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PTI founder, Bushra POLITICAL, LEGAL DEBATE CONTINUES TO Bibi indicted in £190 WEIGH UP CONVENING OF MAIDEN NA SESSION million corruption Wednesday, 28 February, 2024 I 17 Sha’ban, 1445
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Rs 20.00 | Vol XIV No 241 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
BARRISTER GOHAR SAYS NO g BILAWAL ASSERTS PRESIDENT ALVI g PTI FOUNDER SAYS DR ASSEMBLY SESSION CAN BE WILL FACE DUAL CONSTITUTION ARIF ALVI DID THE RIGHT CALLED WITHOUT NOTIFYING VIOLATION CHARGES AFTER THING BY NOT RESERVED SEATS HIS RETIREMENT SUMMONING NA SESSION
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PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
EBATES rage on across the political spectrum of the country on convening the maiden session of the National Assembly with PTI’s leader Barrister Gohar on Tuesday stated that no assembly session could be called without notifying the reserved seats while PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asserted that President Arif Alvi will face dual constitution violation charges after his retirement. “The Punjab [Assembly] session was carried out illegally. The Sindh Assembly session was carried out illegally. If the National Assembly session is called that will also be illegal because the assemblies should be convened after all the members of the House are notified,” Barrister Gohar declared. He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to take notice of this and notify the reserved seats for the Sunni Ittehad Council, the new home for PTI-backed candidates. On the other hand speaking in the Senate, PTI’s Senator Ali Zafar praised lawmakers of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) now home to PTI-backed independents for walking out of yesterday’s Punjab Assembly session which elected Maryam Nawaz as chief minister. “This is a token democracy,” he said, hoping that others would support the protest. He noted that, according to the law, reserved seats were given proportionately to political parties with elected
candidates. He further said he was pleased with those opposition leaders who had openly stated they had no claim to reserved seats. “The PPP and PML-N are saying these seats belong to them. This is an undemocratic step. If a political party wants to steal these seats, or lay claim to it, this is illegal and a violation of our Constitution,” he said. ‘President Alvi to face dual constitution violation charges’ On the other hand, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday asserted President Arif Alvi will face dual constitution violation charges after his retirement. Talking to media men outside the Supreme Court after hearing of Zulfikar
‘No respite for PTI,’ as PML-N, PPP oppose allocation of reserved seats to SIC ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Tuesday opposed allotment of reserve seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) during hearing of six petitions against the allocation of reserved seat to SIC in the Election Commission of Pakistan. A five-member bench of the Election Commission of Pakistan, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard six petitions against the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in the Election Commission. The ECP clubbed all applications against the SIC. Azam Nazir Tarar, Atta Tarar and others appeared on behalf of the PML-N petitioner, Barrister Gohar, Ali Zafar and Babar Awan appeared on behalf of PTI while Farooq H Naik and Farogh Naseem appeared on behalf of the MQM. During the hearing, Barrister Gohar took the stance that they submitted declarations of 86 people but the Election Commission included 81 in the SIC. Barrister Ali Zafar said that they wanted to get their reserved seats, if other political parties were also interested to get the seats, they should say it openly. The MQM, PML-N and PPP should submit claims for the reserved seats to ECP. Earlier on Monday, the ECP had decided to hear the matter of allocation of reserved seats to the SIC in the open court. According to sources, an important meeting of the Commission was held on the issue of reserved seats of the SIC. A notice was issued to the head of the SIC. The three political parties opposed the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council, citing the party did not win a single seat and got the members after PTI-backed independent candidates joined the party. During proceedings, PPP’s counsel Farooq H. Naek said it should be clarified first whether the Sunni Ittehad Council has the right to special seats or not, to which Azam Nazir Tarar responded by suggesting allocation of these seats to other parties including the PML-N. PTI’s counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar stated that it cannot be allowed for anyone to challenge the request from outside.
Ali Bhutto’s presidential reference, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said President Arif Alvi is ‘violating’ the constitution of Pakistan by denying summoning the NA session for the swearing-in of the new lawmakers. It’s a constitutional requirement to summon NA session by February 29, Bilawal said and added the president is denying discharging his duties. The PPP leader said they will replace Arif Ali as president after the swearingin of the new house and he will face dual constitution violation cases including one of dissolving the assembly despite VONC motion and another of denying calling the session of the lower house of the parliament. Criticising the PTI founder, Bilawal Bhutto said the man who is incarcerated
in Adiala Jail is not ready to learn from his mistakes. “PPP too made mistakes but one has to learn from it.” He urged everyone to exercise their power in their respective constitutional domain and underlined the need for respecting each other despite political differences, as this is the only way forward to steer the country out of crises. PTI founder supports President Alvi’s decision Meanwhile, the PTI founder on Tuesday said that President Arif Alvi did the right thing by not summoning the National Assembly (NA) session. During an informal interaction with journalists at Adiala Jail on Tuesday, he claimed the PTI won the election, but ‘rigging’ was done to ‘snatch’ PTI’s seats. The PTI founder said there could be no greater theft than the public mandate as the whole nation was saying that a ‘20-seater was being made prime minister after unprecedented rigging’. He reiterated his demand for the resignation of the CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja. Former prime minister Imran Khan alleged the caretaker governments were also against PTI, alleging that the ECP was still engaged in rigging after the elections and announced a protest on Saturday against the alleged theft of PTI’s mandate in the February 8 elections. The PTI founder, commenting on the letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said he dictated the letter to the PTI leaders and was not sure about its dispatch to the international lender.
PHC bars LEAs from arresting Gandapur; extends his bail till March 19
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PESHAWAR
STAFF REPORT
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday extended the bail of PTI’s nominee for chief minister’s slot Ali Amin Gandapur until March 19, asking the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) not to arrest him during the legal proceedings. Hearing the case, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Waqar Ahmed addressed concerns raised by Gandapur’s legal team regarding the possibility of his arrest following his nomination as Chief Minister. The court responded by directing law enforcement agencies to refrain from apprehending Gandapur in relation to any ongoing investigations. The petitioner’s counsel during
the proceedings expressed apprehension about potential arrests, particularly citing the presence of Punjab police in the region. In response, Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim questioned the jurisdiction of Punjab police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and stressed the importance of clarity on such matters.
The PHC also sought detailed response from the relevant government institutions on the next hearing scheduled to be held March 19. Meanwhile, Ali Amin Gandapur’s bail has been extended until that date, with the court seeking comprehensive details about the cases registered against him.
PESHAWAR
Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday asserted that ‘serious flaws’ within the system had compelled his party to stay away from governmental involvement. “We do not want to join any government and have decided to stay out of the system”, the JUI-F chief declared while addressing a gathering at a party meeting held in Peshawar here on Tuesday. Fazl expressed concerns over the intrusion within the country’s political frame-
RAWALPINDI
KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
work, stating, “Interference in the country’s system has reached the level of electing candidates. A country cannot function like this. The system will collapse.” He underlined that the repercussions of participating in such a flawed system would ultimately lead to despair, asserting, “Those who are part of the system will cry.” JUI-F leader disclosed that the party’s Central General Council will convene to deliberate upon the future course of action regarding parliamentary politics. Furthermore, he affirmed that JUI-F would refrain from engaging in the upcoming presidential elections.
Commenting on the relationship with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Fazl remarked, “There was a ‘mountain’ and not a wall between us and PTI.” He elaborated that while they couldn’t turn away the PTI delegation as they had visited their premises, differences persisted between the two parties. Fazl expressed his opposition towards the incarceration of any politician, including former prime minister Imran Khan. He condemned what he perceived as the victimisation of JUI-F during recently held elections, attributing it to the party’s efforts to foster better relations with Afghanistan and extend solidarity to the Palestinian leadership in Qatar.
STAFF REPORT
The Accountability Court on Tuesday indicted former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the £190 million corruption case, also known as AlQadir Trust case. Judge Nasir Javed Rana, who has replaced Judge Mohammad Bashir following his retirement in a few weeks, presided over the hearing at Adiala Jail, where the PTI founder is currently incarcerated. The judge read the chargesheet in Khan and Bushra’s presence in the courtroom. During the hearing, the court asked the PTI founder if he was guilty or not while framing charges against him. “I know what’s written in it?” said Khan, denying the charges. The court then summoned five NAB witnesses at the next hearing on March 6. PTI lawyer Umair Niazi confirmed the indictment and that witnesses have been summoned at the next hearing. At one point, the judge asked Khan if he had his teeth checked, to which the PTI founder replied that he was told the doctor would visit the jail on Sunday. “Now the jail administration is saying that the doctor would come next week,” he added. The court then approved Imran Khan’s petition seeking a general physician and dentist for his medical examination. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had launched an investigation against Imran Khan and his wife and others for the alleged gain of hundreds of canals of land in the name of Al Qadir University Trust, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer. As per the charges, the former prime minister and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government. In December, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed a corruption reference against Imran and seven others, including his wife, in connection with the Al-Qadir University. The case alleges that Imran and Bushra Bibi obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government. The reference filed by NAB alleged that Imran, who is currently in jail, played a “pivotal role in the illicit transfer of funds meant for the state of Pakistan into an account designated for the payment of land by Bahria Town, Karachi”. It also claimed that despite being given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, the accused deliberately, with mala fide intention, refused to give information on one pretext or another. Property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari are also among the suspects in this reference, but instead of joining the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, they absconded and were subsequently declared proclaimed offenders (PO). Farhat Shahzadi, a close friend of PTI chief Imran Khan’s spouse, and Ziaul Mustafa Nasim, a legal expert for the PTI government’s Assets Recovery Unit, were also declared POs. Subsequently, the properties of all six accused had been frozen. Judge Bashir was supposed to indict the ex-premier and former first lady on January 26 but the indictment was deferred to January 30. It was then scheduled for February 10 but was again deferred till February 27 (Tuesday). THE REFERENCE: The reference said the “accused […] were given multiple opportunities to justify and provide information, but they deliberately, with malafide intention, refused to provide the information on one or the other pretext. “Furthermore, it is established through their responses that they have nothing in their defence to rebut the above-mentioned allegations.
Murad Ali Shah takes oath as Sindh CM for 3rd consecutive term
JUI-F won’t become part of any govt due to ‘flaws within system’: Fazl STAFF REPORT
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Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday took oath as Sindh Chief Minister (CM) for a third consecutive term during a ceremony held at Governor House. Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori administered oath to Murad Shah in a ceremony attended by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP MNAs and MPAs, representatives of business community and others. During chief minister’s election, presided over by Sindh Assembly
Speaker Owais Qadir Shah, a total of 148 votes were cast, with Murad Ali Shah obtaining 112. His opponent, MQM-P candidate Ali Khurshidi, garnered 36 votes. Lawmakers from the Jamat-i-Islami (JI) and the Sunni Ittehad Council, which was joined by PTI-backed independents who won seats in the Feb 8 polls, abstained from participating in the voting process. The politico has served twice as Sindh’s chief minister from 2016 to 2018 and then from 2018 to 2023, and this will be his third consecutive term. Born in Sehwan Sharif in Jamshoro district, Murad Ali Shah is a civil engineer by profession as after his graduation from the NED University he joined the Water and Power Development Authority as an engineer.
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