
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has congratulated the team of the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) on their brilliant performance in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I want to congratulate the NCOC team & its leadership for a professional, nationally-coordinated response to the pandemic. As a result, our Covid response was recognised by int agencies & people in the field as one of the most successful globally,” he tweeted.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in a tweet said, “Today is last day of NCOC operation. With covid indicators at all time lows & high levels of vaccination, baton now being passed on to the health ministry. Chairing NCOC during last 2 years & working with the most dedicated team has been the greatest privilege and honour of my life.”
Read more- NCOC decides to lift all covid related restrictions
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) on National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination, Dr Faisal Sultan on March 12 announced that the government has decided to shut down the NCOC.