Tag: Prime Minister Imran Khan

  • PM announces putting Labbaik’s demands, including ratification of blasphemy bill, forward in parliament

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that following an agreement with the hardliner Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), their demands will be put forward in the parliament.

    According to reports, the premier, in a statement, said that the government spoke to TLP, and the party has decided to extend the “deadline” given to the government from February to April 20.

    The demands put forth by TLP include the French ambassador’s deportation, ratification of the blasphemy bill, and a ban on French goods after blasphemous caricatures were published in France that had sparked protests across the Muslim world.

    Late last year, hundreds of protesters in Pakistan, most of them led by TLP leaders, had burned effigies of France’s leader and chanted anti-French slogans, as President Emmanuel Macron had tried to send a message of understanding to Muslims around the world.

    Smaller demonstrations in Lebanon, Turkey and India followed on anti-France protests across the Muslim world last week that were mostly led by Islamist groups, reported AP news agency.

    The renewed protests had come after President Macron’s interview in which he said that he understood the shock Muslims felt at caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

    Macron was speaking with the Qatar-based Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera, where he also defended freedoms of expression and France’s secular values.

    Just days before TLP chief Khadim Rizvi’s death, the protests had also turned ugly in Rawalpindi-Islamabad.

  • Did PM always know about MPAs selling their votes?

    Did PM always know about MPAs selling their votes?

    Prime Minister Imran Khan had claimed in April 2018 that he had a video of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers taking money ahead of the Senate election to vote against the party lines, but the video was released after a period of more than two years, only a day ahead of the Supreme Court hearing over the issue.

    The PM had said that he had proof of people selling their votes for money and he could show them the video where they were seen “counting money”.

    But if the PM had the video and knew about the people involved in horse-trading then what took the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) so long to release it and that too a day before the court hearing, Shahzeb Khanzada asked the federal minister for information on his show.

    As per Khanzada, another question that the video poses is the KP law minister, Mahmood Sultan, who stepped down from the post after the video emerged? If the PM had seen the video, as he has claimed multiple times in past, then why was Sultan made the minister in the KP cabinet? And if he didn’t know about it then why did he claim otherwise.

    Information Minister Shibli Faraz said that the PM hadn’t seen the video, but he did know that something like that existed. “He was only aware of its existence,” he said, adding that the PM took the decision to sack the minister involved right away and this should be praised.

    Speaking during the show, Faraz asserted that the PM hadn’t watched the video, but trusted his “strong sources”. Shibli said that the government was trying to end the menace of corruption during the Senate polls and the media should support its cause.

    ‘LEAKED VIDEO’:

    On Tuesday, the video first released by ARY News showed lawmakers belonging to the now ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) counting bundles of cash and then stashing the same in a bag.

    The video showed how, during the critical period, loyalties were switched by PTI’s 20 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lawmakers, all of whom were reportedly expelled by the party’s central leadership after an investigation. The money was dished out in Feb-March 2018, it was reported.

    It may be noted that the damning video comes at a time when Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expresses aims to hold Senate elections through open ballot in 2021 in a bid to eliminate horse-trading. Defending his party’s move to hold the elections through open ballot, the premier had last week spoken of bribes paid to buy loyalties, revealing that he himself had been offered some.

    He had further revealed that 20 members of the KP Assembly belonging to the PTI, likely the ones from the video, were paid Rs50 million each during the last Senate polls to vote in favour of certain candidates.

    On February 6, President Dr Arif Alvi signed Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 that will pave way for the organisation of Senate elections through open ballot.

  • ‘Rs50 to Rs70 crores’: PM goes on to reveal corruption surrounding Senate polls

    ‘Rs50 to Rs70 crores’: PM goes on to reveal corruption surrounding Senate polls

    Continuing his tirade against secrecy in polls for the upper house of the parliament while his party also campaigns for election through open ballot, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has gone on to reveal further details of corrupt practices surrounding the vote.

    Speaking to journalists in Kallar Syedan, the premier said the rate for a single Senate vote in Balochistan ranged between Rs50 to 70 crores (Rs500 to Rs700 million), which was unfortunate.

    “The market of corruption in politics is on the rise, but no other party is willing to change it,” he said, regretting that in the past, people became senators by buying votes from members of national and provincial assembly votes.

    “Those involved in such extravagance will later recover by minting money from the public exchequer,” he said.

    PM Imran said that vote-purchase in Senate elections for the past 30 years was a big question mark over the credibility of politicians who supported a corrupt system and “traded conscience in the name of democracy”.

    “A big question lies ahead, whether to go for Senate polls with the old corrupt system or to act transparently instead,” he said in response to queries regarding the leaked videos showing politicians buying and selling votes before the 2018 Senate elections.

    The PM said that corrupt practices were revealed to him after he and his party members received offers from multiple sides for vote-selling before the 2018 Senate elections.

    He recalled that he was approached by different people for money and offered funds for Shaukat Khanum Hospital as another mode of bribe.

    “What kind of democracy is this where votes are sold? This is nothing, but a blot on democracy.”

    He recalled that he ousted 20 from his party who took money for votes in the last Senate elections, adding some of them also invoked the jurisdiction of the court against the action.

    He dismissed the allegations of the opposition for being in knowledge about the video way earlier, saying had he known about it, he would have presented it before the court.

    Training guns at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said the opposition alliance’s aim was to protect their corruption and ill-gotten money.

    To a question on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who advised Imran to learn politics from him, he said the JUI-F chief himself was the one who most benefited from secret ballot.

  • Ex-PTI MPA, who was seen receiving money in leaked video, swore on Quran that he didn’t

    An old but viral video has shown former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) lawmaker Sardar Idrees swearing on the Holy Quran that he didn’t receive any money to sell his Senate vote.

    On Tuesday, a leaked video recorded ahead of the 2018 Senate elections had purportedly shown Idress and a number of other colleagues of his receiving what were reported to be bribes for their votes for the upper house of the parliament.

    “I deny these allegations of receiving Rs4 crores (40 million) and swear that I voted as per the list given to me by the chief minister,” Idrees could be heard as saying in the video of a press conference he reportedly held after his expulsion from the now ruling PTI over said accusations.

    As per the details of the episode, the video first released by ARY News showed lawmakers belonging to the PTI counting bundles of cash and then stashing the same in a bag.

    The video showed how, during the critical period, loyalties were switched by PTI’s 20 KP lawmakers, all of whom were reportedly expelled by the party’s central leadership after an investigation. The money was dished out in Feb-March 2018, it was reported.

    It may be noted that the damning video comes at a time when Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expresses aims to hold Senate elections through open ballot in 2021 in a bid to eliminate horse-trading. Defending his party’s move to hold the elections through open ballot, the premier had last week spoken of bribes paid to buy loyalties, revealing that he himself had been offered some.

    He had further revealed that 20 members of the KP Assembly belonging to the PTI, likely the ones from the video, were paid Rs50 million each during the last Senate polls to vote in favour of certain candidates.

    On February 6, President Dr Arif Alvi signed Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 that will pave way for the organisation of Senate elections through open ballot.

  • Bilawal accuses PM of only wanting Sindh’s money while ignoring its people

    Bilawal accuses PM of only wanting Sindh’s money while ignoring its people

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari launched a vicious verbal assault against Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, wherein the PPP chairman accused the premier of only wanting Sindh for its resources while ignoring the people.

    “[Imran] neither needs Sindh nor Sindh’s people but he wants Sindh’s islands, gas, coal, tax revenue, the money you give,” Bilawal said, adding that Imran had failed to spend money on Sindh to solve its problems.

    The PPP chairman claimed that Imran had refused to give the province its due Rs160 billion last year, and had projected to deny Rs200 billion this year.

    Speaking to a fired up crowd at the Hyderabad rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Bilawal alleged that PM Imran had refused to accept Sindh as a province of the country and therein asked who the province actually belonged to.

    “He can only rob your rights but you, the people of this country will not tolerate him. We will protect our rights and our democracy and make this PM run away,” he added.

    Bilawal told the crowd to think of “how much employment we could have provided to the youth of Hyderabad” with the aforementioned Rs200 billion.

    “This is the same government that promised one crore jobs. I ask the people of Hyderabad whether they have gotten even one job from those one crore jobs,” he said on the occasion.

    “This is not Imran Khan’s money, this is the money of the people of Hyderabad and we will go to Islamabad and take back our right from them,” he added.

    He further stated that none of the provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), belonged to PM Imran.

    Bilawal, terming the ruling party as “puppet, selected and formed as a result of rigging”, said that Imran’s vision for a Naya Pakistan had only resulted in a more “expensive Pakistan”.

    The PPP chief lamented the inflation that had struck the country, wherein food items like wheat and sugar were beyond the people’s purchasing power. “Imran’s tabdeeli (change) has brought so much inflation, unemployment and poverty in the last year that half of Pakistan’s families have food deficiency,” he said.

    In further criticism of the government, he said that the prime minister had once said that he would “commit suicide before going to the IMF (International Monetary Fund)” to ask for a loan.

    On the occasion, he accused the government of giving relief to the rich while bringing pain to the poor. He said that Imran had also promised houses to the people, but so far no results from the affordable housing schemes had been shown.

    He said that the people have been “suffering the burden of an incompetent and corrupt government”.

  • Secretly recorded video shows PTI MPAs receiving loads of cash ahead of 2018 Senate election

    A secretly recorded video exposing horse-trading during 2018 Senate polls has made its way to television channels weeks before the 2021 election on seats of the upper house of the parliament.

    According to ARY News, the video shows lawmakers belonging to the now ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) counting bundles of cash and then stashing the same in a bag.

    The video shows how, during the critical period, loyalties were switched by PTI’s 20 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) lawmakers, all of whom were expelled by the party’s central leadership after an investigation, the report said.

    Quoting sources, it added that the horse-trading had been carried out between February 20 and March 2, 2018.

    On February 6, President Dr Arif Alvi signed Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 that will pave way for the organisation of Senate elections through open ballot.

    According to the ordinance, changes have been brought to Sections 81, 122 and 185 of the Constitution. The ordinance will come into force “at once” and “extended to the whole of Pakistan.”

    A presidential reference being heard by the Supreme Court (SC) also pertains to the organisation of Senate polls through an open vote.

    It may be noted that the damning video comes at a time when Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan expresses aims to hold Senate elections through open ballot in 2021 so as to eliminate the menace of horse-trading.

    Defending his party’s move to hold the elections through open ballot, the premier had last week spoken of bribes paid to buy loyalties, revealing that he himself had been offered some.

    He had further revealed that 20 members of the KP Assembly belonging to the PTI, likely the ones from the video, were paid Rs50 million each during the last Senate polls to vote in favour of certain candidates.

  • New documents reveal PTI employees were authorised to receive donations

    New documents reveal PTI employees were authorised to receive donations

    In a watershed development in the foreign funding case, a documented list has revealed that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) employees were authorised to receive donations from within and outside Pakistan.

    The document, available with Dawn, revealed the names of employees that included PTI’s telephone operator Tahir Iqbal, computer operator Muhammad Nauman Afzal, accountant Mohammad Arshad and office helper Mohammad Rafiq.

    The decision to allow the PTI employees to collect the funds was taken at a meeting held on July 1, 2011. It was attended by Saifullah Niazi, the incumbent chief organiser and an aspirant of a PTI Senate ticket; Aamer Mahmud Kiani, present secretary-general and former health minister who was removed from the federal cabinet; Dr Humayun Mohmand, who was recently appointed chairman of the board of directors of PIMS; Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan, the party’s former finance secretary and now Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Colonel Yunus Ali Raza among others.

    The foreign funding case pertains to Akbar S Babar’s allegations that foreign donations were illegally received in the front accounts of PTI employees through Hundi, particularly from the Middle East, and siphoned off by the senior party leadership through cheques with no trace or record.

    Babar was a founding member of PTI. He has repeatedly asked the scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to investigate the private bank accounts of PTI employees which were illegally used as a front to collect donations.

    The committee continues to keep the PTI records and bank statements secret despite ECP orders. The records include 23 PTI bank accounts provided to the ECP by scheduled banks on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan. The scrutiny committee is due to meet today (on Tuesday) to decide whether to keep the PTI documents secret or not.

    The election watchdog has passed more than one order against the secrecy of the PTI record.

  • PM Imran shares unseen 1984 picture

    PM Imran shares unseen 1984 picture

    People are swooning over a 37-year-old picture shared by Prime Minister Imran Khan on his Instagram account.

    The photo, which was taken in Imran’s cricketing days, shows him sitting at a press briefing. PM Imran has at least 4million followers on Instagram.

    The caption of the picture read: “October 22, 1984.”

    This is not the first time that the PM has shared his photos on the social media site. A few months ago, he took to Instagram to share a picture taken with his parents and sisters when he was only three years old.

    Recently, Imran shared a picture that was taken in 1989 while he was travelling the country for research on his book, Indus Journey.

    For this, Imran revisited “those places that meant most to him along the great Indus river, from its delta on the Arabian Sea to its headwaters in the Himalayas, by way of the mysterious ruins at Mohenjodaro, the plains of Sindh and Punjab, the Khyber Pass, and his home town of Lahore.

  • Global Democracy Index ranks Pakistan 105/167; says Islamabad has ‘hybrid democracy’

    Global Democracy Index ranks Pakistan 105/167; says Islamabad has ‘hybrid democracy’

    Democracy has had yet another bad year globally, according to the latest edition of the Democracy Index from The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

    The annual EIU’s Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 167 countries. This covers almost the entire population of the world and the vast majority of the world’s states (microstates are excluded).

    The index is based on five categories, electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.

    Based on its scores on a range of indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: “full democracy”, “flawed democracy”, “hybrid regime” or “authoritarian regime”.

    This year, the index classified 23 countries as full democracies, 52 as flawed democracies, 35 as hybrid regimes and 57 as authoritarian regimes.

    Securing the 105th slot, Pakistan, like last year, has been placed under the head of hybrid democracy, next to Turkey at the 104th rank. India, on the other hand, has been classified as a “flawed democracy” along with countries such as the United States (US), France, Belgium and Brazil.

    Among the countries topping the list are Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada, followed by Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Australia and Netherlands.

    “The authorities’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic led to a further erosion of civil liberties in 2020,” the report said.

  • PM Imran gaining record weight because of workload: report

    PM Imran gaining record weight because of workload: report

    The workload that entails one’s election as the chief executive of a country can not even be imagined by someone who hasn’t been there, and requires spending a lot of time sitting in the office.

    There have been no exceptions for Pakistan’s very own cricketer-turned-politician, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who, according to Geo, now weighs around 15 pounds (6 kgs) more than he has ever weighed as a sportsperson, philanthropist or struggling politician.

    According to the premier, he has never weighed more than 185 pounds (83 kgs) but now weighs 200 pounds (90 kgs), the report said.

    PM Imran, who is well-known for maintaining good health through regular exercise, has lately not been exercising at all, the report quoted his close associates as saying.

    Back in 2018 when he had recently assumed office, PM Imran made it a routine for himself to work out in the morning before starting his official duties.

    At that time, pictures of the premier enthusiastically exercising had gone viral on social media, with people commending his healthy lifestyle.

    No holiday when there is a country to be run, Prime Minister Imran Khan has reached office

    #PMIK

    Posted by Imran Khan on Sunday, August 19, 2018

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