Tag: The Current

  • PPP agrees to vote for federal budget

    PPP agrees to vote for federal budget

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have agreed on the annual budget being presented in Parliament today, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

    PPP had earlier expressed concerns about the budget, but the publication stated that the party will vote for it to extend its support to PML-N.

    PPP leader Nayyar Bukhari had said the party has yet to decide whether to vote in favor of the budget.

    The matter is now reportedly settled between the top leadership of both parties.  “Despite protest and speeches in the parliament, the PPP will support the passage of the budget,” sources confirmed to ARY.

    However, PML-N has assured PPP of adding some of their proposals to the budget.  

  • PM Shehbaz invites PPP to join extended cabinet

    PM Shehbaz invites PPP to join extended cabinet

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to extend the federal cabinet after the budget and invited Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) once again to join the cabinet, The News reported on Wednesday.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior political leaders and members of allied parties will be included in the extended cabinet.

    Shehbaz Sharif has started working on enlisting new cabinet members, inviting PPP to join the government to work together for the betterment of the country.

    PML-N has given the task to its senior leader, Ahsan Iqbal. He as already talked to Chief Minister Balochistan, Sarfraz Bugti and PPP’s trusted leader Qamar Zaman Kaira.

    After the elections, PPP decided against becoming part of the cabinet.

    However, the party does hold constitutional and parliamentary posts.

  • Pakistanis seeking asylum in foreign countries will not receive passports

    Pakistanis seeking asylum in foreign countries will not receive passports

    The federal Ministry of Interior has decided on Tuesday not to issue passports to Pakistanis who have requested asylum or are already living on asylum in foreign countries, citing security concerns.

    The ministry sent a letter to relevant authorities asking them not to issue travel documents to asylum seekers.

    According to the ministry’s notification, previously issued passports will be suspended and not renewed.

    The Director General Passports issued the notification on Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s directions.

    The Foreign Ministry and other relevant authorities have also received copies of the notification.

    According to data issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),  almost 40,618 Pakistanis applied for asylum in 2022.

    Most Pakistani asylum seekers are currently based in Italy, Austria, and Canada.

    Some of them are in the United States of America, as almost 1477 individuals fled away from Pakistan to the USA in 2022.

    Pakistan was the fifth most represented country, with 5342 immigrants arriving in Europe; however, the number of Pakistani asylum seekers in Greece didn’t increase from 2022 to 2023.

  • PPP promises to make efforts in withdrawal of Punjab defamation law

    PPP promises to make efforts in withdrawal of Punjab defamation law

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza said on Monday that his party will play its role in the “withdrawal” of the controversial Defamation Bill, 2024.

    Murtaza told journalists in Lahore, “PPP was neither taken on board regarding the Punjab defamation law nor budget preparations, adding that the party’s legal team will work on the controversial legislation and will try to convince the provincial government to withdraw the bill.

    Murtaza expressed concerns about the controversial legislation: “PPP was never willing to be part of that legislation.”

    The provincial government planned the foreign visit of Governor Punjab before presenting the controversial bill in the assembly, he clarified, telling journalists about this.

  • IHC declares Ahmad Farhad’s arrest illegal

    Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared Kashmiri poet and activist Ahmad Farhad’s arrest to be illegal on Monday, ARY News reported.
    IHC said in a written order that Ahamad Farhad had been forcefully abducted from his residence in Islamabad, while security institutions failed to recover him.

    The court ordered that Ahmad Farhad should record his statement before the Lohi Bher magistrate after returning home.

    The court also ordered IHC registrar to combine all the cases of forced disappearance and submit them to the IHC’s Chief Justice.

  • PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah raises concerns over federal budget

    PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah raises concerns over federal budget

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Syed Khursheed Shah has raised concerns on Sunday over the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) strategy for preparing the federal budget.

    Shah voiced concern that PML-N didn’t invite PPP for engagement and dialogue on the budget.
    “What kind of proposals? What kind of budget? The government did not say anything, nor did they take PPP into confidence,” said the senior politician.
    Shah was also unaware of the allocation of resources to the provinces, and demanded transparency in the privatization process.

    “I don’t know which province is getting what share in giving relief to the people,” he said.

    The former opposition leader stressed that, “PPP has shared the entire burden of the government and was also worried about the accountability the party will face due to the federal budget.

    “The public will ask us what has been done, what we will answer,” Khursheed Shah questioned.

  • PPP’s Manzoor Wassan predicts PM Shehbaz will dissolve NA within next three months

    PPP’s Manzoor Wassan predicts PM Shehbaz will dissolve NA within next three months

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Manzoor Wassan predicted on Sunday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will dissolve the National Assembly (NA) within the next three months, Geo News reported.

    The PPP leader stated that the next “trimester is extremely crucial” as far as the political situation in the country goes.  “Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may dissolve the National Assembly within the next three months.”

    Wassan also dismissed the claim that President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif will become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

    The former member of the Sindh Assembly further stated that the political environment is not favorable for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), adding that “Reliefs are given and taken back, so Imran Khan shouldn’t be living in his imaginary world.”

    Wassan’s statement came about after it was rumoured that PPP has not been consulted on the upcoming federal budget for the year 2024-2025.

  • Gandapur vows to hang constitution’s violators

    Gandapur vows to hang constitution’s violators

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur vowed on Saturday to “hang” those who violated the country’s constitution, Geo News reported.

    “[I] swear to God, you will not be able to live in Pakistan, let alone Islamabad,” he said while addressing a public rally in Swat.
    “The constitution of Pakistan was violated. Those who break the constitution will be hanged,” Gandapur said.
    He asked those people to identify themselves, who filed fake cases against Imran Khan, alleging that Maryam Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif, and President Asif Ali Zardari were responsible for cases against Khan.

    “We will have to hold them accountable for each day. We are silent just because of Imran Khan,” he added.

  • PTI’s Zartaj Gul nominated as parliamentary leader

    PTI’s Zartaj Gul nominated as parliamentary leader

    Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) has nominated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zartaj Gul as a parliamentary leader, Express News reported on Saturday.

     Imran Khan approved the Gul’s name as the parliamentary leader.

    Earlier, the party proposed the names of four leaders, including Zartaj Gul, Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan, Zain Qureshi, and Ahmed Chatha, for the appointment for the National Assembly.

    Chairman PTI Barrister Gohar Khan also confirmed being informed about the nomination of Zartaj Gul as a parliamentary leader.

    SIC’s chief, Hamid Raza, will inform the NA speaker about Gul’s nomination on Monday.

    We interviewed Zartaj Gul when she was climate change minister in PTI’s government. Watch the interview here.

  • Unidentified militants attack girls’ school in KP’s Kurram district

    Unidentified militants attack girls’ school in KP’s Kurram district

    Unidentified militants blew up a girls’ school in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Express News reported on Saturday.

    The local authorities confirmed that militants used hand grenades to destroy the Aisha Siddiqa Girls’ School, located in Central Kurram district. The powerful explosion destroyed the school building.

    No causalities have been reported.

    Relevant authorities, including intelligence agencies and police officials, are investigating the incident to arrest the terrorists responsible for the attack.
    Multiple girls’ schools had been attacked in North Waziristan. One of the locals has revealed to news outlets that the Taliban are demanding a significant amount of money from the schools’ funds.