Tag: PDM

  • Khawaja Asif arrested; ‘had a bag packed already’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif was on Tuesday arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) from Islamabad, a spokesperson for the bureau and PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb confirmed.

    As per the details, Asif was taken into custody in the backdrop of an ongoing investigation into allegations of him possessing assets beyond known sources of income to the tune of whopping Rs260 million.

    Aurangzeb said he was arrested from near PML-N general secretary Ahsan Iqbal’s house.

    He has been taken to the NAB Rawalpindi office, Geo News reported citing sources. Reports said that a consultative session of the party is currently underway to debate whether PML-N will take part in senate elections.

    Asif left the meeting and was moments later arrested near Iqbal’s residence. Aurangzeb said Asif will be presented before an accountability court tomorrow for remand.

    While PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz among other party leaders are lauding Asif for his “undeterred support for Nawaz Sharif”, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir on his show Capital Talk said that the former foreign minister knew he would be arrested and had even made preparations beforehand for what he considered an “eventuality”.

    “He had prepared a bag as well and would say that the NAB would arrest him soon,” said Mir.

    When prompted by the anchor to comment whether Asif’s arrest was a “reactionary move” to Maryam Nawaz’s speech in Larkana on Sunday, Muhammad Zubair, who had also left the meeting to appear on the show, said, “Of course. When the popularity and impact [of the PDM] is on the rise, we knew that they would react in some way. And today, we have seen that reaction.”

  • PPP says will not quit assemblies, won’t take ‘dictation’

    The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to oppose the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) decision to submit mass resignations, saying it would provide the government with an opportunity to undo democratic legislation.

    The decision was made during a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee that had met to mull the options of mass resignations and long march towards Islamabad.

    The PPP leadership said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government could repeal the 18th Amendment and other laws that strengthened democracy.

    It further said the party was open to discussing this option but after the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. It may be noted here that Nawaz is in London for the past year on account of frail health.

    The PPP said it will stand by the commitments it made with the PDM leadership, but it will not take dictation from other parties.

    On Sunday, the PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, made a similar statement, wherein he had said that the PDM parties needed to change their tactics and stop dictating each other on how to put up a fight against the government.

    According to reports, the top PPP leadership wasn’t happy with PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s decision to skip the Larkana gathering held to commemorate Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary.

    “Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not attend Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary due to local politics,” a report in Geo News claimed. Fazl didn’t attend the key PPP rally, but he still wanted the party to quit assemblies on his call, the report quoted the participants of the CEC as saying.

    Meanwhile, the PDM will hold an important meeting later this week to discuss the future course of the anti-government alliance.

  • Opp putting ‘pressure on army’ for NRO: PM Imran

    Opp putting ‘pressure on army’ for NRO: PM Imran

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the Pakistan Democratic Movement, a joint opposition alliance, was putting pressure on the Pakistan Army for NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] after he refused to give them relief.

    Speaking during a meeting of the party spokespersons, the prime minister said he would never give an NRO to the opposition parties and they cannot blackmail him into doing so either.

    If the opposition was serious in its quest for free and fair polls, it should have supported the government in bringing about electoral reforms, he said, adding that the opposition has “always used parliament for their personal interests”.

    The opposition didn’t take part in legislation over the past two years, the PM added. He further said that they could never misguide the masses by telling lies. The premier said that the opposition would have stopped protesting had he accepted their proposals to amend the accountability laws.

    On Saturday, PM Imran had claimed that a forward bloc would be formed in the opposition parties if they tried to resign from the assemblies. “I can give you in writing that there will be a forward bloc in opposition if they move to resign from assemblies,” he had said while speaking to media persons in Chakwal.

  • Journalist Saleem Safi claims Zardari, Bilawal are becoming ‘taabedar’

    Journalist Saleem Safi claims Zardari, Bilawal are becoming ‘taabedar’

    Senior journalist Saleem Safi has accused Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership, especially Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and father Asif Ali Zardari, of trying to reach a deal with the establishment.

    Responding to the statement of Murtaza Wahab — the spokesperson to the Sindh CM — that Sindh IG Mushtaq Mahar was not kidnapped, Safi said such statements by the PPP leadership gave away its alleged secret dealings with the government and the powers-that-be. It also shows that they are on their way to becoming “taabedar”.

    Alluding to the statement, he asked is there still any doubt left regarding the duplicity of the PPP in the anti-government alliance? According to the journalist, the PPP will oppose the mass resignations and long march in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meeting on Jan 2 and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will likely endorse the PPP.

    Safi claimed that the meeting of the government spokesperson held earlier this week also decided to “go easy on the PPP”. The government has decided to target Maulana Fazlur Rahman and his party, he said, adding that a strategy has been finalised in this regard. He claimed that decision to be lenient to the PPP speaks volume about the secret talks.

    Safi also accused Bilawal and Zardari of becoming “tabedaar (obedient)” and said that Maulana should clear things up with the PPP and PML-N leadership before it’s too late.

    The word ‘taabedar’ was first used by Maryam Nawaz as she used it to refer to Prime Minister Imran Khan for being “obedient to his selectors”.

  • Benazir’s death anniversary: Fazl refuses to attend PPP rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh

    Benazir’s death anniversary: Fazl refuses to attend PPP rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh

    Amid speculations of rifts in the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has declined an invitation by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to attend a rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh on Dec 27.

    Instead of Fazl, who also heads the PDM, a five-member delegation of the party will attend the gathering that marks the death anniversary of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, reported Dunya TV.

    The refusal to attend the gathering by Fazl comes at a time when the JUI-F is facing internal turmoil following the expulsion of its top leaders, including Maulana Sheerani, who questioned the JUI-F’s commitment to the party.

    Similarly, the JUI-F and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are not happy with the PPP. They believe that the PPP was in contact with the powers-that-be to reach a deal. “Both parties are not reacting to this development because of the alliance, but the PPP has been told that if it wants to gain results via backdoor talks, it can go ahead,” said a senior journalist recently.

    Meanwhile, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has reached Naudero House to attend the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. The PPP chief will stay in Naudero for three days and will address a rally in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on December 27.

    PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz will also attend the rally on the invitation of Bilawal. Both opposition leaders will hold a meeting at Bilawal House, Naudero.

  • Senior journalist says PPP ‘creating problems’ for PDM, may quit Opp alliance

    Senior journalist says PPP ‘creating problems’ for PDM, may quit Opp alliance

    It seems the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is in two minds about staying in the Pakistan Democratic Movement because the party is allegedly responsible for holding the anti-government movement back over its key demands, claims senior journalist Saleem Safi.

    Speaking in Geo TV’s Shahzeb Khanzada show, Safi said the PPP was “creating problems” for the PDM by not agreeing to mass resignations and the long march towards Islamabad. Instead, it wanted to hold small rallies in different cities of Pakistan to “buy more time”, he claimed.

    He said that both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) believe that the PPP was in contact with the powers-that-be to reach a deal. “Both parties are not reacting to this development because of the alliance, but the PPP has been told that if it wants to gain results via backdoor talks, it can go ahead,” he claimed, adding that PML-N and JUI-F are not happy with the PPP.

    According to Safi, the PPP was at the forefront when the PDM was formed, but the party has been gradually moving away from the 11-party alliance. He said the statement by PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari –in response to PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif taking names of the army chief and intelligence chief in a jalsa — wherein he expressed shock was a part of a well-thought strategy. “Bilawal gave this statement to appease the establishment and distance the PPP from the PML-N,” he claimed.

    The senior journalist further claimed that the opposition parties wanted to resign in December and hold a sit-in in Islamabad, but this idea, too, was opposed by the PPP.

    He said the PPP’s decision to participate in the by-polls has also damaged the cause of the PDM and the Election Commission of Pakistan decided to hold bypolls on the vacant seats following the insistence of the PPP.

    Safi further said that the PDM leadership knows that if the PPP ditches the PDM after signing the resignation letters then the party will be reduced to just one province, Sindh.

    “Maulana Fazl thinks that PPP will not give up its status as a national party to save its skin and will remain a part of the PDM,” he added.

  • Gen Bajwa ‘tolerating Nawaz’s tirades against army for sake of democracy’, says Imran

    Gen Bajwa ‘tolerating Nawaz’s tirades against army for sake of democracy’, says Imran

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that there is a lot of anger in the military over the tirades of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against the army, but the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is putting up with it for the “sake of democracy”.

    The PM made these comments in an interview on Samaa TV. “I praise Gen Bajwa today. To attack an army chief in this manner definitely provokes a reaction from the army,” he added.

    The PM said that Gen Bajwa was “uncomplicated man”. “If someone else was at the helm of the army, there would have been a strong response by now,” Imran said.

    The PM said the opposition was accusing him of being a “puppet” of the establishment, yet they wanted to talk to the establishment. “This means they’re putting pressure on the army to remove a democratic government. This is [their] democratic movement,” he added.

    Imran said that asking the military to remove a democratically-elected government was a case of “treason”, as Article 6 applies to this. “The opposition’s second demand is that if the army and ISI chiefs do not remove me, then the army should remove them [the chiefs of army and ISI],” he added.

    According to the prime minister, the army was a state department that was subordinate to his government. He said the military has always stood by him in times of crisis.

    Speaking on the former government’s troubled relationships with the establishment, Imran said Nawaz was “manufactured by the army against the PPP”. He said he himself received a message from military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq in 1988 that he wanted to make him (Imran) the prime minister.

    He said the establishment had helped the PML-N supremo in the 2013 elections but their ties became strained because the establishment did not support him in 2018.

    The ex-PM, who is in a self-imposed exile in London, has called out the army many times for its involvement in manipulating the general elections in 2018 to bring Imran Khan to power. Addressing a rally in Gujranwala in Oct, the former PM had called out Gen Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed for alleged manipulation of election results.

  • PM mad at Sheikh Rasheed for going easy on Opp

    PM mad at Sheikh Rasheed for going easy on Opp

    Prime Minister Imran Khan is not happy with Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed for his lenient approach towards the opposition and directed him to go tough on its leadership.

    According to Sheikh Rasheed, the PM was unhappy after watching his interview wherein his tone was soft towards the opposition. “The PM told me that I have to get tough when it comes to the opposition,” said the minister. “But I told him that I am now the interior minister as well, so I have to be neutral sometimes,” Rasheed said.

    According to Rasheed, the PM has also given him an additional responsibility of dealing with media. He said the PM was impressed with his interview and told him that he will have to represent the government in the media as well.

    Speaking about the change of his portfolio, Rasheed said being an interior minister of the country was a difficult job than being a railways minister. “Railways is not a difficult ministry compared to the Interior, as the latter has more responsibilities,” as per the minister.

    The interior minister said that the prime minister will not give an NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] to anyone despite the protests by the opposition parties. He said that the government will complete its five-year term.

    On Monday, Rasheed had asked the opposition who exactly they wished to speak to if not Imran Khan. “We don’t want to close the doors for dialogue. The opposition says it does not want to talk to Imran. Tell us who you wish to speak to so that we can arrange it,” he was quoted by Dawn as saying.

  • Maryam trolled for sharing ‘doctored’ image of Lahore jalsa

    Maryam trolled for sharing ‘doctored’ image of Lahore jalsa

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz was trolled by social media users after the PML-N vice president shared a supposedly edited picture of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally held in Lahore last Sunday.

    The PDM held a gathering in Lahore on Dec 13. The government had played down the number of people who attended the gathering, saying only 10,000 people attended the rally. The opposition, on the other hand, put the number above 100,000.

    However, the picture of the rally shared by Maryam added to the controversy and also attracted flak for being “fake”. PTI wrote: “Decisive moment in PDM; after #LahorePDMJalsa turnout, PDM has resorted to utilizing its trump card; Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop.”

    Prime Minister’s aide Shahbaz Gill tweeted that Maryam has “such a bad luck that she always gets caught”.

    Federal minister Hammad Azhar also didn’t miss the chance to troll the PML-N de-facto president.

    A user advised the PML-N leader to “fire her graphic designer”.

    Another user used this opportunity to make a meme.

  • Govt seeks early Senate polls: report

    Govt seeks early Senate polls: report

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to hold the Senate elections in February instead of March, reported Geo News.

    The decided to change the date of the polls was taken amid protests by the opposition parties, who have threatened to march on Islamabad in Feb if the prime minister fails to step down.

    Unlike previous elections of the upper house, this time the voting will be through ‘show of hands’, the report claimed. However, in order to change the Senate election procedure, the government will need an amendment for which it doesn’t have the required majority or approach the Supreme Court.

    Addressing a press conference following a weekly meeting of the federal cabinet, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said that the government is striving to make the Senate elections “free and fair”.

    “Controversies have always surrounded the Senate elections. It is such an old practice that it is assumed that in the elections, [horse trading] will surely take place,” he said.

    He said the government has decided to move the apex court regarding the reforms in Senate elections. “The government seeks an election that is conducted through a “show of hands”, Faraz said, adding that the government expects to get guidance from the SC long before the elections.

    “This is in favour of all parties,” he said.