Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has warned the Punjab government as well as the federal government to change their behaviours or he will “send police” to their homes, The News reported on Thursday.
“Stop threatening me, or else we would send police to your homes,” Gandapur said while referring to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and President Asif Ali Zardari, after Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Malik Ijaz Asif issued non-bailable warrants against him in the alleged May 9 riots case on Tuesday.
Non-bailable arrest warrants are also issued against multiple Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Murad Saeed, Shibli Faraz, Shahbaz Gill, and retired Lieutenant Colonel Shabbir Awan.
Warrants were also issued for former PTI leaders Shireen Mazari, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, and Saad Jamil Abbasi.
Ali Amin Gandapur also said that the first information reports (FIRs) against him are “fake,” adding that it would be difficult for Punjab and the federal government to operate if they do not change their behaviours.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) did not join the federal government because it will not last long.
The former prime minister spoke to journalists in Adiala jail on Wednesday, stating that the “establishment, caretaker government, and the Election Commission are all one, and everything is based on lies.”
Terming Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja a “liar,” Khan said the CEC is still occupying the office despite five reports issued by election watchdogs on election irregularities.
The founder of PTI also claimed that the new government will not last more than five to six months. However, inflation will increase in the country after signing a new deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Imran Khan, who is currently in Adiala jail, stated that he is mentally ready to stay incarcerated.
Regarding strain ties with the establishment, he responded to a question, saying: “Attempts are under way to create differences between us and the army.”
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has expressed willingness to let former federal minister Faisal Vawda join the party before the Senate elections take place on April 2.
“We had invited Vawda to join [MQM-P] in the past […] I pray that he joins the party’s ranks,” MQM-P leader Rauf Siddiqui said while speaking with journalists in Karachi.
MQM-P head Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, who is also a candidate for senate polls, said that the party has fielded a total of eight candidates for the upper house.
However, Faisal Vawda has confirmed that he is still an “independent” political leader.
“I’m still independent,” Vawda said during a press conference in Karachi, adding that he would consider joining a political party when it’s in “season,” as independent candidates are currently trending.
Vawda expressed doubt about the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) securing power in Islamabad.
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.
Polling for six vacant senate seats from Sindh, Balochistan, and Islamabad is underway on Thursday, scheduled to continue till 4:00 pm.
Lawmakers can’t hold dual membership, so these six seats became vacant under Article 223 of the Constitution.
Sub-section 4 of article states: “Subject to clause (2), if a member of either House or of a Provincial Assembly becomes a candidate for a second seat, which, in accordance with clause (1), he may not hold concurrently with his first seat, then his first seat shall become vacant as soon as he is elected to the second seat.”
However, in Sindh, two major opposition parties, including the Muttahid Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI), have boycotted senate elections in Sindh, Geo has confirmed.
Polling to fill two general seats in the upper house in Sindh is underway, where Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Jam Saifullah Khan Dharejo and Muhammad Aslam Abro are contesting against Nazeerullah and Shazia Sohail of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Meanwhile, a total of seven candidates have been in the running for three general seats of the Senate from Balochistan on which the by-polls are underway.
These candidates are Syed Mahmood Shah (Independent), Abdul Shakoor Khan (Independent), Abdul Qudoos (PPP), Kauda Babar (Balochistan Awami Party), Muhammad Mobeen Khilji (Balochistan Awami Party), Mir Hair Bayar Khan Domki (Independent) and Mir Dostain Khan Domki (PML-N).
On the other hand, the National Assembly (NA) will elect only one senator, and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani is a joint candidate of the ruling coalition of six parties on the seat, with SIC’s Ilyas Mehrban contesting against him.
White chiffon dupatta, backcombed hair, and a green silk Shalwar Kameez; where have we seen this before? We saw it once when the late Benazir Bhutto took oath as the first female Prime Minister of the country and the world. And we saw the same image again when her husband Asif Ali Zardari took oath as President. The former Prime Minister’s youngest daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari who seems to have morphed into a doppelganger of her beloved mother.
The resemblance was so stark that renowned journalist Hamid Mir tweeted the picture with the caption, “A picture is worth of thousand words.”
Another user commented, “Daughter as first lady and then her enormous resemblance with Shaheed BB is indeed heartening!”
Rest aside, glad to see @AseefaBZ as the First Lady of #Pakistan. Daughter as first lady and then her enormous resemblance with Shaheed BB is indeed heartening!
— Saleem Javed | سلیم جاوید (@mSaleemJaved) March 10, 2024
A user posted that the resemblance is beautiful and lamented that Pakistan really lost a gem when she was assasinated.
The resemblance with BB shaheed mashallah. Pakistan lost a great leader when she was assassinated.
President Asif Ali Zardari, elected President for the second time, has taken the decision to make his daughter Aseefa Bhutto Zardari the first lady. The declaration was made through the party’s official Twitter handle.
Aseefa will be given First Lady protocol and she will be the first First Lady who is the daughter of the President. Usually, the status goes to the wife but here the decision was made because Aseefa Bhutto Zardari campaigned for her party in general elections and supported her brother Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, reports Geo.
Born on February 3, 1993, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari is part of a traditional political family of Pakistan. She is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. Aseefa is also the younger sister of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and granddaughter of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of the country and the founder of Pakistan Peoples Party.
She was seen walking beside her father during the oath-taking ceremony in the President’s House with her arm in his arm.
Lawmakers across Pakistan, the Senate, National Assembly, and the four provincial assemblies, cast their votes to elect the 14th president of the country and Asif Ali Zardari won by securing 411 votes.
His opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, secured 181 votes.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) orchestrated the process, which unfolded between 10 am and 4 pm, with meticulous arrangements in place.
The presidential race sees former President Asif Ali Zardari, representing a coalition of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and other allied parties, vying for a potential second term. He faces stiff competition from Mahmood Khan Achakzai, President of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and the joint candidate of the opposition.
Polling stations were set up within the respective houses of parliament, where the election took place through a secret ballot. The Parliament House in Islamabad accommodated senators and MNAs, while the four provincial assemblies served as polling stations for provincial lawmakers.
During the voting process, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman acted as Zardari’s polling agent, while Senator Shafiq Tareen represented Achakzai. Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamir Farooq presided over the proceedings at the Parliament House, with notable figures like Zardari’s children, Bilawal, Bakhtawar, and Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, in attendance.
However, not all political parties participated in the election. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Jamaat-e-Islami decided against voting, citing concerns over the credibility of the process.
The newly elected president of Pakistan is slated to be sworn in on Sunday at 4 pm at the President’s House. Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa will administer the oath, with invitations already issued to guests for the ceremony.
In the provincial assemblies, strict security measures were enforced to ensure a smooth and transparent electoral process. Election Commission members oversaw proceedings, guaranteeing fairness and peace throughout the voting.
Despite tension and security concerns, the Election Commission upheld its decision to proceed with the scheduled polling, dismissing requests for postponement from opposition candidate Mahmood Achakzai. This commitment underscores the commission’s dedication to upholding democratic principles and adhering to electoral timelines.
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Pakistan’s slain first female premier Benazir Bhutto who has had a life storied equally by tragedy and farce, is set to become president for a second time on Saturday.
Initially a background character as Bhutto’s consort, Zardari was stained by a bevy of corruption and other allegations, including absurd kidnapping plots and taking kickbacks lavished on hoards of jewellery.
Despite a reputation as “Mr. Ten Percent” — the alleged cut he took for rubber-stamping contracts — a sympathy vote propelled him to office when his wife was assassinated in a 2007 bomb and gun attack.
Between 2008 and 2013, he ushered in constitutional reforms rolling back presidential powers, and the 68-year-old’s second term will see him steer a largely ceremonial office.
He has spent more than 11 years in jail, a long time even by the standards of Pakistani politicians, with a wheeler-dealer’s talent for bouncing back after scandals.
Back in 2009, the New York Times said he had a knack for “artful dodging” — “maneuvering himself out of the tight spots he gets himself into”.
Newly sworn-in lawmakers were set to vote him in under the terms of a coalition deal brokered after February 8 elections marred by rigging claims.
Under that deal, Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will take the presidency, while its historic rivals the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party secured the prime minister’s position for Shehbaz Sharif, who was officially sworn in on Monday.
Zardari was born in 1955 into a land-owning family from the southern province of Sindh.
“As a child, I was spoilt by my parents as an only son,” he said in a 2000 interview with the Guardian newspaper. “They indulged my every whim.”
He expressed only limited political ambitions as a young man — losing a 1983 local government election.
It was his 1987 arranged marriage with PPP leader Benazir Bhutto that earned him a spot in the political limelight.
Their union — brokered by Bhutto’s mother — was considered an unlikely pairing for a leader-in-waiting from one of Pakistan’s major political dynasties.
Bhutto was an Oxford and Harvard graduate driven by the desire to oust then-president Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, who forced her father from the prime minister’s office and had him executed.
Zardari was a university dropout with a reputation for brawling, partying and romancing women at a private disco in his family home.
On the eve of their wedding, Bhutto’s team issued a formal statement denying he was “a playboy who plays polo by day and frequents discos at night”.
Their nuptial celebrations were dubbed the “people’s wedding” — doubling as a political rally in the megacity of Karachi, where a crowd of 100,000 fervently chanted PPP slogans.
Initially, Zardari pledged to keep out of politics.
Bhutto served as prime minister from 1988 to 1990 — the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim country — and again from 1993 to 1996.
PPP insiders regarded Zardari as a liability, considering him likely to embarrass her leadership.
Their fears were perhaps well-founded. In 1990, he was embroiled in accusations of an absurd plot to extort a businessman by tying a bomb to his leg.
He was jailed for three years on extortion and kidnapping charges but was elected to the national assembly from behind bars.
In Bhutto’s second term, he served as investment minister.
A bombshell New York Times investigation detailed how he tried to engineer vast kickbacks on military contracts over this period while lavishing huge sums on jewellery.
After Bhutto’s government fell in 1996, Zardari was back behind bars within half an hour.
In December 2007, Bhutto was assassinated while on the campaign trail for a third term in office.
Her killing shook the nation to its core, a wave of sympathy carrying the PPP to victory in 2008. The party nominated Zardari as president.
In 2010, he was widely criticised for continuing a European holiday when the nation was devastated by floods that killed almost 1,800 and affected 21 million.
He was also head of state when US commandos trespassed onto Pakistani soil for the 2011 assassination of Osama Bin Laden, an episode that humiliated many compatriots.
He did, however, usher in constitutional reforms rolling back the sweeping powers of the presidency and bolstering parliamentary democracy that had been undermined by three decades of military rule since 1947.
In 2013, Zardari became the first Pakistani president to complete his full term.
He was jailed once again over money laundering charges in 2019 but was released months later.
Zardari and Benazir had three children, including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the current chairman of the PPP.
The ruling coalition has calculated that its presidential candidate, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will get more than 400 votes as the upcoming presidential election is scheduled for Saturday, March 9.
Zardari is contesting against Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) head Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who is the presidential candidate for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Senate and National Assembly members will use secret ballots to vote at the Parliament House for the presidential elections, whipe polling will also take place in the four provincial assemblies.
As many as 325 members of the National Assembly, 91 senators, 354 members of the Punjab Assembly, 157 members of the Sindh Assembly, 117 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 65 members of the Balochistan Assembly will cast their vote.
The ruling coalition parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), National Party (NP), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), have declared their support for Zardari while PTI-backed SIC and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen have assured their support to Achakzai.
A nine-member bench of the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on the murder trial of PPP founder and former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, has said on Wednesday, “The proceedings of the Lahore High Court and of the appeal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan don’t meet the requirement of the fundamental right to fair trial and due process enshrined in the articles 4 and 9 of the constitution.”
“This court can’t reappraise the evidence and undo the decision of the case. However, in a detailed reason, we shall identify the major Constitutional and legal lapses that occurred with regard to fair trial and due process.”
Talking to media outside the court, Bhutto’s grandson, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the court has acknowledged that his grandfather was not given a fair trial.
What is the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto case?
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the leader who saw his elected government toppled by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977, faced a controversial trial resulting in his execution. Former president Asif Ali Zardari brought back the long-dormant presidential reference on the death sentence of the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The reference, filed in 2011 under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan, resurfaced as a 9-member Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, took up the case on December 12.
The reference is based on the assertion by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Naseem Hasan Shah that the trial bench was influenced by the Zia-ul-Haq government.
It also questions the constitutionality of conducting the murder case in the Lahore High Court instead of the Sessions Court.
Article 186 and the President’s right
Article 186 of the National Constitution empowers the President to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on matters of public importance.
The current hearing revolves around five crucial questions posed by Asif Zardari, aiming to address issues related to human rights, judicial precedent, fairness of the death sentence, adherence to Quranic orders, and the sufficiency of evidence. Questions from presidential reference
Asif Ali Zardari’s reference poses pivotal questions, challenging the legality and fairness of Bhutto’s trial:
Were Bhutto’s human rights, as enshrined in the constitution, respected during the trial?
Will the Supreme Court’s decision set a precedent for all high courts, as per Article 189?
Was the death sentence impartial and free from bias?
Does the death penalty align with Quranic principles?
Was the evidence and testimony presented during the trial sufficient for conviction?
What was the case?
Bhutto, who served as President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as Prime Minister until 1977, was at the center of a storm of controversy that ultimately cost him his life.
The narrative begins with the fall of Dhaka in December 1971, which marked a significant turning point in Pakistan’s history. Following this, Bhutto rose to power, first as President and later as Prime Minister under the newly established 1973 Constitution.
However, his reign was short-lived as General Zia-ul-Haq seized control through a martial law imposition on July 5, 1977.
Bhutto’s troubles escalated when he was arrested on September 3, 1977, in connection with the murder of political opponent Nawab Muhammad Ahmad Khan Kasuri in March 1974.
Despite being released just ten days later due to “contradictory and incomplete” charges, Bhutto found himself back behind bars, this time under martial law. His trial commenced on October 24, 1977, with allegations of conspiracy to murder hanging over his head.
Masood Mahmood, the Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency, testified against Bhutto, claiming he had ordered Kasuri’s assassination.
The trial was marred by interruptions and allegations of bias, culminating in Bhutto’s conviction for murder on March 18, 1978. Despite appeals and pleas for clemency, Bhutto’s fate was sealed when the Supreme Court upheld the verdict on February 6, 1979.
The final blow came on March 24, 1979, when the Supreme Court dismissed Bhutto’s appeal, clearing the way for his execution. Bhutto’s appeal in the Supreme Court in front of a seven-member bench was dismissed with a 4-3 verdict against him in February 1979.
General Zia-ul-Haq, who had been calling Bhutto a murderer throughout the trial, ordered his hanging on April 4, 1979, sparking widespread condemnation and accusations of judicial misconduct.
