Tag: Opposition

  • Fawad blasts Opposition for criticising the new media authority bill without reading it

    Fawad blasts Opposition for criticising the new media authority bill without reading it

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to lash out at the Opposition stating that President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif and Chairperson Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto “have not read a word of election reform and Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) nor do they know what the proposals are.”

    “Our Opposition has only one role, to unite with the anti-government satan,” added Fawad.

     Shehbaz Sharif on Monday vowed to go against any government efforts to pass legislation related to the media.

    Shehbaz Sharif said no party in parliament will support this “black law” except for the government.

    “We will join forces with all political parties […] and take Opposition into confidence against this black law,” Shehbaz said, adding: “This is a matter of life and death for independent journalism, democracy, and constitutional freedom.”

    “If any other government had imposed such restrictions, it would have been overthrown,” said Shehbaz.

    Bilawal Bhutto also criticised the government for the proposed bill. He said, “We like it when Human Rights Watch (HRW) writes about injustice in Indian occupied Kashmir but go silent when it’s about Pakistan.”

    Taking a jibe at the government for its double standards, Bilawal added, “Human Rights Watch statement on PMDA legislation to silence Pakistan media must be read and this black law should be rejected as its against the freedom of speech in the country.”

  • ‘Nawaz Sharif was more interested in cricket and by chance became PM’: Imran Khan

    ‘Nawaz Sharif was more interested in cricket and by chance became PM’: Imran Khan

    Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing the launching ceremony of Defence Analyst Ikram Sehgal’s book, said, “I was friends with both former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif. Sharif was more interested in cricket and by chance, he became prime minister.”

    Speaking about his early days in politics a little over two decades ago, PM Khan said, “I knew them [Benazir and Nawaz] personally and they both offered me party tickets again and again, but I was opposed to their corruption and challenged them,” the premier recalled. 

    The premier said he had studied politics in university and therefore understood international politics, but every country has its own culture of politics. “I had no knowledge of Pakistani politics and that is how I began my career in it,” he said.

    Taking a jibe at the opposition, PM Khan said that the leaders of Pakistan’s political parties spent their summers abroad and never thought about the country. 

  • FY22 Budget passes: Did the Opposition lie?

    FY22 Budget passes: Did the Opposition lie?

    The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday passed the budget for the new fiscal year with majority vote amidst the Opposition’s hollow claims of giving the government a tough time.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan was present for today’s session, while former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari were also in attendance.

    The Finance Bill 2021-22 was discussed clause by clause in the House. Amendments proposed by treasury members were accepted while those proposed by the Opposition members were rejected.

    After the clause by clause reading was completed, a voice vote was conducted by the NA Speaker and the budget was passed.

    The Opposition did not challenge the voice vote since they did not have the required numbers.

    There were 172 votes in favour of the Finance Bill while 138 votes were against it. Meanwhile, senior Journalist, Hamid Mir claims that the total strength of the Opposition members in NA is 163 members. 25 opposition members were not present in the NA today,12 were from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and13 from other opposition parties.

    Earlier this month, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto had rejected the budget and vowed to give a tough time to the government inside the parliament.

  • ‘DID NOT go to Israel’: Zulfi Bukhari denies reports of secret visit to Israel, again

    ‘DID NOT go to Israel’: Zulfi Bukhari denies reports of secret visit to Israel, again

    Former Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari has denied going to Israel again, after Israel Hayom — an Israeli national Hebrew-language daily newspaper and news website — claimed on Monday that Zulfi Bukhari paid a brief visit to Israel in the last week of November 2020. The reported cited an unnamed source in Islamabad. Zulfi Bukhari tweeted that he did not go to Israel.

    This is Bukhari’s second denial regarding an alleged visit to Israel, months after Middle East Monitor claimed in a report that an adviser of PM Imran Khan visited Tel Aviv in November on his British passport. Middle East Monitor later apologised to Zulfi Bukhari for misreporting. “We accept Mr Bukhari’s refutation of the claims made in the report and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience it has caused,” concluded the letter dated December 23.

    Today, Zulfi Bukhari tweeted: “DIDNOT go to Israel. Funny bit is Pakistani paper says I went to Israel based on ‘Israeli news source’ & Israeli paper says I went to Israel based on a ‘Pakistani source’-wonder who this imaginative Pakistani source is.” He further added,” Apparently, I’m the only one who was kept out of the loop.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastgir Khan asked for a clarification from the government despite Zulfi’s denial.

    In November 2020, PM Imran Khan had said that the United States and some Muslim states, which he cannot name because of good ties with them, have been pressuring Pakistan to recognise Israel. However, PM Khan reiterated that Pakistan will never establish relations with the “Zionist” state until a just settlement of the decades-long Palestinian issue.

  • Opposition lawmakers and their supporters block access to the Balochistan Assembly

    Opposition lawmakers and their supporters block access to the Balochistan Assembly

    Chaotic scenes erupted outside Balochistan Assembly Friday as Opposition lawmakers and supporters held a protest outside the assembly and were baton-charged by the police.

    https://twitter.com/HoorainPervaiz/status/1405877399326117889

    Police said Opposition lawmakers had locked all four doors of the Balochistan Assembly to prevent the budget session from taking place today.

    The Opposition’s protest and clashes intensified when Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan arrived at the assembly.

    “We will not let the budget be passed until our demands are met,” the protesting lawmakers said.

    The sit-in has been staged against the “disregard for Opposition constituencies and release of funds to unelected persons”.

    Clashes erupted when police arrived at the assembly gate at the MPA Hostel when Opposition lawmakers and police exchanged heated words. Police managed to open the doors of the assembly so that the government lawmakers could enter for the budget session.

    Prior to this, supporters of the Opposition parties had blocked national highways in several cities of Balochistan. The Opposition accused the government of ignoring development projects in the budget.

    Opposition lawmakers had warned they would not let the provincial government present the budget on Friday.

    Leaders of the Opposition parties, according to Dawn, said they would not allow any MPA to enter the assembly on Friday if their proposed development projects were not included in the provincial Annual Development Programme (ADP). 

  • VIDEO: Govt, Opposition hurl abuses at each other

    VIDEO: Govt, Opposition hurl abuses at each other

    The National Assembly on Tuesday was complete mayhem as Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif addressed the lower house.

    Moments after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president started speaking, he was greeted with loud slogans and whistles from the treasury benches.

    Shehbaz continued his speech and questioned, “Imran Khan Niazi promised 10 million jobs. Where are those jobs?”

    “Where are the $300bn that was supposed to be brought back to the country from abroad?”

    Sharif said that PM Imran Khan’s claims of eliminating corruption from Pakistan were hollow.

    He criticised the budget, saying that it had failed to provide relief to the masses amid spiraling unemployment and inflation.

    Speaker Asad Qaiser kept interjecting, requesting lawmakers on the treasury benches to refrain from shouting while the Leader of the Opposition spoke.

    Amidst the chaos, members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government were seen hurling books at the Opposition and vice versa.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Ali Nawaz Awan can be seen in one video clip responding to abusive language by a PML-N lawmaker with expletives.

    A woman lawmaker tried to pull the PTI MNA away from the group of legislators who were shoving each other. He can be seen in the video throwing a booklet at the PML-N leader and shouting angrily at him.

    Twitterati condemned the chaos in parliament.

  • ‘The proposed budget has measures to give relief to the common man’: CM Buzdar

    ‘The proposed budget has measures to give relief to the common man’: CM Buzdar

    The Punjab government on Monday approved the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 today with an estimated total budget outlay of Rs2.653 trillion, including an Annual Development Programme (ADP) worth Rs560 billion.

    The budget session was the first one in the newly-constructed building of the Punjab Assembly. The total outlay of the budget has increased by more than 18% and the development budget has gained 66% compared with the current fiscal year.

    The Punjab Cabinet also approved the much-anticipated 10% increase in salaries and pension of provincial employees and also green-lighted the decision to increase the minimum wage of workers from Rs17,500 to Rs20,000.

    The Chief Minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar said that the budget is not a “magic of statistics” but is a document based on development.

    Taking a jibe at the Opposition, Buzdar said: “The job of the incompetent and failed Opposition is just to make noise. Criticising the government’s positive policies only for the sake of criticising make them look bad.”

    In the cabinet meeting, the Board of Revenue proposed to increase the agricultural tax. However, CM Buzdar and the Punjab Cabinet unanimously rejected the suggestion.

    “The proposed budget has measures to give relief to the common man,” CM Buzdar. “All targets are realistic and all priorities have been set in accordance with the needs of the masses.”

  • VIDEO: Firdous Ashiq Awan slaps PPP’s Qadir Mandokhel

    VIDEO: Firdous Ashiq Awan slaps PPP’s Qadir Mandokhel

    A video of Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan slapping Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhel has gone viral. The incident took place off-air after the two were seen brawling with each other on Express News‘ talk show, ‘Kal Tak with Javed Chaudhry’.

    https://twitter.com/Zohaib_Kibzai1/status/1402738011872321536

    In a verbal fight during the show, Mandokhel accused Awan of being corrupt, which led to a heated scuffle between the two. Firdous slapped Mandokhel after the argument.

    Awan claimed in a tweet that Mandokhel had used foul language which angered her, and that only a one-sided story was being shared in the viral video.

    She said that after consultation, legal action will be taken against Mandokhel.

    No statement has been issues by Mandokhel so far.

    Twitterati reacts to the slap

    Raza Rumi tweeted, “Is it a TV show or a madhouse with no warden?”

    “These are senior politicians. She is the face of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” tweeted another Twitter user.

    “She is taking advantage of being a woman. What if a man slapped her?,” read another tweet.

    https://twitter.com/mahey_nadeem/status/1402804442714476544
  • ‘We are not rulers and should not act as rulers,’ says PTI’s Noor Alam

    ‘We are not rulers and should not act as rulers,’ says PTI’s Noor Alam

    The government on Tuesday faced an embarrassing situation in the National Assembly when it received harsh criticism from its own members on the issue of load-shedding in various parts of the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP ) province where the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has been ruling for six years, as reported by Dawn.

    Four members of the PTI from KP invited the attention of the Minister of Energy Hammad Azhar to the “shortage of transformers and other electrical equipment resulting in load-shedding in KP, causing grave concern among the public”.

    The notice had been moved by Junaid Akbar Khan from Malakand, Imran Khattak from Nowshera, Sher Akbar Khan from Buner, and Gul Zafar Khan from Bajaur.

    The movers talked about load-shedding in their respective constituencies. Noor Alam Khan, PTI’s MNA from Peshawar, blasted the government not only on the issue of load-shedding but also price hike.

    The Opposition members kept on thumping desks throughout Khan’s speech, making Hammad Azhar angry. The minister, while responding to Noor Alam, alleged that he had delivered the speech for the galleries.

    Noor Alam said the minister did not have the correct information as the officials of his ministry and power companies provided him wrong information. He said on the one hand the government was charging Rs34 per unit from the people and on the other hand, people were not getting electricity.

    Khan said load-shedding and price hike were the two major issues being faced by the people. He said the MNA’s could not go to their constituents as they “abused” the MNA’s when they had no electricity.

    Khan said load-shedding and price hike were the two major issues being faced by the people. He said that parliamentarians could not go to their constituents as people “abused” them due to no electricity.

    “We are here to serve the people of Pakistan. We are not rulers and should not act as rulers,” he said.

    He added there was load-shedding of 22 to 24 hours in some areas.

    In response to Khan’s speech, Azhar blamed the previous two governments for the present situation in the country. He said the PTI government was not responsible for the wrongdoings of the previous regimes.

  • ‘Raiwand’s prime minister’ sent abroad despite conviction: Bilawal

    ‘Raiwand’s prime minister’ sent abroad despite conviction: Bilawal

    Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, said, “Raiwand’s prime minister” Nawaz Sharif was sent abroad despite being convicted.

    Bilawal said former president Asif Ali Zardari remains in Pakistan, moving from one doctor to another, despite his children telling him to go abroad and seek treatment.

    “If the president [Zardari] is from Nawabshah, he remains on medical bail despite trumped-up charges,” said chairman PPP.

    “I want to ask the prime minister (PM) what sort of accountability and justice is being implemented in the country? I want to ask the PM what kind of rule of law is there within the country?” Bilawal asked, adding that if the premier’s friends are being alleged of a crime, no action is taken against them.

    “This is revenge and political engineering and their ministers themselves accept it has hurt the economy,” added Bilawal.

    “If the prime minister and his sister are blamed for a crime, nothing happens to them,” Bilawal lashed out.

    However, if a former president from Nawabshah’s sister is blamed for something, then she is dragged to jail from her hospital bed, he said, referring to PPP leader Faryal Talpur.

    The PPP chairman denigrated the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and questioned its standards of accountability. “This system is a mockery of the Constitution,” said Bilawal.

    “If the Leader of Opposition is from Lahore (Shehbaz Sharif), he is awarded bail, and if the leader of Opposition hails from Sukkur (Khursheed Shah), he is denied the right and treated like a ping-pong ball — back and forth from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) courts to Supreme Court,” Bilawal said.

    The PPP chairman claimed the authorities were repeatedly blackmailing Shah’s children and his wife.

    Bilawal further said that the party would support Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly on the budget despite the inappropriate behaviour of some Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members.

    “I unconditionally say to Shehbaz Sharif in front of the media that all PPP members will be in your support with regards to parliament and this [upcoming] budget despite tantrums [of some PML-N members].”

    He said that PPP members would come and vote on the day of the budget and now it was up to Shehbaz as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly to “do his work and stop the government’s budget.”

    Bilawal was responding to a question on whether the PPP had been contacted on the budget issue and whether it would support the Opposition. He responded that despite the “inappropriate behaviour” of the PML-N and other political parties in the Opposition, the PPP had prioritised national issues and the budget over differences between the political parties.

    “So despite their insults, the PPP went to Shehbaz Sharif’s invitation for dinner so we can rid the people of economic difficulties. Unfortunately, our host was publicly insulted after that dinner by some officeholders of the PML-N,” said Bilawal, adding that flinging statements at guests was not a part of “our tradition, values, and culture”.

    The PPP chairman also lashed out at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), saying it should have offered resignations the same day or the next when the PPP had “supposedly” refused to listen to its demands and set out for its long march.

    “If they still want to do politics of resignations, then they should have given them by now.”

    Hitting out at the prime minister, the PPP chairman said that the statements since the past few weeks on the state of the economy showed that the “prime minister has no connection to the common man”.

    “The prime minister says Pakistan’s difficult time is over. Not sure about the common man but the IMF’s (International Monetary Fund) difficult time is over, for sure,” he said.

    Bilawal Bhutto said the government’s ministers had come around to accept the PPP’s stance on the economy and expressed the hope that Pakistan would escape the “IMF’s grip” in the budget next week.

    Bilawal similarly hit out at an ordinance for the creation of a new media body and said the PPP would continue to oppose it. He added that the recent attacks on journalists such as Asad Ali Toor or pressure being applied to media personnel such as Hamid Mir through petitions had “exposed the government’s weakness and insecurity”.