Newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari has said on Thursday that the meeting between the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Ali Amin Gandapur, is a “good beginning.”
Shehbaz Sharif’s government came into power this month after making an alliance with multiple parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is in power in KP, and it also allegedly accused PML-N of stealing PTI’s mandate in general elections.
President Zardari has welcomed the interaction between the prime minister and the chief minister.
“It is high time we start thinking of working towards healing the divisions Pakistan has been going through,” he added.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and newly-elected MNA Sher Afzal Marwat has been summoned by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Wing on Friday.
The agency summoned the politician on March 18 for questioning on a tweet he posted on March 9. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Barrister Aqeel Malik filed a complaint against Marwat in FIA.
The prominent lawyer has made several posts on X (previously Twitter), but it’s not clear on which specific tweet he has been summoned.
One of his tweets was about claims of being assassinated by paid assassins at Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s behest.
“It is imperative to publicly acknowledge that ‘Maryam Nawaz Sharif’ poses a threat to my life, as she has orchestrated an ‘assassination attempt against me,’ which can take place at any time,” Marwat wrote in his post on the aforementioned date.
He added: “An amount of $100,000 has been allocated by Maryam Nawaz Sharif to these assassins for the “execution of my murder.”
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to field senior leader Dr Yasmin Rashid for Senate seat in Punjab for the upcoming polls set to take place on April 2, The News reported on Thursday.
PTI’s senior leader Mian Aslam Iqbal disclosed on his X (previously Twitter) account that Yasmin Rashid will be the party’s candidate for the senate seat in Punjab.
Mian Aslam Iqbal also said that Zulfi Bukhari and Hamid Khan are the party’s candidates for general seats. However, Brigadier (retd) Musadiq will be the PTI’s candidate for the technocrat seat.
The development comes as the senior politician’s earlier bid to secure a place in the National Assembly failed after she lost to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Lahore’s NA-130 seat in the February 8 polls.
Dr Yasmin Rashid is currently in Adiala jail in cases pertaining to the violent incidents of the May 9 riots last year.
52 seats are vacant in the Senate after the expiration of the six-year term of senators. However, senate election will be held on 48 seats, as the four reserved seats for Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) had been abolished after the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, indicating a possible melting of ice between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Addressing a press conference with Ahsan Iqbal, Gandapur said that the meeting was positive. “I have asked the prime minister to politically engage with Imran Khan. Political engagement will lead to a political solution,” he told the members of the press.
Gandapur also said Shehbaz confirmed that Gandapur would be allowed to meet Khan in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where authorities have increased security and barred ex-PM Khan from holding meetings owing to “threat alert”.
As Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz launched Saaf Suthra Punjab Campaign in Lahore, netizens all over the internet have started posting photos and information about the overflowing drains, sewage spillage, huge piles of garbage, and poor hygiene conditions in their cities.
Newly elected Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is on a mission to transform Punjab. The latest in the series is the ‘Saaf Suthra Punjab drive’. Netizens are quick to remind her of the poor condition of drains and garbage in Lahore and other cities of Punjab.
In Lahore, citizens are struggling with the issues of overflowing drains, sewage water, and the stink emitting from them.
Blogger and activist Riaz Ali Turi posted about the uncovered drains in Lahore causing health risks and nauseating smells in NA-127 of Lahore which include the prominent areas of the city like Township and Green Town.
Urgent call to action: Uncovered drains in Lahore, particularly in NA-127, are posing serious health risks, with nauseating smells affecting residents, especially children. The situation on the ground was dire, as we witnessed. @MaryamNSharifhttps://t.co/uppeHGCyFVpic.twitter.com/II5KjUPwje
Another user with a pseudo name of I M Imran Khan shared the pictures of Shadman area in Lahore where overflowing drains are disturbing life. Adil posted about how the area around Urdu Bazaar is facing sewage issues to which Maryam Nawaz assured him of holistic action. Noman Waseem tagged CM Maryam that even though the initiative is great, nothing has been done in his city of Multan.
The whole shadman area in Lahore is worst than this, with a big sewage/ dirty drain in Shadman, jail rd, n chungi, which have become hallmarks of Lahore city. The moment u enter in Shadman, the unbearable sewer gas smell welcomes u. pic.twitter.com/LQvrbacUbM
In response to Zeeshan Malik’s tweet about the Punjab government’s work in Bahawalpur, a netizen commented that Pindi needs the same attention, and, not just on the roads but in the walled city as well.
Pindi mai kb ho ga zeeshan.just main roads per kaam na ho.asal maza tub hai androon yay saaf sutra punjab hona chew
A resident of Sheikhupura posted a series of littered streets that are disturbing the lives of citizens yet the commissioner was claiming to have started the project.
Dawn’s Khalid Hasnain interviewed a resident of a locality of Pine Avenue near Valencia Town named Aziz who complained, “You see the Sattukatla drain full of waste, which is choking its sewage flow. The water level in the drain is also rising due to the choking caused by the waste piling in it.”
“It is also surprising that though the WASA’s machine meant for desilting or cleaning the drain is parked here but no one has visited the site since long to operate it,” Aziz adds the Sattukatla drain overflows in the monsoon or the unexpected heavy rain while its choking is also spreading a very foul and unbearable smell everywhere.
The Current went to ask the residents near drains at Upper Mall which are especially disturbed by the foul smell which gets unbearable during rains.
Around Walton drains, a resident named Zahid Abbas complained that occasional breaking of the walls of the drain and overflowing of its contents causes many hindrances on daily basis. “When there is rain we become restricted to our homes and transportation via cars become increasingly difficult especially crossing the road,” says Zahid.
Traditionally, the epicentre of PML-N’s politics, Lahore has always been flaunted as the most developed part of the province the drains and heaps of garbage are depicting an opposite story. The situation is no better in other cities where grave problems require immediate action across the Punjab.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called newly-elected president Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday to congratulate him on becoming the head of state.
The President’s Secretariat said in a statement that both leaders talked about important issues and agreed to work together for the betterment of the countries.
President Zardari also thanked Erdogan for his phone call and best wishes.
“President Asif Ali Zardari wished a happy Ramadan to the Turkish nation and desired to see the role of Turkish women in the Islamic world,” read the statement.
He also expressed a desire to invite the Turkish President to Pakistan for a visit soon.
Asif Zardari became president for the second time with a big majority on Saturday. He got 411 votes from parliament and the four assemblies.
Besides the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the newly elected president had the backing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-Pakistan), and other smaller parties.
A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in Lahore, in which it was decided that a free WiFi project will be launched in 10 different places in the provincial capital in two weeks while free WiFi points will be set up at 516 places in the city.
Also finalised today: 100000 houses Free Wifi for Lhr First IT city Waste Management companies for all districts. https://t.co/DaGYdIQz4e
21-storey Arfa Karim Tower-2 will be built in Lahore: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif
Lahore, 12 March 2024: “IT, Education and Film City projects to start in Lahore at the earliest,” said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif while presiding over a meeting on IT City and Lahore… pic.twitter.com/ynvN0yy03r
While briefing the meeting, it was said that the IT, Education and Film City project will start soon; while Microsoft, Oracle and other big companies have expressed their willingness for IT City.
Maryam Nawaz has also directed authorities to invite Chinese IT companies to build offices, adding that the best IT companies of the world will be provided business opportunities in the IT City.
The Chief Minister of Punjab has set a deadline for the plan of the establishment of Lahore Knowledge Park and IT City.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said on Friday that she struggled for 12 to 13 years to make her place in the male-dominated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
“My presence here is a message to mothers, daughters, and sisters that if you want to do something, then being a woman is not an obstacle in achieving your dreams,” Maryam said addressing an event related to the International Women’s Day in Lahore.
The newly appointed chief minister expressed her wish for a woman to replace her in Punjab and also stated her desire for women to be elected to the chief executive’s office in other provinces as well.
Maryam Nawaz took oath as the chief minister of an important province Punjab on February 26, and she is the first female chief minister in Pakistan.
The PML-N vice president won the chief ministerial election after obtaining 220 votes in the provincial assembly.
An accountability court has suspended the arrest warrants of Hasan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz — sons of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif- in multiple cases, including the Al-Azizia, Flagship, and Avenfield cases.
Judge Nasir Javed Rana of the accountability court announced the decision after reserving the verdict a day earlier.
As per the verdict, the arrest warrants are suspended until March 14.
The arrest warrants against the brothers were issued seven years ago when the court declared them absconders.
In today’s hearing, both brothers were represented by their lawyer, Qazi Misbah, while National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutors Sardar Muzaffar, Usman Masood, and Sohail Arif also appeared in court.
The petition for suspension of arrest warrants was filed as Nawaz Sharif’s sons are planning to return to Pakistan on March 12.
After Maryam Nawaz became the first female chief minister of Punjab and the first female chief executive of a province in the country, history was made yet again with the inclusion of the first Sikh minister in the provincial cabinet.
Ramesh Singh Arora, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), took oath to become a minister in the provincial cabinet. The Sikh politician has returned to the provincial assembly for the third term, this time with the portfolio of a minister.
Arora, who hails from Narowal, has been allotted the minorities portfolio. He was also the first-ever Sikh lawmaker of Punjab, taking oath as a member of the provincial assembly in 2013. Meanwhile, the provincial cabinet has appointed Khalil Tahir Sindhu, a member of the christian community from Punjab, to serve alongside Arora. Sindhu will handle the human rights portfolio. Since 1970, various political parties or alliances, such as the PML-N, Pakistan Peoples Party, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, Pakistan Muslim League Quaid, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, have formed governments. However, the PML-N stands out as the only party to bring the first Sikh MPA to the house and include him in the cabinet.
