Tag: joint committee

  • PM Shehbaz’s alleged audio leak; Govt forms JIT

    PM Shehbaz’s alleged audio leak; Govt forms JIT

    The federal government has constituted a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate the data hacked from Prime Minister’s (PM) House, after several audio leaks surfaced on the internet.

    Following the audio leaks, an investigation was initiated to probe the data leak from the PM House, with one member each in the JIT to be included from the country’s intelligence agencies.

    The investigative team will examine how the data was hacked and will investigate if devices were installed in the PM House or if the phone calls were recorded. The team will also check which officers were present in the house at the time of the incident. Meanwhile, Special Branch personnel designated at the PM’s secretariat will also be interrogated.

    The premier has also called a meeting of the National Security Committee on Wednesday, September 27, related to the recording at the PM House. The meeting will be attended by the heads of security agencies.

    On Saturday, September 24, alleged audios of PM Shehbaz and other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders leaked online.

    In one of the audio clips, PML-N Vice-president Maryam Nawaz allegedly can be heard complaining to her uncle [PM Shehbaz] about Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.

    The second clip allegedly concerns a conversation between PM Shehbaz, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Law Minister Azam Tarar, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and former National Assembly (NA) speaker Ayaz Sadiq about the resignations of PTI MNAs. The audio is said to be a recording of a cabinet meeting.

    Party leaders can be allegedly heard discussing whose resignations from PTI will be accepted. Moreover, the leaders can be heard saying that the final decision will be taken by PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif who is in London.

    In another audio clip, PM Shehbaz and an unidentified man can be heard allegedly discussing facilitating Maryam Nawaz’s son-in-law Raheel.

  • Ministry of Information to form joint committee for media authority bill

    Ministry of Information to form joint committee for media authority bill

    The Ministry of Information has decided to form a joint committee after consultations with representatives of all media institutions and organisations.

    The committee will review the proposed media regulation and make recommendations. The Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) has apparently been postponed for the time being.

    Journalists staged a protest in front of the Parliament House against the proposed PMDA, which aims to muzzle media freedom. The protest started on Sunday, September 12. Journalists marched from the National Press Club to the Parliament House and stayed overnight.

    As journalists continued with sit-in outside of the Parliament House against the government’s proposed PMDA, prominent leaders from political parties, student unions, and members of the civil society also joined in to show solidarity.

    In a first in Pakistan’s history, reporters were not allowed to enter a joint session of Parliament on Monday, September 13.

    Parliamentary reporters were to be present in the press gallery for President Alvi’s address but entered the hallway to find that the door was locked. The press gallery was closed for the journalists.

    The Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) strongly condemned the closure of the press gallery and said, “Closing the gallery is the worst dictatorship.”

    However, National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser said that he closed the doors of the press gallery during the president’s speech to a joint session of parliament after getting ‘reports’ that there was a possibility of a ruckus between two journalists’ groups.

    The Speaker claimed that he made this decision after consulting the PRA.

    “I couldn’t afford a fight between two groups in Parliament which could have resulted in the disrespect of media and the House,” Qaiser said adding, “however, there was some misunderstanding.”