Tag: Fawad Chaudhry

  • ‘It was military vs PTI’: Gen Bajwa was actively involved in sending PTI govt packing, says Fawad

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said that in the no-confidence motion against his party’s Chairman and then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, it was actually the PTI versus the military.

    Fawad claimed during a BBC HARDTalk interview yesterday that “some army generals, as well as ex-chief General [Qamar Javed] Bajwa were actively involved in sending the PTI government home”.

    Establishment played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan

    “And in that conspiracy, some army generals were involved, there is no doubt about that and the establishment actually played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan. In fact, the last army chief was [also] actively involved in sending our government home,” he alleged.

    Host Stephen Sackur asked Fawad about DG ISI Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum’s press conference, in which he, alongside then ISPR chief Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar, said Imran Khan asked the military to perform an unconstitutional act during the no-confidence vote.

    Chaudhry responded: “The current [army] leadership has just assumed the office and we are hoping there will be a change in the policy, but the last chief was not speaking truth when he said we asked [for their] help. We only asked for their neutrality.”

    Unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution

    Dismissing the notion that the PTI was against the military, Fawad said his party was not against anyone. “In Pakistan, unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution [in the past], which is known to everyone.”

    Bygones are bygones: PTI looks forward to having good relations with US

    Talking about how Khan blamed United States for his ouster and then later changing his narrative that he wants to have good relations with US, Fawad said that the PTI never said it seeks a war with the superpower. “Instead, it wants good bilateral ties. No party wants confrontation with the US,” Fawad noted. However, at the same time the PTI doesn’t want any country including the US to dictate Pakistan, he opined.

    Saying bygones are bygones, Fawad said his party looks forward to having good relations with the US, and hopes the superpower too would like to collaborate with Pakistan’s most popular political party.

    Calling Osama bin Laden a “martyr” was a slip of a tongue

    To a question, he clarified that Imran never called Osama bin Laden a “martyr”, saying he had a slip of a tongue in one speech which was clarified later.

    Shehbaz govt ruined all efforts due to their ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems

    Chaudhry said the then-PTI government was holding “continuous negotiations” with the Afghan government “and we were close to actually resolve the issue”.

    He, however, blamed the incumbent government for “ruining” all efforts due to their “ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems”.

    PTI could wait for elections but….

    The PTI leader said his party could wait for elections “but this government is not ready to hold polls as they know people will oust them through vote”.

    He insisted that elections were needed for Pakistan and not for the PTI. “We are asking that elections should be held at the earliest so that a new responsible government can take care of economic affairs.”

    Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle

    Stephen Sackur said Pakistan’s debt stood at $116 billion when the PTI took over in 2018, but it rose to $230 billion when the party left government.

    Fawad responded saying his party’s government had to borrow funds to return the loans taken by the previous government. He maintained that his party’s government worked to restructure the loans and did as far as economy is concerned.

    He said, ” Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle.

    Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in 75 years of history

    Sackur said figures did not bear out his claim, referring to promises made by the PTI before elections, especially those about corruption, He said that Pakistan fell by 20 points on the corruption perception index (CPI).

    Fawad disagreed, arguing that these were the departments related to rule of law, for example judiciary, not the political side, that had contributed to that index. He said Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in its 75 years of existence.

    The PTI leader said it is not possible to create economic stability without political stability as [political uncertainty in the country is such that] no one knows who will rule the country three or five months from now.

  • ‘Long march mein jaan daalnay ke liye drama keeya gaya’, claims lawyer of person who shot at IK

    ‘Long march mein jaan daalnay ke liye drama keeya gaya’, claims lawyer of person who shot at IK

    Advocate Mian Dawood—the lawyer of Naveed Meher who shot at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan—said that the incident was all planned by the party itself.

    Addressing a press conference on Thursday (today), the lawyer detailed claims about the incident at Wazirabad in which Khan survived an attempted assassination.

    He rejected the Joint Investigation Report (JIT), saying it had “distorted the facts”. He also claimed that PTI worker Moazzam was killed by Imran’s own guard.

    “Long march mein jaan daalnay ke liye drama keeya gaya“, (It was all a drama to revive the long march.), Dawood claimed.

    However, a day earlier, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, in a presser, said that the forensic test of Imran’s guards’ weapons established that none of them fired even a single shot.

    He added that PTI worker Moazzam was killed by a bullet aimed at the detained shooter. “The assassin had to be killed on the spot but ill-fated Moazzam came in the way,” Chaudhry said.

    However, talking to reporters today, Dawood refuted PTI’s claim saying that the video that showed Imran’s guard firing was not being made part of the case record.

    He claimed that PTI knew about the guard shooting but they kept quiet because otherwise Khan and his guard would have to face murder charges.

    “The purpose of the JIT was to save Imran and his guard. It was an attempt to waste evidence. And they did it. If we connect the dots, Imran’s guard is responsible,” he stated.

    About Chaudhry’s press conference, Dawood raised a question about how the JIT report reached PTI before its submission to the court.

    “JIT prepared the investigation report at Zaman Park after consultation with PTI lawyers,” alleged Mian Dawood.

    “This clearly means that the report has no legal value. If PTI believes that the attack was genuine, then why are they running away from getting the FIR registered,” he questioned.

    On the day of the incident, Naveed was arrested and instantly confessed to committing the crime.

  • 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.

  • PTI to appear before NA speaker next week to verify resignations

    Lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have decided to appear before National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for the verification of their resignations, reports Geo News.

    The lawmakers are likely to appear either on Wednesday or Thursday.

    The Speaker has yet to take action on the resignations as PTI legislators have failed to get a response after they wrote a letter to him

    On December 15, PTI leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry announced that the party would be seeking time from the National Assembly speaker for the verification of their MPs’ resignations.

    He also denied speculations that the party’s lawmakers are still receiving salaries.

    “Judges should verify the reports that show up on media. The reality is that this is another lie told by the government. The salaries of the resigned members are suspended and no member is getting any salary,” said Fawad.

    A day earlier, the PTI chief announced that both Punjab and KP assemblies will be dissolved on December 23.

  • Imran Khan to give date for dissolution of assemblies before December 20: Reports

    Imran Khan to give date for dissolution of assemblies before December 20: Reports

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in a consultative session with lawmakers from Bhakkar, Mianwali, Pakpattan and Sahiwal told them that the provincial assemblies being governed by his party will be dissolved this very month and the date of the dissolution will be made public prior to December 20.

    The PTI earlier gave a deadline of December 20 to the federal coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to announce a date for general elections, otherwise, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies will be dissolved.

    In reply, the ruling coalition has told the PTI chairman to dissolve the assemblies.

    According to the media reports, Khan said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Qauid (PML-Q) is on the same page with the PTI on the issue of Punjab assembly’s dissolution.

    “The PML-Q is a vital ally. We have intimated them of our decision,” Imran Khan said.

    “Our politics is not above the country. This government has destroyed the national economy,” he maintained.

    Earlier, Senior Vice-President of PTI, Fawad Chaudhry, addressing the ruling coalition said, “Leaders of the imported government don’t want polls and they have no idea how to run the country.”

    “If PDM doesn’t bring a formula for holding general elections by December 20, the Punjab and KP assemblies will be dissolved,” Fawad said.

  • India behind Johar Town bomb blast in Lahore: Rana Sanaullah

    India behind Johar Town bomb blast in Lahore: Rana Sanaullah

    Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has revealed that India was behind the Johar Town blast in Lahore— a powerful blast in 2021 near the residence of Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, which resulted in three deaths.

    He held a joint press conference on Tuesday with Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Additional Inspector General Imran Mehmood, during which he said that there is “clear evidence” of India carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan.

    The minister further added that India’s footprints are seen in all terror activities carried out in Pakistan and New Delhi’s activities have gone “beyond that of an enemy state” just to hide its atrocities in Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

    He said that Pakistan will raise this matter before the world. The minister also mentioned that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had support from the foreign intelligence agency of India, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to carry out terrorist activities in Pakistan.

    Mehmood also briefly explained who were the culprits behind the Johar Town blast.

    He said that in the initial 24 hours, CTD arrested three terrorists. However, Sami ul Haq — the main handler of RAW-sponsored terror activities in Pakistan — was arrested a year later in April when he was trying to enter Pakistan via Balochistan

    According to Mehmood, his Red Warrants were issued through Interpol. Mehmood added that his brother-in-law, Uzair Akbar, assisted Sami in terror activities and his Red Warrants were issued as well. CTD also got information about Naveed Akhtar — who did the surveillance and selected the target.

    “We also found out that close to a million dollars of terror financing was done through India to spread terrorism in Pakistan through different channels,” he revealed, adding that all the arrested persons have been sentenced to death three times by the court.

    Prior to this, days after the incident, the then information minister Fawad Chaudhry and National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf said that the mastermind of the attack was “an Indian citizen and he is associated with RAW”.

  • ‘New elections in Punjab will be held before Ramzan’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘New elections in Punjab will be held before Ramzan’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry has said that elections in Punjab will be held before the start of the holy month of Ramzan.

    Chaudhry, in a tweet, claimed that several members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have contacted PTI for party tickets to contest elections in Punjab. He further stated that the candidate for each constituency would be evaluated on merit.

    “New elections will be held in Punjab before March 20,” he declared.

    Fawad maintained that the Punjab division of the party is ready for “every attack” from the PML-N.

    PML-N has stated multiple times that it would not concede to the PTI’s demand for snap polls.

    On the previous Saturday, Khan announced that PTI wouldn’t be part of “this system” and would quit all the assemblies. Following this, PTI members also agreed with the decision to dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies. However, an official announcement regarding the dissolution is yet to be made.

  • When are assemblies going to dissolve? PTI to decide today

    When are assemblies going to dissolve? PTI to decide today

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry has announced that the former ruling party will decide on the matter of dissolution of the assemblies today in the presence of senior leadership.

    Chaudhry explained in a tweet, stating that the party’s senior leadership will be meeting on Monday. “In this meeting, the date of dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly, and resignation from the Sindh and Balochistan Assembly will be considered.”

    The former minister added with these decisions, 64 per cent of seats in all assemblies would be “vacant and will pave the way for general elections”.

    On Saturday, party chief Imran Khan, addressing a charged crowd in Rehmanabad, said that PTI wouldn’t be part of “this system” and would quit all the assemblies.

    Khan said that he would announce the exact date in the next few days.

    It is pertinent to mention that Khan’s PTI is in power in Punjab, KP, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

    Following the announcement, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi showed support for Khan’s decision.

    In a video message on Sunday, he said, “When Imran tells me to dissolve the assemblies, I won’t even wait half a minute,” Elahi said, adding that “PM Shehbaz Sharif’s 27km-long [federal] government won’t even last for 27 hours.”

  • ‘Imran Khan to give call to reach Rawalpindi today’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘Imran Khan to give call to reach Rawalpindi today’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said on Saturday that the “final stage has arrived” when former prime minister Imran Khan will ask his supporters to converge in Rawalpindi.

    “The final stage has arrived. Be prepared. Imran Khan will give a call to people today to reach Rawalpindi,” he tweeted.

    Chaudhry said PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar, who are leading separate convoys, will meet at Rawat today from where the marchers would move towards Rawalpindi, located at a distance of 23.8 kilometres when approached via Grant Trunk Road.

    Meanwhile, PTI’s official Twitter account tweeted that Imran Khan will announce the final date of arrival of Real Azadi March at 2 pm in Rawalpindi at Chuck Bailey, Rawat today.