Tag: PDM

  • PDM nominates Gilani as joint candidate for Senate chairman

    PDM nominates Gilani as joint candidate for Senate chairman

    Yousaf Raza Gilani, who defeated Minister for Finance Hafeez Sheikh in the recent Senate polls, has been nominated by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as its joint candidate for Senate chairman. PDM decided this today in a meeting chaired by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The elections for Senate chairman will be held on March 12 and will be done through secret balloting.

    On the other hand, the government has announced the candidature of Sadiq Sanjrani as its nominee for Senate chairman.

    After Gilani’s surprise win in the Senate, PM Khan sought a vote of confidence in the National Assembly and won on Saturday. Needing the support of 172 MPs in the 342-seat House to retain its confidence, the prime minister secured 178 votes.

    In August 2019, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani survived a no-confidence move tabled against him by the joint opposition. The opposition’s no-trust motion against Sanjrani failed to receive the 53 votes required for his removal even though at the start of the session, 64 senators had stood up in support of the motion.

  • Will Hafeez Shaikh continue as finance minister?

    Will Hafeez Shaikh continue as finance minister?

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will soon be required to pick a new finance minister as Abdul Hafeez Shaikh’s tenure of six months is going to expire in June 2021 following his loss in the Senate election.

    Hafeez Shaikh, who took oath as Minister for Finance on December 11, 2020, was contesting for the Senate seat from Islamabad from the platform of the PTI and it was requisite for him to win the polls to continue the same portfolio since he was an unelected individual to head the ministry. However, under the Constitution, it would not be possible to serve as finance minister as he has been defeated by former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, the joint candidate of the PDM, in yesterday’s Senate race.

    According to reports, PTI lawmakers and allied parties’ lawmakers were not happy with the PM’s decision to award a ticket to his aide on finance as many saw Sheikh as a “parashooter” in the PTI ranks.

    It remains to be seen who will be the next finance minister.

  • PM Imran Khan to address nation tonight

    PM Imran Khan to address nation tonight

     Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation tonight at 06:45 pm. The development comes a day after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost his Senate seat in Islamabad.

    Reports suggest that the government has requisitioned a session of the National Assembly on Saturday so that the PM can seek a vote of confidence from the lawmakers. Yesterday, after former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated finance minister Hafeez Sheikh in the Senate election, the government held a power-packed press conference where it was announced by Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that PM Khan will seek a vote of confidence from parliament.

    Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari reminded PM Khan of his promise to dissolve the assembly if he lost the Islamabad Senate seat.

    Meanwhile, Information Minister Shibli Faraz tweeted that Prime Minister Khan has announced the name of Sadiq Sanjrani for Senate Chairmanship. Sources say that Yousaf Raza Gillani will be PDM’s candidate for Chairman Senate though his name has not yet been confirmed by PDM.

  • ‘Who voted for Gilani?’ – PDM defeats PTI in Senate election

    ‘Who voted for Gilani?’ – PDM defeats PTI in Senate election

    Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday emerged victorious against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

    After the result was announced, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and the former prime minister shook hands and hugged each other.

    The news of Hafeez’s defeat was told to him by Zain Qureshi — who was the minister’s polling agent — following which the two men embraced each other.

    Gilani secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 votes. Out of the total number of 341 votes, 6 were rejected and 1 was not polled.

    Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz celebrated the win in their tweets.

    Nawaz Sharif also tweeted, congratulating Gilani on the win.

    Meanwhile, PTI’s Dr Shahbaz Gill tweeted that the government will challenge this result

    PTI’s Shaukat Yousafzai also called a press conference, asking who voted for Gilani and alleged that money had a role to play. He also questioned the veracity of the results.

    The votes were done by secret ballot and it will be difficult for the government to determine who voted for whom.

  • Opp’s Gilani met PTI’s Tareen ahead of Senate elections, but both deny it

    Opp’s Gilani met PTI’s Tareen ahead of Senate elections, but both deny it

    As the country witnesses what are being termed by pundits as the “most controversial” Senate polls in its 74-year history, it has emerged that joint opposition’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani met with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen days before the critical electoral process marred by horse-trading allegations.

    Sources claim that Gilani, who is the Upper House candidate of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from Islamabad besides being a critical election for the opposition to give the ruling PTI a tough time, met Tareen at the wedding of another ruling party lawmaker’s son.

    Interestingly, both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart and Tareen, who reports claim is at odds with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government since after the sugar crisis scandal, have over the days leading to the Senate elections denied having met each other.

    “I have always strived for the PTI with my heart and soul and my support is always for the party,” Tareen was quoted as saying when he denied the meeting of which The Current also has photographic evidence.

    The former premier, on the other hand, had also refuted speculation that he met Tareen. “I have neither met Jahangir Tareen neither established contact with him,” he had told media persons on the same day as the PTI leader.

    “The two spent quite a lot of time at the wedding of veteran politician and PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana’s son on February 11. They exchanged pleasantries and were seen dining together on top of spending almost all their time at the event with each other,” sources told The Current.

    Sources, however, could not confirm the topics of discussion between the two leaders from rival parties and if then-forthcoming Senate polls or Gilani’s election, in particular, were among the things discussed between Gilani and Tareen.

    While Tareen and Gilani could not be reached out for a comment, another attendee of the said event, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has confirmed the encounter.

    Speaking to The Current, Sadiq said that Fatyana has good relations in each and every party and he had known the now PTI and former PML-N leader since the year 2000.

    “We have been colleagues since 2002. At his son’s wedding, I was the only MNA from PML-N. Gilani Sahib was the only one from PPP during the one hour I was there. If others came later, I have no idea. But there was no discussion on the issue of Senate at all.”

    While Sadiq did confirm Tareen’s presence and exchange of pleasantries between the politicians, he said that he did not notice any interaction between Gilani and Tareen for as long as he himself was there.

    A contest for the crucial Islamabad seat in the Senate is currently underway between Gilani and Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The vote count is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.

  • PTI leaders fed up with PM Imran, claims Maryam

    PTI leaders fed up with PM Imran, claims Maryam

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday held a meeting to discuss the strategy ahead of the Senate election.

    Addressing a joint press conference in Lahore, Maryam claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was increasingly becoming unpopular within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Maryam added that she hoped that every pro-democracy would oppose Imran Khan in the Senate elections.

    The PML-N vice president also reaffirmed her support for joint opposition candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani, saying the PML-N fully backs Gillani.

    “I hope every pro-democracy person will not vote for the PTI [in the Senate elections] because we think the PTI is guilty of crimes against the people and Imran Khan is guilty of crimes against the nation,” added Maryam.

    Talking to reporters, PPP chief Bilawal said that the government had suffered defeats in the recent by-elections. “The people have rejected them in every by-election,” he said.

    According to the PPP chairman, the PDM’s decision to contest the by-polls and the upcoming Senate elections has made the government anxious about its future.

    The PPP leader said that the PDM was not bringing about a no-confidence movement against the government at the moment and was only contesting the Senate elections.

    Speaking about the Senate elections, the PPP head said his party would ask every lawmaker for a vote in the Senate election.

    Bilawal said that the PDM believed in the constitution and in the principal that each democratic government should complete its constitutional tenure. However, he said that the current system was an unjust one where political allies of the incumbent government were “tied together” to it by force.

  • By-polls: Maryam shares videos of vote theft as PML-N claims victory on three seats

    By-polls: Maryam shares videos of vote theft as PML-N claims victory on three seats

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz shared videos on her Twitter handle, accusing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers of stealing ballot papers during the Wazirabad (PP-51) by-polls.

    The PML-N vice president alleged that her party supporters nabbed the ruling party workers trying to sneak out with ballot boxes. Maryam shared a number of videos seemingly showing unidentified persons carrying white bags and surrounded by enraged PML-N workers.

    “PTI people caught red-handed stealing bags full of votes by PMLN MPA Adil Chatta and Ataa Tarar. [The] seal was also broken. Police was a part of the plan to steal votes for PTI,” the vice president wrote on her handle.

    According to PML-N’s Ataa Tarar, the presiding officer stationed at the Virtual University polling station was allegedly casting fake votes. Tarar claimed the votes that were cast in the men’s section of the polling station were 600, but upon examination by the polling agent of the PML-N, 852 votes were found.

    In another video shared by the PML-N leader, a man could be seen sitting in a car with a white bag which is described by Maryam a bag of votes. “He was caught red-handed. PML-N workers did not allow him to escape. Rangers also present,” Maryam said in another tweet.

    Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took notice of the videos shared by the PML-N leader and summoned a report from the returning officer. The ECP later withheld the results over irregularities in polling.

    By-elections were held in four constituencies on Friday: two in Punjab and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the unofficial results, PML-N emerged victorious in Daska, Gujranwala and Nowshera (PK-63), whereas a PTI candidate was leading on Kurram (NA-45) seat.

    According to preliminary results obtained from 213 polling stations, PML-N candidate Nosheen Iftikhar was in the lead with 61,571 votes in NA-75 Sialkot, while the PTI candidate Ali Asjad Khan had obtained 55,872 votes. Maryam Nawaz claimed victory on the Daska seat. In Daska, at least two people –PML-N and PTI supporters — were killed as a result of firing on a polling station.

    In Wazirabad, PML-N’s Begum Talat Shaukat bagged 53,903 votes, while PTI’s Chaudhry Yousuf stood runner-up with 48,484 votes. Wazirabad’s PP-51 fell vacant after PML-N MPA Shaukat Manzoor Cheema died on June 3, 2020.

    In Nowshera, PML-N candidate Ikhtiar Wali, backed by the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement, won the by-election by securing 21,112 votes against his rival candidate Mian Umer Kakakhel of the PTI, who got 17,023 votes.

    PTI’s Fakharuzzaman Bangash clinched victory after receiving 16,911 votes, while independent candidate Haji Syed Jamal secured 15,560 votes.

  • Kaira leaves TV show after host calls Maryam, Bilawal ‘immature’

    Kaira leaves TV show after host calls Maryam, Bilawal ‘immature’

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Qamaruz Zaman Kaira walked out of a TV show after a minor argument with the show host Ehtesham Amiruddin and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry over their criticism of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz.

    During the show, Fawad termed the politics of Maryam and Bilawal “immature” and called them “kids” who were playing politics. “They have no idea of the Pakistani politics,” he said, adding both political parties have no future in the country.

    At this, Kaira, who had joined the show via telephone, clapped back at Fawad, saying he’s calling Maryam a “kid” when she is older than him. At this, Fawad said he meant that Maryam was not an experienced politician.

    Kaira responded that she might have more experience in politics than Fawad Chaudhry. Kaira also criticised the PTI for being a party of trolls. He said they resort to trolling in response to criticism against their party or to damage the stature of the opposition leaders.

    Fawad rebutted Maryam and Bilawal have no political standing and it was unfortunate that people like Kaira have to defend them. “Don’t worry, they are very good politicians,” Kaira responded.

    At this, the TV host tried to clarify, saying that what Fawad wanted to say was that both the PPP chairman and PML-N vice president were “politically immature”.

    Irked by the interjection, Kaira told the host that he didn’t need him to speak for Fawad as he knew very well what the PTI leader meant. “I understood what he meant… more than you,” Kaira told the host.

    The host then went on to say that he too agrees with Fawad that statements by Maryam and Bilawal that criticise the army were a sing of “political immaturity”.

    Kaira responded that the anchorpersons are supposed to moderate the shows, not give their “judgements”. At this, the host said it was not fair that his opinion was being considered as judgement, while Kaira can give his opinion without any problem.

    However, the things continue to go south and Kaira eventually left the show by disconnecting the telephone call.

  • Good news for Gillani after arrival at ECP with two other prime ministers

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday approved former prime minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gillani’s application to transfer his vote to Islamabad; after he arrived at the election watchdog’s office with two other former premiers.

    Gillani is reportedly being fielded for the federal capital seat in the upper house of the parliament by the join opposition, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

    The former premier’s vote has been registered at his address of Sector F-8 in Islamabad, making him eligible to contest the Senate elections from the federal capital.

    He had moved the ECP on Friday and arrived at the election watchdog’s office on Saturday with his successor Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

    Earlier, Abbasi’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) announced to support Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Gillani in the Senate elections.

    The decision was taken after a meeting between Abbasi and Gillani to hold consultations to field a joint candidate of the PDM.

    The two former premiers, Ashraf and Abbasi, acted as the proponent and seconder in candidate Gillani’s papers.

    Meanwhile, Farhatullah Babar has been named as PDM’s joint candidate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

  • PPP, PML-N finalise names for Senate elections

    PPP, PML-N finalise names for Senate elections

    The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have announced their candidates for the upcoming Senate elections on March 3, with both parties along with other Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties agreeing to propose ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani as a joint candidate from Islamabad.

    According to reports, the PDM has also decided to name Farhatullah Babar as joint nominee on a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seat.

    PML-N CANDIDATES:

    The list of the PML-N nominees against the general seats includes the name of PML-N parliamentary leader in the house Mushahidullah Khan, Pervaiz Rasheed and Professor Sajid Mir.

    The party has named former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s sister, Saadia Abbasi, as a nominee for a reserved seat for women while Azam Tarar will contest on the seat reserved for technocrats.

    PML-N’s KP chapter will later nominate the party’s candidates for the Senate from the province.

    PPP NOMINEES:

    Eight PPP senators are set to retire on March 11. But three of them — PPP Parliamentary Leader Sherry Rehman, Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla and Farooq H Naek — are contesting the elections for this term as well.

    Former senator Taj Haider is also among the nominees. Former senator Farhatullah Babar and former PM Gilani are among the proposed joint PDM candidates from KP and Islamabad, respectively.