Tag: Opposition

  • COVID-19: PM bans political rallies across country

    As anti-government protests of the joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) gain momentum, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has announced a ban on political rallies across the country on recommendation of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), journalist Asad Ali Toor has reported.

    According to the details, the ban was announced by the premier as he addressed the nation following a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on the COVID-19 pandemic, a second wave of which is currently taking toll on Pakistan.

    Earlier it was announced by the PM’s Office in Islamabad that the premier would address a press briefing after the meeting. 

    The meeting comes after the NCOC recommended urgent measures to the NCC to control the rapidly-increasing infections across the country, Geo reported.

    The NCOC recommended limiting all public gatherings to 500 people, including cultural, political, religious, entertainment, and civil gatherings.

    It also suggested allowing only outdoor dining till 10 pm, shutting down cinemas and theatres, and closing down shrines beside an early closure of markets and safe days.

    Meanwhile, the decision on early and extended winter vacations in schools was deferred till November 23, the Ministry of Federal Education/Professional Training said.

  • PM claims to have intelligence on Nawaz’s ‘treason’

    PM claims to have intelligence on Nawaz’s ‘treason’

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has claimed to have intelligence on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, alleging that former ambassador to the United States (US) Hussain Haqqani was “running Nawaz’s communication strategy”.

    Speaking to a private media outlet on Thursday, the premier was referring to the former PM’s recent speeches in public meetings of his party and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) during which he had accused the army establishment of orchestrating his ouster.

    Nawaz had gone on to name the Army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chiefs and said that there was “a state above the state”.

    Reacting to his political rival’s statements, Imran on Thursday accused Nawaz of trying to create rifts within the armed forces by encouraging army personnel to “rebel against” the military leadership.

    “When they say that the [military leadership] is bad and the rest of the army is good; is army a democratic party that would move a no-confidence motion? You [Nawaz] are telling the army to launch a coup, to rebel [against the leadership]. Can there be a bigger [form of] treason?”

    When asked if the government would take up a treason case against Nawaz, the premier did not give a clear answer and said, “Treason cases are hard to prove.”

    He said that he had information on Nawaz’s activities but added that “court cases cannot be filed on agencies’ reports”.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “A person who is sitting outside in a Mayfair luxury flat bought with stolen money is telling the army [personnel] to rebel. He is also trying to drive a wedge in the judiciary by taking the name of one judge saying he is good while another, who was a chief justice and gave the Panama judgement against him, was a bad judge.”

    “Imran Khan is a Bollywood villain but Nawaz is a democrat. The person who grew up in Ziaul Haq’s lap is a democrat today, while Imran Khan who started his party from scratch, who mobilised people to come to power is an army puppet!”

    “Nawaz Sharif suits India, not Imran Khan.”

  • PM believes his popularity is rising, opposition is propagandising inflation

    PM believes his popularity is rising, opposition is propagandising inflation

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said the opposition was just propagandising inflation as all economic indicators were highlighting a positive trend, The News reported.

    He expressed these views while chairing a meeting to review the overall political situation in the country as well as the government’s media strategy. Imran directed his economic team to highlight the successes achieved by the government in the media.

    He said the political leaders responsible for the current economic mess were misleading the masses to save their face and politics. He maintained that it was due to the policies of the previous governments that the masses were suffering, say media reports.

    “We have overcome the effects of their economic decisions after two years of work and finally the economy is witnessing stability,” he added. The premier said the benefits of growing economy would soon be shifted to the masses.

    “The economic team should tell the masses as to how the previous governments ruined the economy,” he said.

    The premier added that the public gatherings in Swat and Hafizabad had once again proved that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) enjoyed the confidence of masses.

    “PTI will also clean sweep the Gilgit-Baltistan elections as the support of the people at the rallies prove the rise in our popularity,” he said.

  • Shahid Khaqan Abbasi ‘approached with offer to form government’

    Former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has claimed that during his time in jail over corruption allegations, he was approached with an offer to form a government.

    “I told the messengers to go and talk to party supreme leader Nawaz Sharif instead,” the former premier said while speaking to The News.

    Avoiding naming the messenger, Abbasi added that both Nawaz and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) would not be willing to be part of any dialogue leading to the setting up of what he termed “another hybrid government”.

    He reiterated his stance for an inter-institution dialogue for the sake of a better future for Pakistan, and added that Nawaz would be ready to be part of a meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders.

    Abbasi said that Nawaz Sharif’s recent speeches were not meant to humiliate anyone but to identify the problems and fix them for the sake of a brighter future and in the interest of the people of Pakistan.

    To a question, he said that it was his personal view that an inter-institution dialogue was the only way forward for the country.

    When asked if Nawaz would agree to such an idea, he responded in the affirmative and said that the PML-N supremo had no personal agenda or grudge with anyone but wanted to address the fundamental wrongs of the system, which could only be corrected through a meaningful dialogue process.

    He said that the purpose of the opposition’s current public mobilisation campaigns was to pave the way for a meaningful dialogue process.

    He explained that neither Nawaz nor the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is against institutions; instead, they only refer to the mistakes of certain individuals holding responsible positions.

    READ: Ex-PM Abbasi speaks about meeting on economy with Gen Bajwa

    Once again referring to Nawaz’s recent speeches, he said that although the PML-N supremo had named the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chiefs, the purpose was not to humiliate them but to point out what went wrong.

    He said that all the stakeholders should sit together for the greater good of the masses instead of focusing on personal issues and grudges.

    Regarding the PML-N’s contacts with the establishment, he said that politicians and the establishment have always maintained contacts but after the recent episodes, where such contacts were revealed in a scandalous manner, the trust level for such interactions was dashed. At times, these contacts are made in the best national interest, he said, but the manner in which such meetings were recently portrayed, has compelled the PML-N to stop such interactions.

    Abbasi maintained that currently there was no contact between the PML-N and the establishment and such contacts could not be restored before the revival of trust between the two sides.

  • VIDEO: ‘Shoes, dresses and makeup don’t make you a leader,’ info minister to Maryam Nawaz

    VIDEO: ‘Shoes, dresses and makeup don’t make you a leader,’ info minister to Maryam Nawaz

    Going full sexist in his tirade against the opposition, Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz has trained guns at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz and said that “shoes, dresses and makeup do not make one a leader”.

    Addressing a press conference, Faraz, who is the top mouthpiece of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, said that Maryam owed her career to dynastic politics and thought of herself as the late prime minister (PM) Benazir Bhutto.

    “Benazir was a well-educated lady […] shoes, dresses and makeup do not make you a leader. To be one, you need to live like a common person,” he said while launching a verbal attack against thrice former PM Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, who has time and again been criticised for her luxurious lifestyle and rather expensive dresses, footwear as well as accessories.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The minister also spoke at length against opposition parties’ alleged corruption and misuse of authority during their respective tenures in the past.

  • Joint opposition in Gujranwala: Hit or flop?

    Joint opposition in Gujranwala: Hit or flop?

    The first rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) turned out to be “resounding success” for the joint opposition that claimed over 50,000 people took to streets against the government on Friday.

    The gathering held in Gujranwala — the stronghold of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — was attended by the PML-N workers in thousands, followed by the members the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), who made their presence felt.

    The flags belonging to the Awami National Party (ANP), National Party (NP) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) dotted the venue; however, their participation paled compared to the three aforementioned major parties.

    By 6 pm, the venue was jam-packed and the tailback affected all the roads leading to Jinnah Stadium — a fact that corroborates the opposition’s claims.

    The day, however, belonged to the PML-N, whose supporters thronged the venue in thousands to record their protest against the government. Maryam Nawaz led a massive rally from Lahore to the city, where all national and provincial seats are held by her party, and her father Nawaz Sharif made a hard-hitting speech that showed he was in no mood for reconciliation.

    The PPP also managed to rally its supporters who followed their chairperson Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari to Gujranwala from Lala Musa in a caravan, whereas Maulana Fazlur Rehman, with his white and black JUI-F flags, entered the venue with a bang.

    But the government downplayed the PDM jalsa, as its ministers pointed out lack of coordination among the opposition parties and also claimed that the number of the participants was no more than 18,000, as per Radio Pakistan.

    COVID-19 GUIDELINES FLOUTED:

    The massive gathering also blatantly flouted the anti-coronavirus measures, especially at a time when the second wave is in the offing. It is understandable that social distancing was not possible in a small stadium, but face masks — an effective precautionary measure — were also conveniently ignored.

    Out of the party leaders, only some were covering their faces, but they too removed them once they started addressing the gathering. PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz and JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman and his party leaders did not wear masks at all.

    As for the crowd, a negligent number of people bothered to wear face masks as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.

    In a comment on the state of anti-coronavirus measures at the venue, a Dawn report said, “It was both sad and comical to watch the policemen insisting that people [who were not wearing masks] enter the stadium via the so-called senitising gates that were fitted with sprinklers spraying some kind of miracle water on those who walked through.”

  • Info minister Shibli Faraz shares ‘father’s poetry’, is told it is not Ahmad Faraz but Ghalib’s ghazal

    Info minister Shibli Faraz shares ‘father’s poetry’, is told it is not Ahmad Faraz but Ghalib’s ghazal

    In a rather embarrassing development, Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Friday had to delete a tweet criticising the opposition after he was told that the poetry he had shared as that of his father, Ahmad Faraz, was actually a ghazal by Mirza Ghalib.

    “Jiski bahaar yeh ho uski khizaa naa pooch [don’t ask about the autumn of whose spring is this],” the minister said in the deleted tweet aimed at mocking the joint opposition for what the government called was “an empty stadium” in Gujranwala during the maiden public gathering of the opposition parties’ anti-government campaign.

    The tweet was deleted after journalist and Geo News Managing Director Azhar Abbas told him that the phrase the minister had attributed to his father and late poet Ahmad Faraz was actually from a ghazal by classical Urdu poet from the 19th Century, Mirza Ghalib.

    “I think it’s Ghalib’s not Ahmad Faraz’s,” Abbas tweeted.

    Shibli Faraz, who is serving as the federal minister for information and broadcasting since April 28, 2020, is a member of the Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) since 2015. He is the son of the late renowned poet Ahmad Faraz, who was displaced by dictators for also being a vocal critic of military rule.

  • Ahead of Maryam’s jalsa, FIRs registered in Gujranwala for violating coronavirus SOPs

    Ahead of Maryam’s jalsa, FIRs registered in Gujranwala for violating coronavirus SOPs

    Over 100 people, including internet service providers, sound system organisers and residents holding corner meetings, have been named in at least seven FIRs [First Information Reports] at different police stations across Gujranwala for violating coronavirus guidelines ahead of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz’s jalsa.

    The daughter of former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif is due to hold a public gathering in the city on October 16 as part of the joint opposition’s anti-government campaign. She is expected to be joined by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as well in what is expected to be a mammoth power show by opposition parties.

    While PM Imran Khan has reportedly given permission to the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for holding its protest rallies that are expected to feature fiery speeches against the government and security establishment as it puts forward 26 demands, including the resignation of the premier, sources claim that authorities concerned are springing into action in this regard.

    “After Federal Minister Sheikh Rasheed’s warning that the next few months could be critical in terms of internal security and any prominent personal could suffer an attempt on his or her life, coronavirus is being used as a reason to bar the opposition from protesting against the government,” they alleged.

    However, according to the police, the people named in the aforementioned FIRs had not been following coronavirus SOPs, especially social distancing rules.

    “Residents have to submit a request for an NOC [no-objection certificate] before holding gatherings,” a police officer said, adding that Gujranwala’s chief police officer had instructed the police to ensure strict implementation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the city.

    “The government has been cracking down on restaurants and other public spaces across the country for violation of SOPs since the number of cases in Pakistan spiked again in September,” he said.

    NEW COVID-19 RULES:

    Earlier in the day, it was also reported that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has said public gatherings should preferably be avoided and those that are held, their duration should not exceed for more than three hours.

    Interestingly, the NCOC made it clear that the guidelines were not for wedding events or sports ones as separate SOPs had been issued for the former and for the latter, will be released soon.

    The NCOC defined a public gathering as an event “where people are assembled on any given space; indoor or outdoor, for some purpose such as cultural events, religious gatherings, sports events, entertainment/cultural events, parties, political gatherings or other similar events”. 

    The following public gatherings will have to follow the newly issued guidelines: 

    • Entertainment/Cultural Gatherings

    • Public gatherings of Unions/Associations or any such group

    • Religious gatherings

    • Political gatherings

    • Family gatherings

    • Civil society group gatherings

    • Sports related gatherings (SOPs to be issued separately)

    • Marriage (being a frequent & obligatory activity) has been excluded from the list and a separate list of SOPs comprising strict restrictions has already been issued for it

    A day earlier, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) had warned that a second coronavirus wave could hit the country this winter. 

    The PMC warned authorities and the general public about the foreseeable second spike of coronavirus, saying that it is likely to start from educational institutions as it happened in the United States (US), India and Iran.

  • VIDEO: ‘ISI keeps a check on prime ministers,’ Imran reveals

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has revealed that Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), keeps a check on the country’s chief executives and is the first to know when any government is involved in corruption.

    Addressing a ceremony organised by the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) in Islamabad on Friday, he claimed that ISI’s check on the integrity of PMs was the actual reason behind opposition parties’ clash with the security establishment. Reports quoted Imran as saying that if he too “started laundering money” out of the country, the ISI would find out about it before anyone else “because it is the world’s top agency”.

    “Military is unlike other institutions. They [former ruling parties] manipulated all institutions that were responsible to keep checks and balances, except one. They know the ISI is aware of all their theft. They try to control it and that’s where the conflict starts,” he said.

    Mocking Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and deposed PM Nawaz Sharif, who, in recent weeks, has levelled serious allegations of political interference against the armed forces, the premier commented on the claim that Nawaz was asked to step down by ex-ISI chief Zaheerul Islam.

    “Why did he [Islam] say that? And why did you [Nawaz] silently hear that? Because Zaheerul Islam knew how much money you had stolen,” PM Imran said and added that Nawaz “fought with every army chief” because he wanted to turn the military into Punjab police.

    Referring to what he termed Nawaz’s “attacks” on the Pakistan Army, he said, “If anyone is going around with India’s agenda, it is the [opposition].” He added that if the Pakistani military was weakened, the country would see similar turbulence as in other Muslim countries such as Libya, Syria and Yemen.

    “We are safe today because of the sacrifices rendered by our armed forces,” the premier stressed.

    Imran said the reason he did not have any “problems” with the army and the military supported every agenda of his government was because of his clean record.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Furthermore, the PM sent a warning to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — an opposition alliance launching anti-government protests next week. “The moment you break the law, you will go straight to jail — and not to a VIP jail, but where the poor are sent,” he said.

    The premier said that all the “employed” opposition politicians had united on one platform because “they consider themselves above the law” and “unanswerable”.

    PM Imran said that the PDM was the latest attempt by the opposition to obtain an NRO-like agreement. He drew parallels between the PDM and the opposition’s attempts to “blackmail” the government over the passage of legislation concerning the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

    “The day they get an NRO would be the downfall of Pakistan,” he added.

    Referring to the opposition’s allegation of the vote having been stolen in the 2018 elections, the premier said he had gotten “the most votes in Pakistan and won from five constituencies.”

    “I am democracy,” he declared.

  • Nawaz muted as PEMRA bans airing of speeches by absconding, proclaimed offenders

    Nawaz muted as PEMRA bans airing of speeches by absconding, proclaimed offenders

    Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on Thursday barred television channels from airing the speeches of the absconding accused and proclaimed offenders.

    The regulatory body in a handout barred to broadcast the speeches and interviews of proclaimed offenders and absconders on national television. PEMRA also barred the broadcast of any sort of debate on the possible outcome of the undergoing trials.

    The decision has come after the speeches of the absconding three-time prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif were broadcast on the national television and the government demanded the authorities to take notice of it.

    Nawaz was seen “laughing the ban off”.

    https://twitter.com/MurtazaViews/status/1311709224045604864?s=19

    “A lot more might follow,” he said during an informal conversation with journalists in London.

    In October 2019, PEMRA directed all satellite television channels licensees to form an in-house committee to ensure compliance with the Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015.

    The directives issued by PEMRA said that TV channels should ensure deployment of effective time delay mechanism and an impartial and independent Monitoring Committee or Editorial Board be constituted, as required under clause 17 of Electronic Media (Programs and Advertisement) Code of Conduct 2015, Radio Pakistan reported.

    The news channels’ owners have been asked not to allow their platform to be used by anyone to mislead the public through disinformation conjecturing and speculations.

    PEMRA warned the media owners that licencees shall be held responsible for any biased, unfair analysis or propaganda against the judiciary and state institutions by their employees.

    It also advised media channels to invite participants with due care, having credibility as fair and unbiased analysts with requisite knowledge and expertise on the subject matter.