Tag: Shahbaz Sharif

  • Nawaz is against Pakistan says Zardari, Shehbaz lashes back

    Nawaz is against Pakistan says Zardari, Shehbaz lashes back

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shehbaz Sharif has criticised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for his remarks against Mian Nawaz Sharif.

    “Zardari Sahib’s statement about Mian Nawaz Sharif is unfortunate. Mian Sahib’s unwavering commitment to Pakistan has always been unquestionable. Zardari sb. knows the conditions in which MNS had to go abroad. We should refrain from such remarks & work for [the] greater good of [the] country,” tweeted Shehbaz.

    Without taking Nawaz Sharif’s name, Asif Zardari had accused PML-N chief of being against Pakistan. “They are against my homeland. Those who don’t wish to die in my homeland, what can they do?”

    Zardari said, “We belong to this land and we will die here.” The former president was addressing a media talk on Monday in Lahore.

    On Sunday (December 5), PML-N’s Shaista Pervaiz Malik defeated PPP candidate Aslam Gill in Lahore’s NA-133 by-polls. Shaista Malik secured 46,811 votes while Gill’s votes were 32,313.

  • 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.

  • ‘Evil and vicious machine,’ and ‘respect your own chair, position’: Opp and govt come face to face

    ‘Evil and vicious machine,’ and ‘respect your own chair, position’: Opp and govt come face to face

    The government on Wednesday managed to bulldoze amendments to the Elections Act, 2017, in the joint session of parliament, allowing the use of electronic voting machines and granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis.

    Shehbaz Sharif: “Electronic voting machines should be called evil and vicious machines.”

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif termed electronic voting machines (EVMs) “evil and vicious machines” and accused the government of not being sincere in creating a consensus on electoral reforms in the joint session.

    Stating that the government was bulldozing important bills, he said that it was “illegal” and that it was equivalent to spoiling the traditions of the house.

    “You [Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser] sent a letter to me and the whole joint Opposition,” he said, adding that in response he submitted a comprehensive answer with “great suggestions”. “But you cancelled your contact and we received no answer from you.”

    “This is the first time in history that there are allegations of rigging before the elections.”

    Shehbaz said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which is responsible for carrying out fair and transparent elections, had also expressed its reservations about EVMs. “They [govt] want to pass these laws despite their [ECP] reservations.”

    He said that the party that had once talked about democracy, transparency, and change, now wanted to pass “black laws”.

    “If you allow this black law to be passed, then Pakistan will be severely damaged for which responsibility will be on you and them,” he said while addressing Qaiser.

    “If the government used the energy that it is spending on this issue to tackle inflation, then we might have seen a difference. But they are not concerned. They are only concerned with remaining in power without securing the people’s vote.”

    In response to the Leader of the Opposition, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi presented from the government’s side.

    Shah Mahmood Qureshi: “Govt wants to wash away blackness of past.”

    “Shehbaz said that the government wanted to introduce a black law. Absolutely not, the government wants to wash away the blackness of the past,” said Qureshi.

    Qureshi rejected the notion that the government had previously cancelled the joint session because it did not have majority support said, “If we didn’t have the numbers, then how are we presenting these bills today? There is solidarity in government ranks and our allies are standing with us.”

    “You call EVMs ‘evil and vicious machines’ and that is your right. But EVMs are not evil and vicious machines, they are being introduced to bury evil and vicious designs.”

    Following Qureshi’s address, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was asked to deliver his speech.

    Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari: “[Speaker AsadQaiser] Respect your own chair, position.”

    Addressing the Speaker Asad Qaiser, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto requested him to “respect his own chair”, “respect his own position” and “respect the House”.

    Bilawal criticised the government’s “one-sided” electoral reforms which have never been witnessed in the country’s history.

    Referring to the government of former PM Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal said: “If that government had unilaterally decided and used the majority to force reforms, then the PTI and the PPP would not have been able to do anything.”

    “If they had decided to introduce a constitutional amendment, then we would have to accept their decision. But they achieved a consensus,” he said.

    “If we were all legislating together, the next election would have been transparent,” Bilawal said.

    “If we carried out reforms together then the next election would not be controversial and it would have been Khan Sahab’s success.”

    He said the government is making the next election controversial and gave an ultimatum that they will not accept the next election if the bill for EVMs is passed.

    Bilawal said they will stand by the ECP. “As long as the ECP has reservations, we have reservations,” Bilawal said.

    “How can we accept your suggestion where Pakistanis sitting in Paris, California and Britain decide for the people of Karachi and the tribal areas? They should have their own electoral college.”

    Bilawal further said that the government had given a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

    “If you have to give relief to anyone then it should be the poor people of Pakistan who are facing a multitude of problems […] how can you expect that we will permit you to use this House to give an NRO to that Indian spy?”

  • ‘Saqib Nisar directed not to release Nawaz, Maryam before 2018 elections’: Ex-Chief Justice GB

    ‘Saqib Nisar directed not to release Nawaz, Maryam before 2018 elections’: Ex-Chief Justice GB

    The former Chief Judge (CJ) of the apex court of Gilgit Baltistan Rana M Shamim in a signed affidavit wrote that he is a witness to the then Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar’s direction to a high court judge not to release Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections, reports Ansar Abbasi for The News.

    “Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif must remain in jail until the general elections are over. On assurances from the other side, he (Saqib Nisar) became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea,” said the affidavit.

    The affidavit contains the signature of the ex-CJ of Gilgit Baltistan as well as an image of his CNIC. The notary public stamped the affidavit and recorded that it was “sworn under oath before me” on November 10, 2021.

    The report edited the name of the High Court justice who talked to Saqib Nisar at that time.

    “In July 2018 while I was serving as the Chief Judge of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit Baltistan, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, came to Gilgit for vacations along with 27 family members and stayed in the guest house of the court,” said the affidavit.

    “That one evening when I, my late wife, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and his wife were taking tea in the lawn, I found the Chief Justice of Pakistan to be very disturbed and continued talking on the phone to his registrar, directing him to go to the residence of Justice —— of —— and request him to immediately call him (the CJP).”

    “That in case his call does not get through, then convey to him on his (Mian Saqib Nisar’s) behalf that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif must not be released on bail before the general elections at any cost,” read the chief justice’s affidavit.

    “That shortly afterwards he also spoke to Justice —— directly and told him that Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif must remain in jail until the general elections are over. On assurance from the other side, he became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea.”

    “I, as his colleague and host, requested him to spend his vacations with his family in Gilgit Baltistan and then asked him why he conveyed such a message to Justice —– and for what. He said, ‘Rana Sahib you will never understand. You must treat it as if you never heard anything.’ I told him in the presence of my late wife and his wife that Mian Nawaz Sharif has been falsely implicated and his sentence and that of Maryam Nawaz were both managed as was evident from his phone calls. He was initially disturbed to hear that but then relaxed again and said, ‘Rana Sahib the chemistry of Punjab is different from Gilgit Baltistan’.”

    “That whatever is stated voluntarily herein above constitutes the complete truth,” concluding the document with the signature of Ex Cheif Justice Rana M Shamim.

    PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz took to Twitter yesterday and hinted at the revelation of this story by tweeting, “What is real happiness? To be vindicated in one’s own lifetime.”

    Reacting to the story, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif tweeted, “It’s yet another vindication of Nawaz Sharif & Maryam in the court of public opinion.”

  • ‘Kaptaan bhaag gaya’: Opposition criticises govt for postponing joint Parliament session

    ‘Kaptaan bhaag gaya’: Opposition criticises govt for postponing joint Parliament session

    Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari termed the government’s decision of postponing the joint Parliament session as their victory.

    “Imran Niazi should resign after it was clearly exposed that he had lost the trust of his members and allies,” said Shehbaz.

    “The hasty convening of the joint meeting and then the hasty adjournment shows the seriousness of the government that had made sensitive and serious issues like legislation a child’s play,” he said.

    “Those claiming to compete on the field have fled the field,” he said. Shehbaz Sharif said that the postponement of the joint session of the Parliament proves that the government has confirmed its defeat on the legislation of “black laws.”

    Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Wednesday that the government postponed the Parliament’s joint session as it had “foreseen its defeat”.

    Taking to Twitter, Bilawal said “Kaptaan bhag gaya” (the captain ran away), sharing President Arif Alvi’s notification for the postponement of the session.

    “Yet another victory for the United Opposition in the Parliament today. Government ran away from joint sessions when they saw they would be defeated yet again. Kaptaan Bagh[sic] gaya,” tweeted Bilawal.

    Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter and announced that the joint parliamentary session, which was earlier called by President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday (November 11) has been postponed.

  • Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz meet US Charge d’ Affaires Angela Aggeler in Lahore

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz met with United States (US) Charge d’ Affaires Angela Aggeler at her residence in Jati Umrah, Raiwind, Lahore.

    The official Twitter account of PML-N shared a video of the meeting between senior leaders of PML-N and Aggeler.

    On the arrival of US Charge d’ Affaires Angela Aggeler, she was received by Maryam Nawaz.

    Aggeler met PML-N president and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif. They discussed issues of mutual interest, the regional situation, and peace in the region, especially Afghanistan.

  • British court orders unfreezing of Shehbaz Sharif, son’s UK bank accounts

    British court orders unfreezing of Shehbaz Sharif, son’s UK bank accounts

    A United Kingdom (UK) court has ordered to unfreeze Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his family’s bank accounts for lack of evidence of corruption and money laundering, reported Geo News.

    The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) unfroze the bank accounts of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and those of his son, Suleman Shehbaz, on Monday.

    The NCA had conducted a 17-month long probe in which it examined Shehbaz Sharif’s financial transactions over the past 20 years. It said that no evidence of money laundering or criminal activities against the PML-N president or his family was found.

    The UK’s top anti-corruption agency filed a unilateral application before Judge Rimmer to declare that its two-year high-profile investigation in the jurisdictions of Pakistan, UK, and Dubai found no evidence of money laundering and criminal conduct on part of the two Sharifs who were investigated. 

    The NCA had initiated the probe after Pakistan’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) had shared evidence with the UK crime agency.

    After the Westminster Magistrates Court allowed the accounts to be frozen and issued a probe consent to the NCA on December 19, 2019, Suleman Shehbaz’s declared Barclays account, Shehbaz Sharif’s HBL UK and Barclays account were immediately probed, seized and monies were frozen.

    Usually, anti-money laundering investigations go back only six years, but in this case, the NCA used its excessive powers and investigated Shehbaz Sharif and his son’s transactions dating back to around 20 years.

    NCA’s investigators started the probe from the first flat that Shehbaz Sharif bought in 2004 on Edgware Road when he was in exile and asked him to produce evidence of the clean origin of the money, including mortgage payments, sources of proceeds in his accounts, salaries and dividends, and full proceeds of the property purchase in the UK bought during exile.

    The NCA investigated Suleman Shehbaz’s Barclays account declared in Pakistan with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and looked into all transfers that were made from Pakistan after the State Bank of Pakistan’s approval. The NCA went through each receipt of transfers from the official money exchangers.

    The court documents obtained by this correspondent from credible sources show that the NCA received a letter from the ARU on December 11, 2019, in which it levelled allegations of criminal conduct against Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Shehbaz.

    The government of Pakistan had requested the UK government to seize all assets and funds of Shehbaz Sharif and his family and asked them to return the same to Pakistan and extradite Suleman Shehbaz with his family.

    Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that reports of Shehbaz Sharif being acquitted by the British court were incorrect, clarifying that neither had the ARU nor NAB requested the UK government to initiate a probe against the PML-N leader.

    “[These transactions] were declared as a suspicious transaction by the UK authorities and the NCA secured an asset freezing order(AFO) from the court against these funds,” he tweeted.

    “The news about the alleged acquittal of Shehbaz Sharif or his son Suleman run by one news channel is incorrect and misreporting. It was a result of a suspicious transaction reported by a bank to NCA. The investigation by the NCA against Suleman Shehbaz and some of his family members was not initiated at the request of Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) or National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” tweeted Akbar, who had been keeping a low profile for the last couple of months.

    PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said: “The UK court’s decision has unequivocally exonerated Shehbaz Sharif and his family of all malicious and vexatious claims of corruption and money laundering by Imran Khan. The NCA conducted a 21-month global investigation spanning across a 20-year timeframe whilst overcoming unprecedented jurisdictional challenges.”

    “Never in the history of Pakistan has such a public office-holder been subjected to global scrutiny and multi-jurisdictional probing. Imran Khan has been exposed as a charlatan, willing to malign and assassinate characters of honest public office-holders. False corruption narrative exposed as nothing more than a smokescreen and Imran Khan to be an unscrupulous ringmaster of a circus built on incompetence, deceit and stained by the indignation of the innocent and the poor,” she said.

  • Shehbaz Sharif proposes new names for vacant ECP posts

    Shehbaz Sharif proposes new names for vacant ECP posts

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif proposed names for the appointment of new provincial members in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in response to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s letter suggesting names for the ECP members.

    Shehbaz suggested the names of Justice (retd) Tariq Iftikhar Ahmed, Justice (retd) Mushtaq Ahmed, Muhammad Javed Anwar, Khalid Masood Chaudhry, Irfan Qadir, and Irfan Ali for Punjab.

    While the names of Syed Afsar Shah, Sardar Hussain Shah, and Sohail Altaf have been suggested for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, by the Opposition leader.

    Earlier on August 27, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote a letter to Shehbaz Sharif for the appointment of members to the ECP.

  • ‘Shehbaz makes a decision, his party says it’s personal’, Bilawal slams PMLN

    ‘Shehbaz makes a decision, his party says it’s personal’, Bilawal slams PMLN

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while addressing his party workers in Multan said that “ [Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz President] Shehbaz Sharif is the party president, his decision should be final.”

    According to the chairman, whenever Sharif makes a statement, party members say that it is his own “personal decision”, reports Geo.

    Furthermore, he argued that “If Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had stayed, it could hold a long march, and before reaching Lahore, they could have made [Chief Minister of Punjab] Usman Buzdar resign, and [Prime Minister] Imran Khan would have resigned before the march reached Islamabad. Shehbaz was aware of all the formulas.”

    Bilawal, adding that his party had sincerely wanted to oust the government through PDM said that “The PDM leadership started talking about our resignations instead of the Punjab chief minister and the prime minister’s resignations.”

    Earlier this month Sharif suggested the formation of a national government. He said, “It needs collective wisdom and requires collective efforts to fix [the problems of Pakistan]. That’s why I think we should have a national government in place to sort out these huge tasks. Even if we [PML-N] win a majority, we can’t fix it alone.”

    Upon this Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi made his comment while talking to The News by saying that, “There is no option for ‘national govt’ in Constitution.

    “Our party has already made it clear that Shehbaz did not talk about it [national government] and he was misquoted by some circles”, he added.

    Moreover during the rally Bilawal taunted the government by saying that the Centre was proposing to roll out electronic voting machines when there is persistent load shedding in the country.

    In early June both PPP and Awami National Party (ANP) left PDM by saying that the leaders of the fragmented anti-government alliance appear to be “confused and divided”.

  • Shehbaz’s remarks about a national govt are his personal views: PML-N

    Shehbaz’s remarks about a national govt are his personal views: PML-N

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks about the formation of a national government have stirred up a political debate in the country, reported Dawn.

    PML-N termed the party president’s views as passing remarks based on his personal opinion about a post-election scenario.

    “PML-N president and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif made a passing remark that if the people of Pakistan by the grace of God Almighty gave the PML-N the responsibility to govern again after the next elections, in his personal view he would not mind inviting other political parties, excluding the PTI, to contribute towards solving the massive crisis created by the Imran Khan government over their disastrous tenure in government,” said Marriyum Aurangzeb in a brief statement.

    “Any news item carried by any news media stating otherwise is a misrepresentation of what the PML-N president said,” she added.

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) described the statement as clear proof that the Pakistan Democratic Move­ment (PDM) no more exists. The PPP believed it was an effort by the PML-N leader to keep himself “politically alive”.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that Sharif’s proposal of a national government was “a bid to save his own skin”.

    Sharif, while speaking to journalists in Karachi said, “Frankly, I am telling you that sometimes when I look at these huge problems and challenges, I feel convinced that it’s not possible for one party alone [to fix them],” he had said, adding: “It needs collective wisdom. It requires collective efforts. That’s why I think we should have a national government in place to sort out these huge tasks. I don’t know what the exact shape of this idea would be and the right time may make things clearer but for me it’s crucial. Even if we [PML-N] win a majority, we can’t fix it alone.”