Tag: #president

  • Chaudhry Shujaat to remain PML-Q’s president: ECP

    Chaudhry Shujaat to remain PML-Q’s president: ECP

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that former Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would remain the Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid’s (PML-Q) president and Tariq Bashir Cheema its secretary-general.

    A four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja heard Chaudhry Shujaat’s plea. During today’s proceedings, CEC Raja said the ECP is issuing notices to the parties in the case — PML-Q leader and Shujaat’s cousin, Pervaiz Elahi, and Punjab Secretary-General Kamil Ali Agha and both — Shujaat and Cheema — would retain their positions till the next hearing. The CEC adjourned the proceedings till August 16.

    Read more: ‘Stop making a mockery of family’: Chaudhry Shujaat asks Pervaiz Elahi to return home

    PML-Q’s Central Working Committee (CWC) unanimously decided to remove Hussain and Cheema from their party positions in July. Talking about the removal of Shujaat as PML-Q chief, Kamil Ali Agha said, “It has become necessary to isolate Chaudhry Shujaat to save the party from destruction.” He also said that due to a conspiracy hatched by Salik Hussain and Cheema, a letter was used to ask PML-Q MPAs to vote for the PML-N, damaging the party’s reputation.

  • Sri Lankan president to step down after massive protests

    Sri Lankan president to step down after massive protests

    Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to step down amid the ongoing protests against the economic crisis the country is facing. His resignation has been sent to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

    “Rajapaksa has officially informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will be resigning as previously announced,” read a statement from the prime minister’s office.

    However, the whereabouts of the president are unknown.

    His resignation came after a large-scale demonstration that took place on Saturday, during which hundreds of thousands of people poured into Colombo and occupied the president’s residence and office, and prime minister’s residence.

    Protesters sang and lit fireworks in the streets to welcome the announcement.

  • French President Macron gets elected again

    French President Macron gets elected again

    French President Emmanuel Macron won the presidential race again and became the first French President to have won a second term in office in the two decades on Sunday.

    Macron defeated his far-right rival Marine Le Pen of National Rally party. This is her third defeat in a presidential poll.

    According to interior ministry, Macron managed to secure 58.6 per cent of votes while Le Pen received 41.1 per cent votes. The result marks the closest the far-right has ever come to taking power in France and has left the nation divided as Macron’s victory against his far-right rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017, when the margin was 66.1 per cent to 33.9 per cent, reports Al Jazeera.

    However, while addressing the nation after his victory, Macron vowed to heal rifts in a deeply divided country.

    The 44-year-old president will now have to face the challenge of parliamentary elections in June, where keeping a majority will be critical to ensuring he can realise his ambitions.

    Le Pen hailed her result as a “brilliant victory” and vowed to keep up the fight with parliamentary elections in June.

    Final figures from Sunday’s vote are due today (Monday).

  • ‘Schedule a dental appointment’ with the President of Pakistan

    ‘Schedule a dental appointment’ with the President of Pakistan

    President Dr Arif Alvi’s son, Dr Awab Alvi, recently took to Twitter to announce that his family business, Alvi Dental, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bringing Smiles USA. 

    With the president in attendance, a debate started amongst netizens questioning if it was a direct conflict of interest for Alvi to be a president and promote the family business as well.

    After receiving backlash from Twitterati, Dr Awab Alvi clarified that his father had resigned from the family business after he became president.

    “The President resigned from Alvi Dental when he became President. This venture is between me & my Pakistani US diaspora dentist-alumnus friend,” tweeted Awab.

    Awab further tweeted, “President encourages all startups much smaller than ours & is on record to have hosted a startup in dentistry at Presidency last year.”

    However, when we checked the official website of “Alvi Dentals”, the president is still enlisted as a dentist and part of the Alvi Dental team. The website also provides an option to “schedule an appointment” with the president.

    Screengrab from the official website of Alvi Dental

    The Current talked to Shiagan Ijaz, a Lahore-based lawyer, to know if the matter was a conflict of interest for the president. “Yes, the perception that is being created very much puts the present scenario as a conflict of interest for the president.”

    “Even if it was a private venture, the president was present there, which certainly gives the impression and can be perceived as misuse of his office. So there has been a misuse of his authority here,” said Shaighan.

    The presidential oath also says, “As a President of Pakistan, I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct.”

  • ‘Govt using all energy to sow seeds of legislation, someone else will benefit from its fruits’: Asif Ali Zardari

    ‘Govt using all energy to sow seeds of legislation, someone else will benefit from its fruits’: Asif Ali Zardari

    Former President Asif Ali Zardari took a jibe at the ruling party and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan for bulldozing the electoral bills in the joint session. “They [government] are using all their energy to sow the seeds of this legislation, but he [Imran Khan] will not benefit from its fruits; rather someone else will reap the benefits.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supremo Zardari while speaking to journalists was questioned over the joint session being convened without taking the Opposition into confidence and whether the government succeeded in its plans.

    Zardari said the government was getting success due to other reasons. “And you know the other reasons better,” he said.

  • Eid Milad-ul-Nabi: PM, President extend greetings to nation

    On the occasion of Eid Milad-ul-Nabi: Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi, among others, have extended their greetings to the nation.

    Imran Khan, in his message said that the arrival of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in the world brought a revolution in every aspect of human society, Radio Pakistan has reported.

    He said it was the affect of the life of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) that Arab tribes who were victims of internal chaos for centuries, emerged as a nation.

    The Prime Minister said in this state system, minorities were protected, poor and needy were taken care of and rights and obligations of the state and citizens were determined.

    He said the government has formed Rahmat-tulil-Aalameen Authority to apprise the people and the world about the life and teachings of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

    President Dr Arif Alvi in his message said that Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) united people for the Oneness of Allah Almighty and it is his character that made worst enemies as each other’s well-wishers.

    The President said that Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) established such a welfare state where the rich and poor enjoyed equal rights.

    Lauding the efforts of the present government in turning Pakistan into a model welfare state on the patterns of Riasat-e-Madina, President Alvi hoped that all resources will be utilized for this purpose.

  • President Alvi spotted picking up trash on hiking trip

    President Alvi spotted picking up trash on hiking trip

    In a photo shared by his son on Twitter, President Dr Arif Alvi has been spotted picking up trash on his hiking trip with family in Changla Gali mountain resort town of Galyat.

    According to the details, the president was seen collecting garbage in a trash bag and then disposing it of in a bin by the side of a road.

    “During our treks, we usually take trash bags, but accidentally forgot them, next time will do more [sic],” the president’s son, Awab Alvi, wrote and added that Pakistanis should “behave like responsible tourists when they visit such beautiful places in the country”.

    He further said that it was sad to see “tourists taking treks, but leaving plastic bottles on the ground when they left”.