Tag: The Current

  • Bilawal to meet PM Shehbaz today as budget reservations loom

    Bilawal to meet PM Shehbaz today as budget reservations loom

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will meet Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif today to discuss his party’s reservations about the federal budget for 2024-2025.

    The National Assembly (NA) is holding a budget session today after Eid break.

    The Bilawal-led party has criticized Shehbaz’s government for taking all decisions about the presented federal budget alone.

    PPP had decided upon boycotting the budget session last week, but Deputy Prime Minister Senator Ishaq Dar held talks with PPP’s top leadership to convince them to support it.

    The delegation of PPP- headed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari- will convey their reservations on the budget in today’s meeting to Shehbaz Sharif at PM’s house in the federal capital, as per The News.

    “The government reached out for the meeting, and Bilawal will place genuine PPP concerns before PM Shehbaz,” PPP’s Secretary Information Shazia Marri confirmed.

  • Owais Leghari requests Mohsin Naqvi to help with grid stations protesters in KP

    Owais Leghari requests Mohsin Naqvi to help with grid stations protesters in KP

    Federal Energy Minister Owais Leghari has approached Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for immediate help to deal with the protests that occurred at grid stations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Wednesday.

    Owais Leghari expressed concern in a written letter to Mohsin Naqvi that the local police are not registering cases against the responsible individuals.

    The chief executive officer of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) confirmed in his submitted report that such incidents are happening in Mardan, Charsadda, Tank, Bannu and Peshawar.

    “Provincial assembly members and others gave illegal orders to grid station staff regarding power restoration,” the letter read.

    Chief Minister KP Ali Amin Gandapur entered the grid station and restored the power supply, declaring his own loadshedding plan.

    “No area will face loadshedding beyond 12 hours. Assembly members should visit grid stations in their respective areas to ensure compliance with the load-shedding schedule,” Gandapur stated while warning the federal government about the loadshedding issue.

  • Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s family brings home-cooked food to Adiala jail

    Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s family brings home-cooked food to Adiala jail

    Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s family met him on the second day of Eid in Adiala jail, SAMMA reported on Tuesday.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Meher Banu Qureshi, Mehreen Qureshi, and Sameer Chanoy met Shah Mahmood Qureshi inside jail premises, bringing him home-cooked food to celebrate the religious holiday.

    Qureshi has been in jail since last year, facing investigations into cases related to May 9.

    Earlier, PTI leader and Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son, Zain Qureshi, expressed hopes that his father will be released from jail after Eid ul Azha.

  • Sher Afzal Marwat PTI main wapis aanay ko tiar

    Sher Afzal Marwat PTI main wapis aanay ko tiar

    Maverick member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sher Afzal Marwat told journalists in London that he can only rejoin the party at the request of incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    He told reporters that he’s been out of the party since eight months and will only join again at Imran Khan’s request. Marwat also confirmed that he plans to meet Khan after Eid.

    The Member National Assembly (NA) also alleged that PTI misled young Pakistanis living abroad against the state’s security institutions.

    The PTI leader condemned the campaign against the country’s institutions.

  • Unknown men killed senior journalist Khalil Jibran

    Unknown men killed senior journalist Khalil Jibran

    A senior journalist, Khalil Jibran of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Landi Kotal district, was killed near his residence on Wednesday, Geo News has reported.

    Jirbran was heading towards his house with one of his friends when unknown men targeted him, District Police Officer (DPO) Khyber Salim Abbas confirmed.

    According to the details provided by KP police, the assailants surrounded the journalist’s car, dragged him out of it and opened fire at him.

    The former president of Landi Kotal press club died on the spot, while his attackers made a quick exit.

    The journalism community of the district condemned the incident and criticized the authorities for failing to provide safety to journalists.

    DPO Salim Abbas confirmed that the journalist had received threatening phone calls multiple times.
    Chief Minister KP, Ali Amin Gandapur, also directed authorities to arrest the attackers immediately.

  • Establishment’s involvement in judicial matters will end soon, says LHC Chief Justice

    Establishment’s involvement in judicial matters will end soon, says LHC Chief Justice

    Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan said confidently on Friday that the security establishment’s involvement in the judiciary will be over soon.

    While addressing an event in Rawalpindi, he stated, “Interference in judiciary will have to be fought with faith that it will come to an end.”

    Justice Khan stressed that the establishment’s interference in the judiciary is a genuine issue, adding that he received letters as proof claiming the Army establishment’s involvement in judicial matters.

    “The establishment’s interference in judicial matters will end, and my experience [tells me] that it will come to an end,” said the chief justice.

    Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmed mentioned that he is happy that judicial authorities is “fulfilling their responsibilities without any fear or greed”.
    Earlier, on March 25, six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges wrote a letter to Supreme Court (SC) blaming intelligence agencies for interfering in judicial matters.

  • Court grants bail to Kashmiri poet Ahmad Farhad

    The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High court has granted post-arrest bail to Kashmiri poet Ahmad Farhad on Friday.

    The court approved the poet’s plea against a surety bond worth Rs200,000. AJK High Court Chief Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja announced the verdict.

    Last week, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared Farhad a “missing person” and described his arrest as “illegal.”

    According to the court order, the poet has been missing since May 15, and the First Information Report (FIR) against his disappearance was filed at Lohebher Police Station in Islamabad under Sections 427 and 365 PPC.

    AJK Chief Justice said in his remarks during the hearing that, “Ahmed Farhad should only write poetry, not journalism”.

  • PTI ready for talks or not – The puzzle no one can solve

    The story of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) holding talks with other stakeholders in power corridors has turned into a roller coaster with plenty of twists and turns.

    PTI senator Shibli Faraz, considered a close aide to party’s defacto head Imran Khan, said on April 28, 2024, that the party is always ready to talk but only with those who have real power, hinting towards the willingness to talk to the establishment.

    He then stated that the current atmosphere is not suitable for dialouge.

    A week after Shibli Faraz’s remarks, incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan told journalists at Adiala jail on May 4 that his party will only be ready to talk with its toughest opponent- the security establishment.

    Both these statements were enough to establish that PTI definitely did want dialogue, but only with the army.

    In contrast, PTI Chairman, Barrister Gohar Khan had said on April 2024 that his party is ready to talk with everyone, including political forces, adding that a committee had been formed to negotiate with other political parties on multiple issues.

    During a press conference held on April 29, Gohar said that PTI is not negotiating with anyone through the backdoor.

    However, on June 12, multiple media outlets reported that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is ready to talk with the government for the sake of the country’s development.

    Moreover, PTI decided to choose Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai to negotiate with President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif to reduce political tension in the country.

    Analysts say that either PTI has decided to include politicians in its sphere of powers that need to be talked to, or the security establishment did not agree to talking to PTI, leading the party back towards political powers.

  • Shehbaz Sharif meets Maulana Fazal ur Rehman to cool animosity

    Shehbaz Sharif meets Maulana Fazal ur Rehman to cool animosity

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif reached Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazal ur Rehman residence in Islamabad on Thursday to meet him.
    The Premier took the initiative to improve relations between both the parties that witnessed growing animosity after February, 2024 general elections.   

    Shehbaz praised Maulana’s role in strengthening democracy in the country and acknowledged his services for religion.

    PM Shehbaz proposed a committee to make relations better for the sake of the country’s development.

    Maulana Fazlur Rehman, on May 2, rejected the general election’s results and demanded fresh polls.

  • PPP will not join coalition government, confirms Qamar Zaman Kaira

    PPP will not join coalition government, confirms Qamar Zaman Kaira

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira has denied media reports that his party will join a coalition government, terming them “baseless.”

    Rumors about PPP joining the treasury benches emerged after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal’s meetings with Kaira and Chief Minister Balochistan Sarfraz Bugti.

    Kaira claimed while talking to Geo News that he met with Ahsan Iqbal and discussed his constituency’s developmental projects.

    “I did not discuss anything about joining the government with Ahsan Iqbal,” Kaira said.