Tag: PTI

  • Imran Khan or Shehbaz Sharif: Social media divided over who to thank for unchanged fuel prices

    Imran Khan or Shehbaz Sharif: Social media divided over who to thank for unchanged fuel prices

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the proposal of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to increase the prices of petroleum products.

    The announcement was made on Twitter by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Economy account.

    OGRA had proposed an increase in the price of diesel by Rs51.32 per liter (35.7%), petrol Rs21.30 per liter (14.2%), kerosene oil Rs36.03 per liter (28.7%) and light diesel oil (LDO) Rs38.89 per liter (39.9%).

    PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz shared the news report of PM rejecting the summary and wrote: “Well Done Shehbaz Shairf.

    PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, while talking to media said that petroleum prices will remain unchanged. He added that the previous PTI-led government made a mistake by subsidising petroleum goods, which he claimed will harm the country’s economy.

    On the other hand. social media users — including journalists and PTI leaders — are saying this is due to the policies of the pervious government, and are thanking Imran Khan.

    In addition, some are concerned about the decision of not increasing the fuel prices.

  • PM Shehbaz rejects OGRA’s proposal, petrol price to remain unchanged till April 30

    PM Shehbaz rejects OGRA’s proposal, petrol price to remain unchanged till April 30

    Pakistan’s new Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday dismissed the proposal from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to raise the price of petroleum products for the fortnight. The recent decision is aimed at providing relief to the public affected by inflation.

    It is worth noting that the present government’s choice to maintain the same prices will oblige it to provide another substantial subsidy till the end of April 2022.

    Earlier, OGRA suggested to the Finance Division that the price of petrol be increased by Rs21.50 and that of diesel be hiked by Rs51.30 in view of the current petroleum levy and general sales tax (GST).

    Read more: Massive hike of Rs83.5 for petrol, Rs119 for diesel proposed by OGRA

    The authority also proposed a hike of Rs83.50 per liter of petrol and Rs119.88 per liter of diesel considering the federal government’s recommended petroleum levy of Rs30 and 17 per cent GST, as per the official statement.

  • ‘Kya jurm huva agar gharri baich di’: Fawad Chaudhry admits to allegations on Khan selling Toshakhana gifts

    ‘Kya jurm huva agar gharri baich di’: Fawad Chaudhry admits to allegations on Khan selling Toshakhana gifts

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has revealed that former premier Imran Khan took gifts worth Rs140 million from Toshakhana and sold them in Dubai. Sharif made these claims during a meeting with senior journalists at PM House on Friday, reports Ayaz Akbar Yousafzai for The News.

    “I can confirm that Imran Khan took gifts from Toshakhana and sold them in Dubai for Rs140 million. Valuable gifts include diamond jewellery, bracelets, watches and sets,” revealed PM Shehbaz.

    Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Shehbaz Sharif is confused and cannot fathom how to level allegations against PM Khan so he has resorted to “throwing dirt at Imran Khan”.

    Fawad Chaudhry claimed that Khan bought a watch from the government of Pakistan, which he had received from a foreign country, and sold it.

    “What is the offence if the [then] prime minister sold the watch he bought from the government? It doesn’t matter if the watch is worth Rs50 million or 100 million […] if it is mine and I sold it, there shouldn’t be any objection,” said Chaudhry.

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had been reluctant to share details about gifts retained from Toshakhana, leading to speculations.

    According to official Cabinet Secretariat statistics from the past 10 years, officials and public office holders of PTI paid highest amount for subsidised Toshakhana gifts in the fiscal year 2018-2019.

    Toshakhana is a word of Persian origin that literally translates into “treasure-house”. In Mughal ruled India, Toshakhana was a place where princes stored gifts and emblems of honour that they received for their posterity, whereas in modern times, it is where gifts received from foreign dignitaries or countries are kept.

    READ MORE: PTI govt to auction gifts, including golden gun, Rs1.7 crores watch, Rs1.4 crores diamond set

  • Imran Khan says ‘mistake’ made when filing a presidential reference against SC judge Faez Isa

    During a meeting with the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan accepted his mistake of filing a presidential reference for the removal of Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, reports Hasnaat Malik for The Express Tribune.

    As per the news outlet, several attendees of the meeting have said that Khan thinks that the then relevant officials had misguided his government and Khan himself was not interested in pursuing the reference against Justice Faez Isa. Former Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan had convinced him that Justice Isa was an honest judge and he was misled in this case.

    A senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyer said that Khan believed that one section within the judiciary was annoyed because of this reference case.

    In 2020, Khan accused Justice Faez of concealing assets and filed a reference against him. Justice Isa then asked the Supreme Court that a full bench be constituted, a plea that was accepted by then Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa and after a months-long trial, in November a full bench of the apex court dismissed the petition against him.

    The purpose of the meeting with ILF was to discuss PTI’s social media activists who were being harassed by law enforcement agencies.

    PTI Secretary Asad Umar has announced that a petition will be filed against these unlawful and illegal raids and harassment of the party workers in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) today (Thursday).

  • ‘Hamza is like my brother’, Aleem Khan dispels rumours of differences with him

    ‘Hamza is like my brother’, Aleem Khan dispels rumours of differences with him

    The member of disgruntled Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) group Aleem Khan dismissed the reports about any differences with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) nominee for Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, saying: “Hamza is like my younger brother.”

    In a tweet, Khan took a jibe at Hamza’s contender Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Pervaiz Elahi and said, “Elahi is seeing his defeat. He has come to know that defeat has become his destiny. I have a very lovable and respect relation with Hamza. He is like my younger brother. Nothing has happened and will never happen.”

    “Pervaiz Elahi should admit his defeat. Come to the polls. There will be no need for them to do such things,” Khan added.

    Following this, Hamza also dropped a tweet. He said, “The lies which have been propagated against me and Aleem Khan are baseless and a product of someone’s imagination. Khan is a respected brother and a senior politician. Seeing a clear defeat in Punjab, such a bay is being flown.”

    Earlier, it was claimed that Khan is involved in an altercation with Hamza and he had threatened to resign from his seat.

    The Punjab Assembly’s crucial session for the election of a new CM is likely to take place on April 16. PML-N has claimed of having the support of 202 Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) in the house.

  • 57% people happy with Imran Khan’s removal: Survey

    57% people happy with Imran Khan’s removal: Survey

    According to Gallup Pakistan survey, 57 per cent of people are happy with the removal of Imran Khan through the no-confidence motion while 43 per cent are angry with the outcome.

    71 per cent of happy individuals cite rising inflation and poverty as the main reasons for their happiness while 11 per cent didn’t specify any reason.

    For those who were unhappy, the highest reason stated was that Khan was an honest person and a great leader while 15 per cent of people say that they simply like Khan.

    Moreover, the survey states that 53 per cent of males are happy with Khan being gone and 62 per cent of females are happy with the no-confidence motion’s result.

    The high number of happy people is in Sindh with 60 per cent, Punjab stands at second place with 57 per cent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stands at third place with 53 per cent.

    As per the Gallup survey, a great majority of 90 per cent have the intention to vote for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) while only seven per cent say that they will vote for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    It is pertinent to mention that Khan was removed as a Prime Minister on April 9 by the National Assembly (NA).

  • 2 PTI men shot by JUI-F workers over social media comments

    2 PTI men shot by JUI-F workers over social media comments

    Two workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf  (PTI ) were injured during an armed scuffle with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) workers over some social media content and comments. The police said that the incident took place in Timergra area of Lower Dir. Police officials said that the workers of both parties started fighting over some social media comments, which resulted in two PTI workers getting injured after being shot. They were rushed to the nearest hospital subsequently.

    On Tuesday, a fight broke out between a man with dissident PTI’s Noor Alam Khan, PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Faisal Kundi.

    Noor Alam who was severely critical of Imran Khan was verbally abused and punched by a PTI supporter at an iftar after which his colleagues retaliated.

    “We were sitting for iftaar at a hotel and someone abused Noor Alam Khan before iftaar. We didn’t respond. When iftaar started, I said to the man why he is using this language. He started abusing even more and punched Noor Alam. That’s when we responded because he was uncontrollable,” says Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.

  • Shehbaz Sharif – the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

    Shehbaz Sharif – the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

    The Joint Opposition’s candidate Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, after the former Prime Minister Imran Khan was voted out of office through a no-confidence motion on Saturday, April 9.

    Shehbaz bagged a total of 174 votes as opposed to PTI’s candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Qureshi received no votes after his party decided to boycott the polling process.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Ayaz Sadiq presided over the session after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri said his conscience did not allow him to conduct the session.

    Born in Lahore in 1950, Shehbaz is the younger brother of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. Shehbaz has served three times as Punjab’s chief minister.

    Taking the floor, the newly-elected prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said that it was for the first time in the history of Pakistan that a prime minister was ousted through the no-confidence motion.

    April 11 historic day

    Terming April 11 a “historic day”, he mentioned that the happiness of the people can be seen through the economic indicators. Shehbaz mentioned that the rupee regained its value — which was trading at Rs190 per dollar and closed at Rs182 per dollar today.

    ‘Will probe threat letter’

    The newly-elected prime minister said the Opposition was discussing the no-confidence motion days before Imran Khan’s “concocted threat letter controversy”.

    “They say that this letter came to them on March 7, but our decisions were made way before that, so, if [what the previous government claimed] is a lie, then the matter should be disclosed transparently before the public,” he said.

    PM Shehbaz Sharif announced that the parliament’s security committee would be given a briefing on the “threat letter” to the members of the committee in presence of the armed forces personnel and bureaucrats — the director-general Inter-Services Intelligence, foreign secretary, and the ambassador who wrote it, who has now been transferred to Brussels.

    “If there’s an iota of evidence that we were backed by foreign conspirators […] then with you Mr speaker and God as my witness, I will not think for another second and resign from the office of the prime minister,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said, vowing to hold an in-camera session of the security committee at the earliest.

    Economy

     Shehbaz Sharif said that hard work was required for Pakistan’s progress as if only statements could move the country forward, then during PTI’s tenure, we would have been among the leading nations.

    “We will need to wash out the effects of the previous government by working together, otherwise, we will fail […] our economy is in a bad situation right now,” the prime minister said.

    “We will need to wash out the effects of the previous government by working together, otherwise, we will fail […] our economy is in a bad situation right now,” said PM Shehbaz.

    “The minimum wage will be jacked up to Rs25,000 (from April 1). 10 per cent increase in pensions of retired civil, and military officials (from April 1). Cheap wheat to be introduced at utility stores.”

    “Laptop and technical education for youth. Reintroduction of Benazir Card. Appeal to industrialists to increase salaries of employees who earn up to Rs100,000 by 10 per cent.”

    Shehbaz’s take on foreign policy

    Shehbaz said China has been Pakistan’s partner through thick and thin. “No one can snatch Pakistan and China’s friendship from us,” he said, calling it a “long-lasting relation.”

    “But this friendship is for forever and … I assure that we will make progress on the CPEC,” he added, thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping.

    Speaking about India, the newly-elected prime minister lamented that despite them wanting peaceful ties with India, they know that until the Kashmir issue is resolved, relations between the two cannot be strengthened.

    Urging Indian premier Narendra Modi to understand the issues of the people living on both sides, he questioned there is poverty, unemployment, medical issues, etc. then “why are we harming ourselves and the generations to come?”

    “Why do we want our coming generations to suffer. Come, let’s resolve the Kashmir issue in line with United Nation resolutions and Kashmiris’ expectations, so that we are able to end poverty on both sides of the border.”

    Underlining the significance of having good ties with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, European Union nations, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, and Iran, he said that ties needed to be strengthened with the US on the basis of equality and “we need to raise our voice for Afghanistan” where the situation was dire.

    “We want peace in Afghanistan.”

    The session was subsequently adjourned till 4pm on April 16.

    Sanjrani administers the oath to Shehbaz in President Alvi’s absence

    Prior to the ceremony, President Dr Arif Alvi had complained of discomfort and was advised to rest for a few days, according to an update posted on his Twitter account.

    In the president’s absence, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administered the oath to PM Shehbaz.

    Modi, Turkey’s Erdogan congratulate Shehbaz on becoming PM

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday congratulated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on becoming the 23rd premier of Pakistan.

    Meanwhile, in a telephonic conversation with Shehbaz, Turkish President Erdogan told the newly-elected prime minister that he was “extremely happy” about him being elected as the premier.

    Guard of honour

    Earlier this morning, the premier was given a Guard of Honour at Prime Minister’s House.

  • PTI supporters win hearts during peaceful demonstrations

    A massive peaceful protest was launched in favour of Former Prime Minister Imran Khan after he was dismissed in the no-confidence motion on Sunday. The demonstrations were held across the country and overseas as well. Elderly people also joined in the peaceful protest.

    In Swat, people made a way for an ambulance to move forward which has won the hearts of social media users.

    A protest was held by overseas Pakistanis in London Hyde Park to show their support for Imran Khan.

    Emotional scenes were seen abroad at the PTI protest where elderly women were crying about the injustice meted out to Imran Khan.

    Actor, Haroon Shahid also shared his proud moment on Twitter, when his mother went to protest around midnight to show solidarity with Imran Khan.

    Another user shared a clip in which an elderly woman was crying and she revealed herself in a video that she came from the United States (US).

    https://twitter.com/pEEruBalOcH/status/1513284770670821394

    Former Prime Minister, Imran Khan thanked his supporters in a tweet prior to midnight.

    “Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support and emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail,” he tweeted.

    “[It] shows Pakistanis at home and abroad have emphatically rejected this,” he further added.

  • ‘Amazing outpouring of support’: PTI supporters rock streets countrywide

    ‘Amazing outpouring of support’: PTI supporters rock streets countrywide

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters took to the streets across all major and small cities in massive numbers to show their solidarity with their leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Party supporters came out following a call given by Khan for peaceful protest.

    A day after Khan was voted out of power, he, during an address to the nation, had said that he will not tolerate the installation of a “foreign government” in Pakistan and that he will turn to the public for support if such a thing happens.

    “We are not a nation that can be used like tissue papers,” Khan said during a live telecast, maintaining that Pakistan does not want unilateral relations with any country.

    Earlier in the day on April 10, Khan tweeted that today marked the beginning of a “freedom struggle” against what he called was a “foreign regime-change conspiracy”. In an attempt to galvanize his supporters, he said “it is always the people who protected their own sovereignty and democracy.”

    PTI had shared the venues for the protests hours before their supporters took to the streets. 

    Islamabad

    The protest in the capital started from Zero Point. People waved flags while chanting slogans in favour of the former prime minister.

    Former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry thanked PTI supporters for turning out to Rawalpindi for the protest.

    Lahore

    PTI leader Hammad Azhar posted a video of a rally from his constituency of NA-126 leaving for Liberty Chowk.

    Peshawar

    A large number of protesters including women and children turned up at Peshawar Press Club and expressed solidarity with the ousted prime minister.

    Karachi

    A protest was held in Karachi on Rashid Minhas Road where a large number of supporters, including women and children, were in attendance.

    Overseas Pakistani too came out in support of Khan.

    Khan thanks protestors for ‘amazing outpouring of support’

    Imran thanked his supporters in a tweet done prior to midnight.

    “Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support and emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail,” he tweeted.

    “[It] shows Pakistanis at home and abroad have emphatically rejected this.”