Tag: home-politics

  • PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi has fled country, media reports claim

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi, who was handed life imprisonment in the ephedrine case last year, has reportedly left the country and is currently residing in the United States (US).

    According to media reports, Abbasi is living with a former PML-N leader at his residence in Alexandria, Virginia and plans to stay out of the country “until the situation in Pakistan improves”.

    A trial court had sentenced Abbasi to life in prison back in July 2018, after he was found guilty of illegally selling 500kg of ephedrine — a medication and stimulant used to prevent low blood pressure during spinal anesthesia — to narcotics smugglers.

    The ephedrine case surfaced in March 2011 when then federal minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin told the National Assembly that the government will investigate the alleged allocation of a quota for the production of 9,000kg of ephedrine to two pharmaceutical companies — Berlex Lab International and Danas Pharmaceutical Limited.

    According to the rules, a company cannot be allocated a production quota of more than 500kg of the drug, a limit fixed by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

    The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had eventually registered a case in June 2012 against nine suspects, including Abbasi. He was accused of obtaining the controlled chemical for his company, Gray Pharmaceutical, in 2010.

    However, instead of using it for medicinal purposes, Abbasi sold it on to narcotics smugglers. A fine of Rs1 million was imposed on the PML-N leader along with the life sentence. Seven other accused were acquitted in the case.

    Abbasi’s sentence was suspended by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in April this year.

  • NAB deputy director, who arrested Zardari and Abbasi, ‘followed by suspicious car’

    NAB deputy director, who arrested Zardari and Abbasi, ‘followed by suspicious car’

    The vehicle of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi Deputy Director Asad Mehmood Janjua, who arrested former president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, has been “chased by a suspicious car”.

    As per the details available with The Current, Islamabad police, in this regard, have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown people.

    According to the complaint lodged with the inspector general (IG) of the capital police by NAB officer Muhammad Saleem Khan, Janjua was driving back home after his official duty via Margalla Road when he noticed a suspicious car following him.

    “As he reached near F-9 Park at about 5:30 pm, he noticed a Toyota Vitz bearing registration number AAG-712 with tinted glasses following him. Feeling the situation, the NAB officer slowed down his car but the chaser kept on following. When he turned towards Marquees of E-11 on Margalla Road, the chaser also turned his vehicle and kept on following till he parked his car in front of a shop. The chaser hesitantly turned his car to a street, next to the shop,” the FIR read.

    The officer could not observe who was in the suspicious vehicle because of the tinted glasses. Suddenly, the suspicious vehicle disappeared from the scene, the complainant added, with the request to provide security to the NAB officer.

    The case has been filed at Islamabad’s Golra Shareef police station over the anti-corruption watchdog’s complaint against unidentified persons under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

    Other than Zardari and Abbasi, investigators said, Janjua had also arrested the former president’s sister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Faryal Talpur.

    Meanwhile, police have said that many activists of political parties could be rounded up with their top slot leadership, to hunt the chasers.

  • Punjab bids farewell to English as Urdu declared new medium of instruction at primary level

    Punjab bids farewell to English as Urdu declared new medium of instruction at primary level

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar on Saturday announced that the province will take up Urdu as the medium of instruction at the primary level from the year 2020.

    Taking to Twitter, the provincial chief executive wrote that time of both teachers and students was wasted in translation instead of comprehension due to the current medium of instruction, which is English.

    As a result, he added, the students fail to learn anything new.

    CM Buzdar revealed that a survey, with the help of teachers, parents and students, was conducted in 22 districts of the province, and over 85 per cent people in every category preferred Urdu over English as the medium of instruction.

    He further said that English will only be taught as a language from March next year.

  • PML-N leaders misread WB report criticising their economic policies, attack PTI govt instead

    PML-N leaders misread WB report criticising their economic policies, attack PTI govt instead

    In a rather hilarious development, leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have misread a World Bank (WB) report criticising their government’s economic policies and have attacked the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) instead.

    According to a draft report by the WB, Pakistan’s budget has lost its credibility and the public finance management has further weakened.

    The Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) report, the final draft of which was shared with the Finance Ministry in June, contains findings that reflect the poor performance of the Finance Ministry and how it failed to uphold fiscal rules.

    The report was widely shared by PML-N leaders and supporters, who held the incumbent PTI government responsible for the mismanagement of the country’s economic affairs.

    The catch, however, is that the report assesses Pakistan’s public finance management system and an analysis of its annual budgets from 2015 to 2018 — a time period when the PML-N was in power.

    Twitterati were quick to point out the blunder following which PML-N leaders, including Vice President Maryam Nawaz, deleted their tweets.

    According to The Express Tribune, when compared with a similar assessment that the WB carried out in 2012, the country fared poorer on almost all indicators and seven key pillars.

    There were hardly two indicators where the score improved while on the other two the score remained unchanged. In 2012, the country had secured five A grades – the highest score – but in the 2019 assessment, there was not even a single indicator where it got an A.

    Pakistan lost the highest score on critical indicators like the classification of budget, comprehensiveness of budget information, transparency in inter-governmental fiscal operations, participation in budget process and predictability of direct budget support.

    The lowest score is D plus and D. In 2012, the country got only six Ds and D plus but the lowest score reached a staggering 13 in 2019, reflecting the extremely poor performance of the Finance Ministry from 2015 to 2018.

  • Naya Pakistan: ‘Gold Boy’ gangster visits police station to see locked-up friend, gets arrested

    Naya Pakistan: ‘Gold Boy’ gangster visits police station to see locked-up friend, gets arrested

    One of the country’s most notorious gangsters, Zafar Khan Supari, nicknamed ‘Gold Boy’ for flaunting gold jewelry and weapons, has been arrested by the police for “obstructing official work”.

    In the episode, which somewhat proves that Supari has lost the power and respect he once enjoyed owing to his strong political clout, the Gold Boy and his friend were locked up by the R.A. Bazaar police in Rawalpindi.

    According to the details, Supari’s friend and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) activist Asad Numberdar tried to hit a rickshaw with his car near a police picket on Harley Street.

    The rickshaw driver, who was going from Lal Kurti towards Bakr Mandi, asked Numberdar why did he do it, following which the latter lost his temper, cocked a pistol and pointed it at the rickshaw driver identified as Sajjad.

    When the personnel on duty at a police picket saw him pointing a pistol at the distraught man, they jumped into action and overpowered Numberdar, who was later brought to the R.A. Bazaar police station and locked-up there.

    It wasn’t later that notorious gangster Zafar Supari walked into the precinct to meet his friend, however, he too was thrown behind bars on charges of obstructing official work.

    According to The Express Tribune, Supari has also been booked in cases of protecting wanted criminals and proclaimed offenders in his locality, besides posing with illegal firearms on social media.

    Numberdar has served a prison sentence for the murder of Raja Shoaib, a nephew of ex-Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat. Police will produce both arrestees before a judge to seek their physical remand for further investigation.

  • British media law firm sues Daily Mail for ‘politically motivated’ article against Shehbaz Sharif

    British media law firm sues Daily Mail for ‘politically motivated’ article against Shehbaz Sharif

    Renowned media law firm Carter Ruck has sued British newspaper The Mail on Sunday, online news site Mail Online and its journalist David Rose on behalf of former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif for publishing a “politically motivated” article.

    The story, published on July 14, 2019, had suggested that Shehbaz and his family “stole British taxpayers’ money” given to Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) set up to help the victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

    “Our response to the question asked in the headline was robust and clear. It was carried close to the bottom of the 2,500-word story,” United Kingdom (UK) Aid had said in its clarification.

    “The UK’s financial support to ERRA over this period was for payment by results – which means we only gave money once the agreed work, which was primarily focused on building schools, was completed, and the work audited and verified,” a Department for International Development spokesperson had said.

    According to The News, Carter Ruck has agreed to act on behalf of Shebhaz after reviewing the case for a week. Alasdair Pepper, Antonia Foster and Victoria Anderson will represent the leader of opposition in the National Assembly and former Punjab chief minister in his legal claim against the publication.

    “Stealing from earthquake victims is like feeding on corpses,” Shehbaz had said while responding to the allegations against him by the British publication.

  • Meat-lover Nawaz unhappy with ‘tasteless’ vegetarian meals in jail: report

    Meat-lover Nawaz unhappy with ‘tasteless’ vegetarian meals in jail: report

    Former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, who is rather infamous for his high-protein diet and love for meaty festivities, is reportedly unhappy with the vegetarian food being served to him in jail.

    According to a private media outlet, the ex-premier has complained about the “tasteless” vegetarian meals to his personal doctor, who believes the environment is not fit for ailing Nawaz.

    “The jail food can further deteriorate his health,” the former PM’s doctor was quoted as saying.

    Earlier this month, the Punjab government had discontinued provision of home-cooked food for the ousted premier – currently incarcerated in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.

    Reacting to the move, Nawaz’s brother and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif had said that the ex-PM is a heart patient and needs homemade food to control his health.

    PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz has also, time and again, stressed the need for her father to be provided with home-cooked meals for the sake of his health.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, on the other hand, has vowed to ensure the “criminal” doesn’t even enjoy air-conditioning and television facilities in his jail cell.

    “Nawaz Sharif wants food from home in jail, he wants air-conditioning in jail. But in a country where half the population has no air-conditioning or TV, what kind of punishment would this be?” the premier was recently quoted as questioning.

    Action is reportedly being taken in this regard too.

  • ‘Started drug business to earn money for politics’, ANF quotes Sanaullah as saying

    ‘Started drug business to earn money for politics’, ANF quotes Sanaullah as saying

    The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) has claimed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA and Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan has admitted starting a drug business to earn money for politics, The News reported.

    According to reports, the ANF, in its challan submitted to a court Tuesday, quoted Sanaullah as saying that he has been associated with drug smuggling for years.

    “My expenditures swelled up soon after I entered politics, but my income was not too much. I developed links with drug smugglers after entering politics and becoming Punjab law minister in particular.”

    Sanaullah was further quoted as saying that a few politicians known to him “became billionaires through illegal means”.

    “The business suited me well so I started facilitating drug dealers and gradually started sending narcotics through my personal vehicles. It was an easy way to avoid the police, as being an influential person, no one dared to check my vehicle. I used to get drugs from Afghans in Faisalabad, drop them off to dealers who used to smuggle them abroad,” the ANF quoted him as saying in the four-page challan submitted.

    Sanaullah’s wife Nabeela has denied all charges and termed it a fake story. “My husband is innocent,” she told a private media outlet. Meanwhile, members of the opposition parties term the PML-N leader’s arrest the “worst example of lawlessness and political revenge”.

  • Govt asks IG prisons to remove jailed Nawaz’s air-conditioner

    Govt asks IG prisons to remove jailed Nawaz’s air-conditioner

    The Punjab government has asked inspector general (IG) of prisons to remove the air-conditioner installed in ex-prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s cell at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.

    “The following directions of PM [Imran Khan] have been intimated for implementation and report ‘No Preferential Treatment be Given to the Criminals and Money Launders in the Prison in Punjab’,” The Express Tribune quoted a July 17 letter, written by Punjab Home Department to the IG prisons, as saying.

    The letter asks the IG to take necessary action in the matter immediately and submit a report in three days.

    PM Imran, in his address to Pakistani-American community in Washington last Sunday, had announced to withdraw air-conditioning and television facilities provided to jailed former PM Nawaz as well as ex-president Asif Ali Zardari.

    However, the letter being dated July 17 suggests that the authorities had been ordered to take away the facilities long before the premier’s announcement.

    Meanwhile, according to the ex-PM’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, doctors have advised that her father’s room temperature be maintained at a comfortable level to prevent dehydration and the possible deterioration of his renal function.

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader has also said that withdrawing the air-conditioning facility would be equivalent to putting Nawaz’s life in danger.

  • Twitter Theory: Why didn’t Bushra Bibi accompany PM Imran on US trip?

    Twitter Theory: Why didn’t Bushra Bibi accompany PM Imran on US trip?

    Since the first lady did not accompany Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on his maiden trip to the United States (US), a theory to address the concerns of the people has been introduced by Twitterati.

    After meeting President Donald Trump as well as top US govt officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, PM Imran on Wednesday left for Pakistan, marking the end of his three-day visit to Washington.

    While some termed the premier’s trip as a “historic” one owing to the chemistry he forged with President Trump and the crowd he pulled for the event at Capital One Arena, a group of social media users pointed out that Bushra Bibi was not accompanying PM Imran.

    Multiple theories made their way to Twitter as people started guessing why the first lady was nowhere to be seen; however, the most popular one remained that the premier was actually “saving taxpayers’ money”.

    “I, as a taxpayer, do not want my taxes wasted on irrelevant persons’ airfare and accommodation,” wrote one user.

    “Because our PM saves taxpayers’ money. It’s not a family tour,” wrote another.

    https://twitter.com/DCOP_Says/status/1153606504538419200

    Some, on the other hand, seemed to believe that the first lady’s choice of attire was the reason behind her absence in Trump’s America.

    https://twitter.com/ahmadmuzaf/status/1153672736721559552

    No official statement regarding Bushra Bibi’s absence has yet been released.