Sindh Minister for Revenue Makhdoom Mehboub Zaman gifted a garland made of dollars and a gold tiara to his private secretary Saif Ali Shah at his wedding ceremony in Hyderabad.
Apart from the minister, Member of National Assembly (MNA) Makhdoom Jameel uz Zaman and other officials also participated in the wedding ceremony held in Hyderabad.
The pictures of the groom wearing the garland while sitting with the minister have gone viral on social media.
Member of National Assembly (MNA) and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir has been released from Central Jail Karachi today (Tuesday) after more than two years behind bars.
Wazir was transferred to Central Jail Karachi on 31 December 2020 on sedition charges for delivering hate speeches.
In November, Peshawar High Court’s Bannu Bench granted bail to Wazir in one sedition case.
Earlier, Wazir also claimed that his life was in danger. He was admitted to Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate and Medical Centre, where he claimed that he was attacked twice.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Wednesday submitted a reply to Islamabad High Court (IHC) in reply to a disqualification petition filed against him for not disclosing details about his daughter Tyrian Jade White in his nomination papers.
In the reply, Khan requested the court to dismiss the petition, arguing that he is not a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) anymore, therefore such a petition is “not maintainable and may not be proceeded”.
Moreover, he said that the IHC could not examine the “veracity or otherwise of any declaration or affidavit issued” in the exercise of its constitutional jurisdiction, especially with respect to a person who had ceased to hold public office.
Last year, Sajid Mehmood filed a petition in the IHC claiming that although Imran made arrangements for Tyrian White in the United Kingdom (UK), he did not disclose information about her in his nomination papers or in affidavits filed by him, a pretext necessary for contesting elections in the country.
Tyrian, born in 1992 to the late American heiress Sita White, is alleged to be Khan’s biological child. Her mother passed away in 2004 when Tyrian was 12 years old.
The federal government has decided to publicly disclose the details and records of gifts received and deposited in the Toshakhana over the past two decades.
The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting after the government faced backlash for it’s reluctance to disclose the list of gifts.
The Toshakhana was established in 1978. All public officeholders, including parliamentarians and bureaucrats, are bound to report the gifts they have received from foreign dignitaries to the Cabinet Division, whereafter they are to be deposited at the Toshakhana.
Earlier, the incumbent government told Lahore High Court (LHC) that public disclosure of Toshakhana details could cause unnecessary media hype and could be potentially damaging to Pakistan’s foreign relations.
Former Prime Minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has been accused of not sharing details of the state gifts which he received during his tenure as the head of government.
Last year, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) also disqualified the PTI chief as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in the Toshkhana case.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member National Assembly (MNA) and member Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Sheikh Rohail Asghar was denied service at the Islamabad Club for wearing a Dhoti, the traditional Punjabi attire.
Expressing his anger, Asghar said, “Shalwar Kameez is our national dress and Dhoti a cultural dress. If I don’t wear a suit, then no one serves food in the club.” He tainted the club’s management, remarking that the British left the country, but their “remnants” still followed their rules.
The club’s secretary said that a formal dress code was applicable in the formal dining hall, as it was part of the club’s tradition and hence Asghar was denied service. He observed that Islamabad Club is not a cultural club.
PAC directed the management of Islamabad Club to call a board meeting to review the dress code and resolve the issue. There were also concerns over the financial affairs of the Islamabad Club and the committee sought an audit report in the next meeting.
Claim: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto reached out to Pakistani students in Columbia University and NYU, both rejected to being his audience for a talk
Fact: Bilawal Bhutto never contacted Pakistani students in NYU or Columbia University and so was never rejected by him
On May 27, Shandana Gulzar Khan, a former PTI MNA made a tweet claiming that she has been told by “a person in a sensitive post”, that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached out to Pakistani students at Columbia University and New York University, requesting them to arrange a talk with him but both organizations refused. The thread continues onwards and claims that after these two disappointments, Bhutto asked Pakistani students at Cornell to arrange a talk with him, which they first accepted and then at the insistence of the general student body, eventually rejected as well.
This thread gathered 1,622 Likes, RTs and replies and has been shared to at least 562,647 followers on Twitter.
The following day, on May 28, the Pakistani Students Association at NYU and the Organization of Pakistani Students at Columbia University both made announcements on Facebook clarifying that Bilawal Bhutto never contacted them so naturally they never rejected his proposal.
To confirm with the final university, we reached out to the Pakistani students’ organization at Cornell on their Facebook page ‘Cornell University Pakistani Students Association’. They directed us to an Instagram post which clarified the same as the other two organizations.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has taken oath as 30th Foreign Minister of Pakistan today (Wednesday).
The 33-year-old minister joined Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif-led cabinet in an oath-taking ceremony held at Aiwan-i-Sadr, Islamabad.
He was elected as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) in the general elections 2018. It is for the first time he will be serving as a member of the federal cabinet.
Former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto first took the charge of the Ministry of Foreign Ministry in 1963 at the age of 35 during the regime of General Ayub Khan.
As foreign minister, Bhutto significantly transformed Pakistan’s hitherto pro-Western foreign policy. Moreover, he began asserting a foreign policy course for Pakistan that was independent of the United States (US) influence.
Bhutto worked to establish stronger relations with China. Bhutto also signed the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement on March 2, 1963, which transferred 750 square kilometers of territory from Azad Kashmir to Chinese control.
Moreover, Bhutto advocated hardline and confrontational policies against India over the Kashmir conflict and other issues.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday observed that not counting a vote that has been cast during the no-confidence vote against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan would be “contemptuous”.
CJP Bandial further questioned that for how long a dissident Member of the National Assembly (MNA) could be disqualified.
He made the remarks during the hearing of a presidential reference seeking the Supreme Court’s opinion on Article 63-A of the Constitution.
Earlier, during the hearing, Justice Mandokhail questioned whether the MNA’s vote could be counted in the proceedings conducted before he was de-seated, observing there was no mention of not counting a vote in the 18th Amendment.
Justice Akhtar observed that the purpose of Article 63-A was to stop defection from party policies. “The party’s collective opinion is above an individual opinion. The collective opinion is important for the stability of democracy.” He said one interpretation of Article 63-A was that the vote of dissidents should not be counted.
Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan argued that the real issue was about clarifying Article 63-A(4). “Someone who violates the Constitution by defection cannot be praised. We cannot read what’s not written in the Constitution. Article 62(1)(f) states that an MNA should be honest and righteous.
“Should defecting from the party be rewarded? Can those who are dishonest be considered righteous?” he asked.
Justice Mandokhail replied that every MNA had the right to vote in accordance with Article 95, which deals with the procedure to bring in a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.
“If vote can be cast, it can also be counted,” he observed, asking the AGP why the government was seeking the court’s opinion if it already had the answer. “If you agree with this point, then withdraw this reference,” he added.
Earlier, SCBA submitted its response in the apex court, stating that voting is an individual right of an MNA instead of a political party’s collective right under Article 95.
It declared the MNAs’ right to vote for the no-confidence motion against the prime minister to be an individual capacity in its response to the presidential reference for the interpretation on Article 63A of the Constitution Pakistan.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Shahbaz Gill’s use of foul language towards his fellow party member of National Assembly (MNA) Ramesh Kumar.
During Dunya News‘ programme “On the Front with Kamran Shahid” on Thursday, Gill verbally abused Kumar multiple times, paying no heed to the fact that he was speaking on national television.
Earlier in the day, Kumar announced that he is “no longer associated with the party”.
In a tweet, HRCP said it is “revolted by Shahbaz Gill’s crass choice of words for his colleague Kumar”.
“What should have been a civilised debate on a politically critical issue crumbled into a litany of abuse.” HRCP also criticised anchor Kamran Shahid for ignoring such a serious matter.
Another member of the ruling party MNA Aliya Hamza called Sindh House a “brothel” on Dawn News‘ programme “News Eye” hosted by anchorperson Absa Komal.
Both Gill and Aliya’s words came after it was revealed that around 24 disgruntled members of the PTI were staying at the Sindh House who are likely to vote on no-confidence motion against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan despite their party’s decision to “not vote”.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved its decision on the maintainability of an application filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Faisal Vawda against his lifetime disqualification from parliament, reports Dawn.
Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified Vawda as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) and ordered him to withdraw the notification appointing him as senator for concealing his dual nationality.
Later, the PTI leader approached the IHC. In his appeal, he stated that Section 8C of the Elections Act, 2017 allowed the ECP to conduct an election but did not empower it to disqualify a candidate. According to him, the commission was directed by the court to “probe the issue of falsity or otherwise of the affidavit expeditiously as per a judgment of the Supreme Court (SC)”.
The commission said Vawda had submitted a “false affidavit” when submitting nomination papers. However, Vawda’s lawyer, Wasim Sajjad argued in the court that his client [Vawda] did not submit a false affidavit.
Sajjad maintained that Vawda cancelled his United States (US) passport and acquired a certificate from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and said that he [Vawda] is only a Pakistani citizen.
Vawda secured the National Assembly seat (NA-249) in July 2018 and got elected as a Senator last year.
As per the commission, Vawda can approach the Supreme Court (SC) against its verdict.