Tag: Sadiq Sanjrani

  • PM Shehbaz, Imran Khan wish Hajj Mubarak to Muslims across the globe

    PM Shehbaz, Imran Khan wish Hajj Mubarak to Muslims across the globe

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the ones who have received the blessings of Hajj-e-Akbar.

    In a series of tweets, PM Shehbaz said this is a blessed occasion to pray for the prosperity of mankind and its deliverance from epidemics and diseases.

    He prayed for the freedom of occupied Palestine and Kashmir to save the oppressed people. He also urged the nation to offer special prayers for elevation in the ranks of martyrs.

    “May Allah Almighty bring Pakistan out of its debt situation with the blessings of Hajj-e-Akbar and grant us economic self-reliance,” he added.

    Similarly, former PM and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan shared a picture and wished Hajj to the Muslims on his Instagram handle.

    He wrote, “Hajj Mubarak to Muslims across the globe!”

    There are several politicians who are performing Hajj this year, including seven members of PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani is also performing Hajj this year.

    84,000 Pakistanis proceeded to the plains of Arafat today (Friday) to perform the Rukn-e-Azam of the Hajj known as “Waqoof-e-Arafat”.

  • PPP’s Gilani becomes leader of house in Senate

    PPP’s Gilani becomes leader of house in Senate

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader and former Prime Minister (PM) Yusuf Raza Gilani has taken charge as the leader of the House in the Senate today (Monday).

    Earlier, Gilani contested for the slot of Senate chairman against Sadiq Sanjrani but lost. Gilani has been appointed to fill the slot by the current PM Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Senator Dr Shehzad Waseem will now become the leader of the Opposition.

    The National Assembly (NA) session has resumed today and it has been indicated that a resolution of condemnation against PTI Chairman Imran Khan for using obnoxious language against Maryam Nawaz in his Multan rally would be tabled in the two houses separately by women lawmakers.

    According to The News that PM Shehbaz Sharif will avail the sitting of the upper house to make an important policy statement on the political and economic situation in the country.

    In January, Gilani stepped down as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate after his absence led to the passage of the State Bank (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the Upper House of Parliament.

  • PML-N Ishaq Dar appeals to take Senate oath virtually from UK

    PML-N Ishaq Dar appeals to take Senate oath virtually from UK

    Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) senior leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar has reportedly written a letter to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in which he expressed his willingness to take his oath as a member of Senate “virtually” from the United Kingdom (UK) due to his illness, states Dawn.

    The letter, dated February 2nd reads, “It is requested that arrangements may please be made to enable me [Dar] to take the required oath, virtually, through any electronic mode as you may deem convenient; the same being within the applicable legal framework and being used by the apex court of Pakistan.”

    The former finance minister attached his medical report along with his appeal. He stated that because of his “prolonged illness and ongoing medical treatment” in the UK, he cannot return to Pakistan to take the oath in person.

    In 2018, following the elections, Dar’s rival candidate, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ‘s (PTI) Nawazish Ali Pirzada, approached the Supreme Court (SC) against Dar’s selection as a senator. At the time, the top court suspended the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) notification, which declared the PML-N leader’s victory. However, on January 10, the SC gave its verdict in favour of Dar.

    Dar has been living in London since 2017 (before the 2018 general elections). He went there at a time when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was dealing with a corruption case against him.

  • Prime Minister House to be converted to university in 72 months

    Prime Minister House to be converted to university in 72 months

    The bill seeking the establishment of a university at the Prime Minister (PM) House finally reached the Senate on Tuesday, reports Dawn.

    According to the bill, which has already been passed by the National Assembly (NA), the project once started, will take 72 months to complete.

    Last year, officials from the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the direction of the PM Office, had visited Sir Syed Memorial Society building in G-5. The HEC and CDA had later shared a report with the PM office, stating the building was suitable for starting the university.

    The University of Engineering and Emerging Technology Bill 2022 was tabled in the Senate by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan on behalf of Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood.

    Chairman Mohammad Sadiq Sanjrani referred the bill to the Senate Standing Committee on Education for consideration.

    In October last year, the NA standing committee had approved the bill and last month the National Assembly passed it along the mini-budget and some other bills.

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has already entered its fourth year in office, implying Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan may not be able to see his dream project completed during his tenure.

  • Zardari, Nawaz, Maulana have all been ruined by one man: Saleem Safi

    Zardari, Nawaz, Maulana have all been ruined by one man: Saleem Safi

    Senior journalist Saleem Khan Safi, while speaking on Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, said that there was one man who had ruined the politics for many in Pakistan. Safi was giving his analysis on the recent Senate fiasco after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021 was passed on January 28.

    “Zaradri, Nawaz Sharif aur Maulana sub ki siyasat ko aik banday nay fail kar diya hai [One man has led to the failure of Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman’s politics],” Safi said alluding to Chairman of Senate Sadiq Sanjrani.

    Safi went on to say that what happened in Senate on January 28 was a collective failure. “This is the failure of the Opposition that they could not devise a joint strategy against the government. This Opposition does not carry the traits of the Opposition. This entire matter was part of the script. It started with Yusuf Raza Gilani becoming the Leader of the Opposition, to the passing of various bills. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was the mastermind behind it all and he was the one who devised this script.”

    “Sanjrani is our friend and a respected man. There was a time when he was in charge of the complaint cell in Gilani’s government. Giani played a role in the script prepared by Bilawal and former president Asif Ali Zardari. I will consider Gilani’s resignation as part of the script as well,” added Safi.

    Senior journalist Fahd Husain, who also was part of the panel on the show, said, “This is very obvious that the Opposition was given a clear message that they will not block the [SBP Amendment] bill.”

    Agreeing with Safi, Husain said that how the events unfolded themselves makes it very obvious that everything that happened was pre-planned. “The way all this happened and the way the people went missing, they did not turn up, I will say that this was done in a rather crude manner. The Opposition should have taken advantage of this scenario and should have said that the government got the bill passed in an illegitimate manner, they [Opposition] have now got all this on themselves.”

    Husain further said that what happened in the Senate cannot be fully put on Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He said that the mistrust built between Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) and PPP over Yusuf Raza Gilani becoming the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is still there and we are witnessing history repeating itself.

    Anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada asked Safi if the Opposition was a threat to the government. Safi said that the entire fuss of the Opposition was mainly to prove that they actually are the Opposition. Just like Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), all this suits the PPP. If early elections take place, the PPP is of the view that they might not get to rule Sindh as well. “All these marches are just tactics to prove themselves as the Opposition,” said Safi.

    “They [Oppostion] have not devised a concrete methodology towards their policies. We are ignoring the role of Sadiq Sanjrani in all this. If Zardari wants to rule completely, he should make Sanjrani chairman instead of Bilawal. If PDM wants success, they should make Sanjrani their leader,” said Safi.

  • Bilawal declines Gilani’s resignation as Leader of Opposition Senate

    Bilawal declines Gilani’s resignation as Leader of Opposition Senate

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has refused to accept his party leader Yusuf Raza Gilani’s resignation as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

    The party chairman said that Gilani has given exemplary services for democracy in the country. Bilawal Bhutto also backed the PPP leader’s statements and expressed his regret over the role of Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani in the passing of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill, 2021 by calling the act “in connivance with the government”, reports Geo News.

    Moreover, Bilawal said that the PPP is the only political party in which the elected representatives present themselves for accountability.

    Yesterday, Gilani said that he had handed over his resignation to his party after he received criticism for being absent from a key Senate session.

    Gilani took the mic in the Upper House on Monday and condemned the biasness shown by the chairman Senate. He said, “In the history of Pakistan Senate, it was the first time the Chairman Senate had to give a vote. As a neutral person, you should have not done this. As the custodian of the House, you should have protected the rights of both sides of the House.”

    On January 28, the Leader of the Opposition was absent when the government passed the SBP amendment bill in the Senate. He said that he had received the agenda of the House only a few hours before the session and it was not possible for him to travel in such a short period of time.

  • Interior Minister questioned on rising terrorism, didn’t brief parliament for nine months

    Interior Minister questioned on rising terrorism, didn’t brief parliament for nine months

    The Opposition senators questioned the Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed over the recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad and Lahore in today’s Senate session.

    Earlier this week, in a gun attack, a police officer was killed in the capital and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility. Lahore was attacked on Thursday which claimed the lives of three civilians.

    Senator Raza Rabbani said that Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) had claimed responsibility for one of the attacks while Rasheed said the TTP was behind it. The senator demanded that the minister be summoned to clear the confusion, reports Dawn.

    Several other senators including Pakistan Muslim-League’s (PML-N) sought a reply. One of them said that “he had not seen the interior minister in the House for any briefing during the last nine months.”

    Rasheed made a briefing and said that there are “special motives” behind the killing of the cop in Islamabad. However, about the Lahore tragedy, the minister stated that an investigation is underway. 

    Upon the Oppostion’s insistence of seeking an explanation from the government. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani told the minister to brief the upper house in this regard and the steps taken by the government on Monday (January 24).

    After the capital incident, the minister had warned of more terrorist-related attacks. Previously in the past month, two terrorists allegedly belonging to the banned outfit TTP were arrested in Karachi.

  • Senate official suspended for harassing woman

    An 18-grade employee of the Senate’s legislative branch, Rana Azhar Siddique has been suspended for harassing a woman by filming her without her consent in the federal capital, Islamabad.

    The video of the incident went viral on social media and clearly shows the man caught by a woman while filming her at an Automated Teller Machine (ATM). She lashed out and threatened to call the police helpline 15 when he was asked to show the video but the man ran away from the scene.

    The Islamabad police took notice of the incident and the woman was contacted and a case was filed under her name.

    The Kohsar police station booked the accused and anti-harassment provisions were added in the case. Officials said that more facts would come into light during interrogation.

    In the first information report (FIR), the woman stated that she stopped by an ATM and he started recording her.

    The complainant said, “I asked the person why he was shooting the video. At this, the man admitted that he was filming me and made a run for it.”

    Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani suspended him and ordered further investigation regarding the harassment matter.

  • ‘Thay 64 nikly 50 votes’, PPP’s Mustafa Khokhar says it’s also Opposition’s fault

    ‘Thay 64 nikly 50 votes’, PPP’s Mustafa Khokhar says it’s also Opposition’s fault

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar appeared in Geo News’ programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ and questioned the role of Chairman of Senate of Pakistan Sadiq Sanjrani. Khokhar said that it was the Opposition’s fault too as their party’s members weren’t present at the time during the time of voting.

    The bills proposed by the PTI government were officially passed by the Upper House of Parliament (Senate) on Friday. While answering the question on the conflicts between the Joint Opposition, Khokhar maintained his stance and said that the Opposition should have maintained the number while voting in Senate.

    “Thy 64, nikly 50 votes” (They were supposed to be 64 votes but actual votes were 50) he added. While criticising the government, Khokhar stated: “We know which people had been called by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) in the joint session of parliament.”

    The joint Opposition of the parliament is expected to meet today (Saturday) to decide how and when it will challenge the passed laws by the government in the parliament (which were passed in Opposition’s absence) in court, reports Dawn.

    “The meeting discussed the issue of bulldozing the government’s legislation in the joint sitting of the parliament and decided that the united opposition would challenge the government’s fascism and unconstitutionality inside and outside parliament,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb.

    Speaking in the meeting, the Leader of the Opposition and President of PML-N Shehbaz Sharif said the constitution did not recognise the government’s legislation as legal and termed the laws “decrees” of Imran Niazi” (Prime Minister Imran Khan).

    He was quoted as saying: “The government, which has been bombing the people with inflation, carried out a suicide attack on the parliament. After being disgraced by the people, the PTI government is now attacking the constitution.”

    While voting in the Parliament on Thursday, the Opposition walked out of the National Assembly (NA) and gave the government a chance to pass the laws on their own.

  • Joint session ‘big victory’ for Govt, Opp to move ‘no-confidence’ motion against Senate Chairman

    Joint session ‘big victory’ for Govt, Opp to move ‘no-confidence’ motion against Senate Chairman

    The government on Wednesday managed to force amendments to the Elections Act, 2017, allowing the use of electronic voting machines and granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis. A total of 33 bills were passed amidst the Opposition’s continuous protest against them.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry termed the passage of 33 bills in a joint sitting of parliament a “big victory” for the government.

    Speaking at a press conference, Fawad said, “The Opposition will remember this defeat for a long time and must have realised about its strength today (Wednesday) in parliament and now its dream to remove the Senate chairman will not come true.”

    “Those considering moving no-confidence motion against government functionaries should have a second thought about their assessments,” said Fawad.

    The Opposition on Wednesday decided to challenge the bills that were passed in parliament.

    Earlier the Opposition was considering bringing a no-confidence motion against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani or National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser as a tester to confirm the present strength of treasury in parliament.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Khurram Dastagir said on a Dawn News TV show that the motion would be moved soon. They said if the motion became successful, then a similar motion could be moved against the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    On the Opposition’s decision to move the court against the bills, Fawad said both the Houses had approved the legislation, so it would not be an “easy task” to challenge them.

    “Both the Houses have passed the bills […] it will be hard to challenge them, but they can be challenged,” added Fawad.

    Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, speaking to media outside Parliament, said legislation was bulldozed and NA Speaker Asad Qaiser had “trampled” Parliamentary traditions.

    “Legislation cannot take place in such an atmosphere […] the votes counted for the Opposition were far fewer than their actual numbers,” he added.

    “We believe three or four additional votes were counted in favour of the government,” he said, adding: “We had more than 200 lawmakers in the house today.”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said, “The government did not emerge victorious today in parliament.”

    Bilawal tried to explain that according to the law, more than half of the combined votes of a joint sitting were required to get a law passed in parliament.

    Bilawal said he “tried his best” to draw the attention of the treasury benches and NA Speaker towards the joint sitting’s rules, but no one paid heed to it.