Wednesday, 28 september, 2022 i 1 rabi ul Awwal, 1444 i rs 15.00 i Vol Xiii No 90 i 12 pages i islamabad edition
PM forMs high-Powered Panel to Probe audio leaks g
VOWS TO FOLLOW CONSTITUTION FOR APPOINTMeNT OF NeW ARMy CHIeF
ISLAMABAD
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staff report
RIMe Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced constitution of a high-powered committee to investigate audio leaks allegedly featuring the conversation of the premier with the highprofile government officials and ruling party leader Maryam Nawaz. “This is a very important matter and this serious security lapse and breach are a big question mark then who will be willing to come to meet the prime minister [amid fears of bugging],” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday. “Anyone will think 100 times before discussing any sensitive matter at the PM House.” “I have taken notice and am forming a high-powered committee to investigate the matter,” he added Responding to a question related to one of the leaked audio clips, PM Shehbaz said Maryam Nawaz – who is also his niece – did not ask for any favour from him regarding the import of her son-in-law’s power plant machinery from India. “Dr Tauqeer told me that his [Maryam’s son-in-law Raheel] half machinery was already imported during PTI’s tenure and the other half is remaining,” he said. “If the [import] of half of the machinery is remaining then it’s a loss. However, we did not consider it appropriate to take up this matter
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SAyS gOVT TOOK PAKISTAN OUT OF INTeRNATIONAL ISOLATION
in the federal cabinet since the matter involves India. “There was nothing illegal in this.” Referring to the alleged audio fiasco involving PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the premier said unlike his predecessor, he did not discuss anything about “diamonds and jewellery”. He also asked the media to highlight the content of audio leaks which exposed the corruption of “Imran and his cronies”. The announcement came a day after PM Shehbaz summoned the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting on September 28 to discuss audio leaks. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had told a private news channel that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) had completed an initial inquiry and a report regarding the audio leaks would be presented before the NSC on Wednesday. The audios drew sharp criticism from the opposition, which expressed concerns over the security of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). However, several government ministers insisted that the audios pointed to no wrongdoing. Soon after the audios surfaced, there was a storm on social media, many bashing the government and expressing shock at the way sensitive audios had purportedly leaked from the PMO. ArMy CHief’s AppoiNTMeNT: Commenting on the controversy surrounding the next army chief’s appointment, Premier Shehbaz said he will follow the procedure laid in the Constitution and law for the appointment of the new
military head. Responding to a question on appointing the army chief with consensus, he said: “Did he [Imran Khan] consult us when he extended the tenure of the army chief? We will follow the Constitution and law.” On criticism about discussing “sensitive matters” with ruling party supremo Nawaz Sharif in London, PM Shehbaz said he discussed matters related to the economy and others with his Quaid and added that there was nothing wrong with this. His statement came in response to deposed prime minister Imran Khan’s suggestion to defer the appointment of the new army chief until after the next elections, maintaining that the incumbent government lacked the legitimacy to make the important appointment. Describing his meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) moot in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and 77th session of the UN general Assembly as “encouraging”, PM said Pakistan had come out of international isolation due to the efforts of present coalition government. “By straining relations with various countries, the previous government had put Pakistan in isolation,” the prime minister said. He said the way former prime minister Imran Khan used to talk about various countries was not appropriate for a country desiring to have good relations. The prime minister, who arrived in Pakistan last night after his official visits to the United Kingdom and the United States, said during his recent visit to Uzbekistan to attend the SCO moot, the flood situation in Pakistan vis a vis climate change was highlighted. He said Pakistan despite having less than one percent share in the global carbon emission was facing the severe negative effects, which was also evident from the recent devastating floods in the country. Shehbaz Sharif said during the SCO moot as well as his meetings with various leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President ebrahim Raisi etc., he highlighted the losses caused by floods in Pakistan and the leaders, besides expressing their solidarity, also assured their cooperation to mitigate the sufferings of flood-hit people. The prime minister said similarly during his address at the 77th session of the UN general Assembly as well as the sideline meetings, he highlighted that with overall economic loss of over US $ 30 billion, the recent devastating floods had caused 1,500 deaths, destroyed millions of houses and destructed infrastructure.
NAB tells LHC Maryam Nawaz’s passport ‘not required any more’ LAHORE staff report
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) informed the Lahore High Court (LHC) that it does not require passport of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz. The statement was made in a reply filed by the bureau to an application filed by Maryam Nawaz for return of her passport, which was surrendered to the LHC deputy registrar (judicial) after she got bail in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case. The NAB further stated in its reply, that it was a matter of enforcement of fundamental rights and as per judgments of the Supreme Court, the registration of a criminal case could not deprive citizens from exercising the fundamental rights. The LHC had issued notices and sought reply from the NAB on Maryam Nawaz’s application for return of her passport, on last hearing, September 14 A three-member LHC bench headed by LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti on Tuesday heard the civil miscellenous application filed by Maryam Nawaz for return of her passport, in a pending petition. As the proceedings started, Maryam Nawaz’s junior counsel informed the bench that senior counsel Advocate Amjad Pervaiz was busy before another court and he would reach this court within a few moments. He pleaded with the court to wait a little. However, the chief justice took a strict notice of Amjad Pervaiz’s absence and remarked that the time was fixed for hearing of the case and Amjad Pervaiz was aware of it. Whether he was unaware of which bench was larger and where he had to appear, he added. Subsequently, the bench adjourned the further proceedings till October 3. However, Advocate Amjad Pervaiz entered the courtroom soon after the judges left. Maryam Nawaz had submitted that a LHC division bench granted bail to her in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on November 4, 2019 and ordered for depositing Rs70 million and surrendering her passport to secure the release. She submitted that freedom of movement was a fundamental right and no one could be deprived of that fundamental right for a long time. She submitted that she was deprived of her fundamental right despite a lapse of four years. She pleaded with the court to issue directions for the return of her passport. The agency opposed the return of the travel document to Nawaz, saying her brothers and other members of the family are already in London to look after Sharif who travelled to the British capital in 2019 on the pretext of medical treatment and has since refused to return.
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Dar sworn in as senator to become finance minister today ISLAMABAD staff report
Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjarani on Tuesday administered oath as Senator to Ishaq Dar of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) amid protest by opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Upper House of the parliament. Meanwhile, Miftah Ismail, minister for finance, formally resigned from the office, paving the way for Dar to take over. He had announced his decision after a meeting with the party’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif in London on Sunday. In his resignation letter dated September 27, Ismail wrote: “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my country in your [Shehbaz Sharif’s] administration, which was an honour and a privilege.” Dar, who remained in self-exile in the United Kingdom since 2017, was elected in absentia as a senator on a technocrat seat from Punjab in March
2018 but did not take oath due to his stay in London. The Supreme Court disqualified him from the office in July 2017 after an investigation into the undisclosed wealth of now-deposed prime minister Sharif and his family. During the ceremony, senators from PTI gathered near the rostrum and chanted slogans after which the chairman called in security personnel. Shahzad Waseem, leader of the opposition in the House, said the tradition of the House had never been that a “man absconds and comes back”. “His seat remained empty for four years. An ordinance was introduced only to protect him,” he added. Waseem went on to allege Sharif, prime minister at the time, helped Dar escape. “According to my information, he [Dar] has not surrendered before the court, he has come straight to the Senate. Does the Senate not have
any respect? Absconders come and go unhindered […]” Dar is expected to take oath as the nation’s sixth finance minister since the last general elections in 2018 on Wednesday at 10:00 am. He is taking office, for the fourth time — from 1998-99, 2008 and 2013-17 — with the challenge of getting the economy out of one of its worst balance of payment crises that has seen foreign reserves falling to a month of imports. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) board last month approved the seventh and eighth reviews of a bailout programme approved in 2019, allowing for a release of over $1.1 billion. TALL CLAiMs, pLuMMeTiNg rupee: Dar, after his return on Monday, said he wanted to get Pakistan out of its economic rut and stressed he wanted a strong and stable rupee. He has favoured an artificially overvalued currency in his previous tenures as fi-
nance minister. “The Dar factor is at play. There are memories of how he kept the dollar
rate stable,” said Fahad Rauf at Ismail Iqbal Securities.
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