Tag: Shehbaz Sharif

  • 25 killed in Kohistan bus-car collision

    At least 25 people were killed on Tuesday night while 12 were injured when a passenger bus plunged into a ditch after colliding with a car on the Karakoram Highway, Express Tribune has reported.

    The passenger bus going from Gilgit to Rawalpindi crashed head-on with the car travelling in the opposite direction in the Shitial region, according to the local police.

    Eyewitnesses have stated that the bus and the car collided as a result of speeding, and both vehicles then slid into the ditch.

    After being alerted, the police and emergency workers arrived quickly on the scene and transported the dead and injured to the RHC Hospital.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has expressed deep grief and sorrow over loss of lives in the tragic bus accident.

    He expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the high ranks of the departed souls.

    The prime minister instructed the relevant authorities that all provisions of available medical facilities be provided to the injured passengers.

  • Wikipedia is now working in Pakistan

    Wikipedia is now working in Pakistan

    A two-day-old ban on Wikipedia was reversed by the Pakistani government after outrage on restricting the online encyclopaedia.

    The ban was put in place by Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) due to “unlawful” content.

    The website is now working in Pakistan.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday ordered the PTA to restore the online encyclopedia with “immediate effect”.

    “Blocking the site in its entirety was not a suitable measure to restrict access to some objectionable content,” a statement issued by the PM’s office read.
    “The unintended consequences of this blanket ban, therefore, outweigh its benefits,” it added.

    PTA blocked Wikipedia in the country last week for not removing sacrilegious content from the website.

  • APC postponed again as PM Shehbaz prepares to leave for Turkey

    APC postponed again as PM Shehbaz prepares to leave for Turkey

    The federal government again put off its all parties conference (APC) scheduled for February 9, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will pay a solidarity visit to Turkey.

    Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister for Information and Broadcasting announced the change to the APC schedule for the second time in two days

    An earthquake of a 7.8-magnitude hit southern parts of Turkey and neighbouring Syria on Monday, killing over 4,800 people and injuring many.

    APC to be held on Februray 9 now

    Earlier, Aurangzeb has announced that APC has been rescheduled to February 9. Earlier, it was set to take place tomorrow (February 7).

    After last week’s deadly bombing in a Peshawar mosque, PM Shehbaz Sharif urged all political parties to come together to tackle terrorism and extended an invitation to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan to attend the moot.

    ‘Unite!’: PM Shehbaz wants everyone to come together against terrorism

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Friday called for national unity against terrorism “or else history will not forgive us”, as he addressed an Apex Committee meeting in Peshawar.

    The moot was attended by the Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Chief Ministers of all the provinces and other senior officials.

    “On Monday, a ghastly suicide attack martyred over 100 people and we are here to show solidarity with the families of those affected by the attack,” said the Premier. He added that the attack was “very unfortunate” but also noted that the attacker reached the mosque after passing through the check post in Police Lines.

    “Over 80 people who were praying at the mosque were subjected to martyrdom barbarically,” he said. “We are here to express sympathies with their families and this is the purpose of the meeting,” he said.

    Pointing out that the terrorist managed to breach a security check post and reach the mosque, Shehbaz Sharif said that the government should not feel hesitant in admitting the facts.

    “After APS, this was the most distributing incident that has taken place in the city. The nation is asking that after the elimination of terrorism a few years ago, how come this incident took place in Peshawar,” stated the Prime Minister.

    “What measures will be taken to stop this terror wave? It is the need of the hour that provinces and the Centre, along with the leadership of political parties, take ownership and shun their differences, be they political or related to any religious reasons. We should unite and tackle this.”

    Condemning the “baseless” allegations levelled after the attack on social media and other platforms, Shehbaz Sharif promised that the security lapse will be in investigated, “but to say that it was a drone attack or something else is very inappropriate.”

    The prime minister said in the past years, operations Zarb-i-Azb and Raddul Fasaad “broke the back of terrorism” and sacrifices were rendered in its wake. “Our friends and foes give testimony to this,” he added.

    “Eradicating terrorism which had spread across four provinces was not easy. Many people lost their lives confronting terror. Our police and armed forces gave huge sacrifices. Our citizens were on the frontline.”

    He said history would never forget the martyrs and their sacrifices. “And such sacrifices cannot be forgotten.”

    The Premier said that Pakistan was carved out of India to become a leading nation, adding that if they do not act against terrorism now, history will not forgive them.

    “You [PTI] were ready to resettle who were shedding blood but not ready to shake hands for the sake of the nation. The double standard will not work now,” said PM Shehbaz.

    He said that he had extended an invitation to his predecessor Imran Khan.

    “I have also invited the leader of a political party who was not willing to shake hands with me. We now have to rise above personal likes and dislikes,” said the premier.

    Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) minister Shaukat Yousufzai said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had received the invitation for the meeting, however, they will be skipping the huddle.

    “We cannot sit with those who are taking vengeful acts against us,” said Yousufzai.

  • ‘PTI will consider participation in APC if we receive official invitation from PM’: Fawad Chaudhry

    ‘PTI will consider participation in APC if we receive official invitation from PM’: Fawad Chaudhry

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said on Twitter that if Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif sends an official invitation for the All-Parties Conference (APC) set to take place on February 7 in Islamabad, then his party will consider attending.

    Fawad tweeted, “Shehbaz Sharif came in media and invited PTI for the All-Parties Conference. But Tehreek-e-Insaf has yet not received any invitation in this regard. If we receive an official invitation, we will consider participation.”

    Khan rejects PM Shehbaz’s invitation to APC

    PTI Secretary General Asad Umar has confirmed on Friday, February 4, that party Chairman Imran Khan will skip the federal government’s APC.

    PM Shehbaz Sharif invited the former prime minister and his party at an apex committee meeting in Peshawar.

    Umar, while speaking to the press outside the Lahore High Court, said: “How can we sit with them [PDM-led government] while cases are being registered against us?”

    Stating that the constitution is being violated by registering cases of treason against opponents and all the government resources are devoted to arrests and detentions, he said to the members of the press.

    Earlier today, during the apex committee meeting in Peshawar, Shehbaz Sharif, without naming Khan, said: “I have also invited the person who does not want to even shake hands with me,” stressing that all parties are invited to APC and Apex committee meetings. ‘I hope that it will not be rejected,” said the Premier.

    “We need to fight the menace of terrorism by setting our differences aside and moving forward,” said the PM.

    Recalling his time as opposition leader in the National Assembly, the premier said: “Whenever he [Imran Khan] wrote a letter to me, he never wrote my name on it, however, I always responded with my name and my signature on the letter.”

  • ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’: Khan asks workers and supporters to prepare for new movement

    ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’: Khan asks workers and supporters to prepare for new movement

    Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has on Saturday asked his workers and supporters to prepare for “Jail Bharo Tehreek” (Movement to Fill Jails) across the country.

    In a televised address, the former Prime Minister announced the movement as the next step to be taken by the PTI in light of the prevailing political situation that has seen several of its top leaders and allies spend time behind bars.

    “We have two options: Considering what they have been doing, we could have gone for a wheel-jam strike and demonstrations — which is one option and a democratic one.”

    However, Imran Khan said that because the state of the economy will worsen with a strike, “I ask all my workers, the Pakistani nation and everyone to prepare for the Jail Bharo Tehreek.”

    This way, he said, the federal government’s “new hobby” of putting every senior PTI leader in jail will also be fulfilled.

    “The entire party and the people should prepare for the Jail Bharo Tehreek”, Imran said. “Whenever I give the signal, we all will get out and get arrested by the authorities.”

    Khan claimed his party never committed such atrocities in its tenure as the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government in the centre has.

    “Fawad Chaudhry was picked up from home at 3am. What did Shandana Gulzar do that made her a terrorist? As the court gives bail to Sheikh Rasheed, more cases are being filed against him,” the PTI chairman said, insisting that action has been taken against every person who called out the regime change.

    The former prime minister said human rights violations have continued since the “imported government” arrived.

    “No example can be found for the way Shehbaz Gill was tortured. The effects of the torture are still there,” Khan said.

    Speaking about the attempted assassination attack that left him injured, the PTI chairman said he couldn’t get the FIR of his choice registered despite being a former prime minister. However, he said, 60 FIRs were filed against him.

    Imran pinned the responsibility of rising terrorism on incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as he recalled the sacrifices made by the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the war on terror.

    “Look at the graph of terrorism and how it came down during the PTI government,” he said. “Why wasn’t there any terrorism when PTI was in the federal government?”

    “This is why they (KP public) came out yesterday and thronged the streets in fear that there might be another operation,” he said, adding that countless innocent lives are lost during anti-terror operations.

  • Pakistan will have to agree to ‘unimaginable’ IMF conditions for bailout: PM Shehbaz

    Pakistan will have to agree to ‘unimaginable’ IMF conditions for bailout: PM Shehbaz

    The government will have to accept “beyond imagination” International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout requirements, according to Pakistan’s Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, who made the statement on Friday in a meeting of civil and military leaders in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

    In order to avoid backlash before the upcoming elections in October, the administration has refused to implement the tax increases and subsidy reductions that the IMF has required.

    “I will not go into the details but will only say that our economic challenge is unimaginable. The conditions we will have to agree to with the IMF are beyond imagination. But we will have to agree with the conditions,” PM Shehbaz said.

    In the midst of political unrest, a deteriorating security situation, and a balance of payments crisis caused by its high levels of foreign debt, Pakistan’s economy is in terrible circumstances.

    The nation’s central bank announced Thursday that its foreign exchange holdings had decreased once again to $3.1 billion, which analysts said was just enough to cover imports for fewer than three weeks.

    On Wednesday, year-over-year inflation reached a 48-year high, making it difficult for Pakistanis to afford food products.

    With the possibility of national bankruptcy looming and no friendly countries prepared to give less painful bailouts, Islamabad started to submit to pressure ahead of the IMF visit.

    To manage a rogue illicit market in US dollars, the government relaxed regulations on the rupee, which led to the currency falling to historic lows. Additionally, artificially low gasoline costs have increased.

    A backlog of thousands of cargo containers filled with material the countrycannot afford is accumulating at Karachi port as a result of the government no longer providing letters of credit, with the exception of necessary food and medication.

    IMF advises Pakistan to fetch additional revenue

    The IMF has suggested the Pakistani government implement significant, high-quality, and long-lasting tax and non-tax revenue initiatives in order to raise extra funds to close the anticipated Rs. 600 billion fiscal framework shortfall.

    Currently in Pakistan, an IMF delegation led by Mission Chief Nathan Porter is having discussions for the ninth review, which will go through February 9.

    After months of resistance, the government was finally obliged to agree to all the terms laid forth by the Washington-based lender due to the country’s declining foreign exchange reserves and deteriorating economic circumstances.

    Following the conclusion of the negotiations under the $6.5 billion Extended Fund Facility, a staff-level agreement is anticipated.

  • ‘Why were there two black Vigos?’: Elahi family slams govt after raid on Gujrat house

    Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) and former Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Pervaiz Elahi has condemned the raid on his family house ‘Kunjah Gujrat’ and held the incumbent government responsible.

    In a tweet, he claimed that the staff at their house was harassed in the middle of the night. The former CM also threatened the caretaker government with legal action and said that the matter will go to court.

    Addressing Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and caretaker CM Punjab Mohsin Naqvi directly in another tweet, Elahi urged Shehbaz to “respect the sanctity of the home” and warned him that “people would protest outside his own home”. To Naqvi, he said that his job is to ensure fair and transparent elections

    He also regretted that “the rulers have directed police and administration to engage in vengeful actions” while the country is dealing with terrorism.

    Earlier in the day, his son and former federal minister Moonis Elahi claimed that his family home in Gujrat was raided by the police in the early hours of Wednesday “without having a warrant, nor a case”.

    Implying that intelligence agencies were involved in the raid, he said “I can wrap my head around the 25 police vehicles, but why were there two black Vigos?”.

    Moonis then asked if the police were looking for Indian agents.

    The raid has taken place after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday declared that PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would remain the president of the party months weeks after he was ousted following rifts with his cousin Pervaiz Elahi.

    Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) accused the caretaker Punjab government of ‘political persecution’.

  • UAE President’s visit to Pakistan postponed

    UAE President’s visit to Pakistan postponed

    President HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will not visit Islamabad on Monday after his scheduled trip has been postponed to a later date, due to weather conditions.

    Nahyan was scheduled to pay an official visit today to Islamabad to discuss cooperation in relations between the UAE and Pakistan and ways to enhance them in various fields.

    Nahyan was to arrive in Islamabad today on a one-day visit. He was be escorted by JF-17 aircrafts to PAF Noor Khan Air Base where the distinguished guest was to be given a 21 gun salute; Prime Minister Muhammad (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and important members of the federal cabinet had to welcome the distinguished guest at the air base.

    It was expected that Nahyan will be presented a guard of honor by the armed forces of Pakistan at the Prime Minister’s House, after which he will have a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

    Nahyan arrived in Pakistan on January 25, 2023 on a private visit. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif welcomed him at Rahim Yar Khan Airport. There was also a meeting between the two leaders in Rahim Yar Khan.

  • ‘He cannot make accusations every time his wife has a dream’: Bilawal roars at Khan for accusations on his father

    ‘He cannot make accusations every time his wife has a dream’: Bilawal roars at Khan for accusations on his father

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took Imran Khan, Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), to task for the allegations he made against Asif Ali Zardari.

    Tweeting from his official account, the foreign minister minced no words while responding to Imran Khan’s statement that former President Asif Ali Zardari was plotting to assassinate him.

    Bilawal wrote that after terrorist outfits called him and his party out by name in direct threats, Imran Khan has now made false accusations against his father.

    “These statements increase threats to my father, my family and my party. We take them seriously given our history,” tweeted Bilawal, whose mother, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a terrorist attack in 2007.

    “We are exploring legal responses to Imran latest defamatory and dangerous accusations. In the past he threatened my father that he was ‘in the crosshairs of his gun’. His and his associates history as both sympathisers and facilitators of terrorists are well documented”, said Bilawal.

    “Imran must realize every time his wife has a dream he cannot just come on tv and make accusations about people. Her dreams won’t stand up in court,” said Bilawal taking a jibe at the former First Lady, Bushra Bibi.

    “His latest accusation that my family has any association to a terrorist organization or that we would employ them to cause him harm not only defies logic but exposes us all to an increased threat.”

    Stating that PPP will challenge Imran, Bilawal said that populist fiction cannot be allowed to dominate our discourse, poison our politics and damage our democracy. “We will not tolerate being victims of terrorist and put up with propaganda from their political front men.”

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif tweeted, “Imran Niazi’s baseless & dangerous allegations against former President Asif Ali Zardari are not only irresponsible but also conform to a pattern of conspiracy theories meant to spread venom against his political opponents.”

    “Such nonsensical rhetoric is an attempt to remain politically relevant. The whole nation knows how he has used politics of hatred to divide the society for the sake of power.”

    Adviser to the Prime Minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, also responded to Imran Khan’s accusations, stating that PPP will not let Imran Khan off the hook for alleging that former Asif Ali Zardari plotted to kill him.

    Imran Khan had alleged on Friday in a televised speech that PPP Co-Chairman Zardari was plotting and financing an assassination attempt for which the ex-president had hired terrorists.

    Kaira, a PPP stalwart, rejected the allegations as “atrocious”. He said that the allegations had gone beyond lies, promising that PPP won’t spare Imran Khan.

    “A former prime minister talks about his alleged assassination plan. The court should order an investigation. If his allegations are genuine, then those responsible should be brought to the book. If the allegations are proven untrue, Imran should be punished,” said Kaira while speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada kay Sath.

    PPP leader Kasim Gillani also spoke up tweeting, “The absolutely vile, slanderous and defamatory allegations by Imran Khan against President Asif Zardari will be responded to robustly and legally.”

    Khan had claimed that four people orchestrated a plan “behind closed doors” to assassinate him.

    “I got to know about it and then I recorded a video explaining the attack. In a public rally, I announced that I would release the video if something happened to me. They stepped back after this,” said Khan.

    Without naming anyone again, Khan said that another plan was made to have me killed by a religious extremist — hinting towards the November 3, 2022, Wazirabad attack, where he was shot in the legs and is still recovering from the injuries.

    “Now, there’s a Plan C. Asif Zardari is behind it. He has amassed a lot of money through corruption, invested that money with terrorists and hired a militant organisation.”

  • PM Shehbaz regrets ‘inconvenience’ to Pakistanis from major power outage

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has addressed Monday’s major power breakdown that left most of the country without electricity for more than 12 hours.

    In a tweet, the Premier expressed his “sincere regrets”. He wrote, “On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to the power outage yesterday.”

    He added that an inquiry is going on to determine what led to the sudden blackout.

    A day after the power outage, Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir said that electricity has been fully restored at grid stations across the country. However, the minister pointed out that there will be a shortage of electricity for the next two days.

    Residents complained of increased load-shedding even after the restoration, laying doubt on the government’s claims that power was fully restored.

    In a televised address on Tuesday, the minister explained said that there was a “delay in synchronisation” between Tarbela and Mangla power plants.