In partnership with
New-eLected MeMbers sworN IN aMId rUckUs at Na INaUgUraL sessIoN
Profit
Friday, 1 March, 2024 I 19 Sha’ban, 1445
g
RAJA PERVEZ ASHRAF ANNOUNCES ELECTION FOR SPEAKER, DEPUTY SPEAKER TO BE HELD TODAY
g
NAWAZ, SHEHBAZ, BILAWAL, JUI-F CHIEF, OMAR AYUB, AND BARRISTER GOHAR AMONG 302 MEMBERS TAKE OATH
PTI’s Babar Saleem Swati takes oath as KP Assembly Speaker
PML-N’s Achakzai, PPP’s Gola elected Balochistan Assembly speaker, deputy speaker
PESHAWAR
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Babar Saleem Swati on Thursday took oath as the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session for Speaker and Deputy Speaker election was presided over by the outgoing Speaker Mushtaq Ghani. Outgoing Speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered him oath after PTI’s nominated candidate Babar Saleem Swati, an MPA from Mansehra, was elected as speaker of KP assembly. Saleem Swati bagged 89 votes whereas Peoples Party’s Ihsan Ullah Khan managed to secure 17 votes. Moreover, voting for the deputy speaker of KP assembly is underway. PTI woman member from Chitral Surayya Bibi is contesting for the deputy speaker office against PTIP member Arbab Waseem.
N
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
EWLY elected members of the National Assembly took oath on Thursday in the inaugural session amid ruckus and slogans in favour of PTI founder Imran Khan and his party. The maiden session witnessed the presence of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Ishaq Dar and others at the session, with Sardar Latif Khosa, Sher Afzal Marwat, Shandana
Rs 20.00 | Vol XIV No 243 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
QUETTA
STAFF REPORT
Gulzar, Shehryar Afridi and other leaders were in attendance from the PTI. The first session of the 16th NA commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran and the national anthem, following which Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf administered the oath to the newly elected members. A total of 302 newly-elected members took oath in the inaugural session, the NA secretariat said. After the oaths were administered, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Bilawal Bhutto, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and others signed on the register marking lawmakers’ attendance on the Role of Sign of the members per Rule No.7 of the Rules and Procedure of National Assembly 2007. After signing, Nawaz went to the visitors’ gallery to wave at his daughter, incumbent Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz. He then left the assembly hall, followed shortly by Maryam and Shehbaz. Following the departure of the PML-N supremo, the sloganeering largely died down. Thursday’s session also witnessed the return of PTI to the Parliament after the party resigned en masse, the only difference is that PTI lawmakers have en-
tered the legislature this time around under the banner of the Sunni Itehad Council (SIC). Despite the unspoken ban on mentioning Imran Khan’s name and displaying his photo or video, this is the first time the party has had the chance to take the PTI founder’s name and show his photos on television screens; perhaps a small reward for returning to the Parliament. Aamir Dogar, who served as PTI’s chief whip during the previous stint, not only signed on the register but also shouted slogans in favour of Imran and PTI while standing near the NA speaker’s desk. The House echoed with slogans in favour of PTI and party founder Imran Khan, with lawmakers wearing Imran’s face mask and carrying his posters. The lawmakers, sitting on the treasury benches, were seen short of posters or play cards in favour of Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N and had no other option but to keep shouting slogans on top of their voice. The elections for speaker and deputy speaker will be held on March 1, incumbent NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf announced and added that they would be held using the secret ballot method.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Abdul Khaliq Achakzai and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Ghazala Gola have been elected unopposed as the Balochistan Assembly speaker and deputy speaker respectively on Thursday. Balochistan Assembly Secretary Tahir Shah Kakar made this announcement after no opponent came forward against the two candidates, one day after they were sworn-in as the provincial assembly members. Achakzai and Gola are scheduled to take oath at 3pm Thursday (today) afternoon, he added.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
PTI’s candidate for the premiership, Omar Ayub, said that the house is incomplete, adding that even people nominated on reserve seats could not come to take oath during the inaugural session today. In response to Ayub and PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar’s arguments that the SIC was deprived of the reserve seats, PML-N’s Khawaja Asif said that the SIC has not even submitted the list for reserve seats to the ECP, implying how could they be given seats then.
JUI-F to stay away from govt formation’, Fazl conveys to PPP, PML-N ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday conveyed to his erstwhile PDM allies – the PML-N and PPP – that his party will not take part in the formation of the government. “Maulana Fazl has told leaders of PML-N, PPP, and other allies in the centre that his party will not take part in the formation of the government,” sources privy to the development informed on Thursday. Revealing the inside story of Fazlur Rehman’s meeting with PPP, PML-N, the sources said that the delegation insisted on the JUI-F chief’s support for National Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker slots however he refused to take part in the formation of government. They said that the delegation will hold another meeting with Maulana Fazl in the Parliament House as the latter will soon leave for Sindh to head the protests against the alleged rigging. On Wednesday, a high-level delegation of PML-N, PPP, and other allies met Maulana Fazlur Rehman ahead of the inaugural session of the National Assembly. PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq, Saad Rafique and Ahsan Iqbal, PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Syed Naveed Qamar, Abdul Aleem Khan of the Istehkam-e-Paksitan Party (IPP) and Khalid Magsi of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) were among the leaders who reached Fazalur Rehman’s residence. PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq who has also become Speaker National Assembly, said that they had a very ‘good’ conversation with the JUI-F chief. “We met Maulana Sahib and requested for a vote,” Ayaz Sadiq added. However, Maulana Fazalur Rehman expressed some concerns, asserting to address the same in the coming days. It is important to mention here that the PML-N nominated Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the National Assembly (NA) speaker’s slot.
Israel forces shoot 104 Palestinians dead at aid point in Gaza GAZA AFP
Israeli forces shot dead 104 people when a crowd rushed towards aid trucks on Thursday, the health ministry in Gaza said, in one of the worst single incidents of a nearly fivemonth war. More than 750 people were also hurt in the incident, the ministry said. It came after aid agencies had intensified warnings over Gaza’s humanitarian situation, with famine threatening particularly in Gaza’s north. Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said hundreds were killed and wounded from “bullets of the occupation forces that targeted a gathering of citizens” at Gaza City’s Nabulsi roundabout. He called it a “massacre”. A witness told AFP that “thousands of people” had “just stormed the trucks”, which were near army tanks. “The soldiers fired at the crowd as people came too close to the tanks,” the witness said,
declining to be named for safety reasons. Israeli sources confirmed that troops opened fire at Palestinians rushing toward aid trucks in Gaza, with one saying soldiers thought they “posed a threat” to troops. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, however, said many of the dead were crushed by the trucks themselves, after “aid trucks were overwhelmed by people trying to loot”. The Gaza City shooting adds to a Palestinian death toll from the war which the health ministry earlier Thursday said had topped 30,000. It came after mediators said a truce deal between Israel and Hamas militants could be just days away. In a reflection of increased concern at the White House, President Joe Biden’s administration is considering airdropping aid into Gaza, US news site Axios reported early Thursday. The war began on October 7 with an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel
that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people, mostly civilians, Israeli figures show. Militants also took about 250 hostages, 130 of whom remain in Gaza, including 31 presumed dead, according to Israel. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, and its retaliatory military campaign has killed 30,035 people, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Israel’s military says 242 soldiers have died in Gaza since ground operations began in late October. New Zealand on Thursday became one of the latest Western countries to designate Hamas as a “terrorist” entity, saying the October 7 attack shattered the notion that the movement’s political and military wings are separate. Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been seeking a sixweek pause in the war. Negotiators hope a truce can begin by around March 10 or 11 when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, depending
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
on the lunar calendar. The proposals reportedly include the release of some Israeli hostages held in Gaza by militants in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Short of the complete withdrawal Hamas has called for, a source from the group said the deal might see Israeli forces leave “cities and populated areas”, allowing the return of some displaced Palestinians and humanitarian relief. Biden is “pushing all of us to try to get this agreement over the finish line”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. ‘Extremely critical’ The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA described the food security situation as “extremely critical across Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza.” According to the World Food Programme (WFP), no humanitarian group had been able to deliver aid to the north for more than a month. The agency accused Israel of
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
blocking access. “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza,” WFP’s deputy executive director Carl Skau said. Israeli officials have denied blocking supplies. With aid flows on the ground limited, more is coming in by parachute. Neighbouring Jordan said it had on Thursday again air-dropped food and other relief. Jordan’s army said the drop over northern Gaza came in collaboration with Bahrain and Oman. The United Arab Emirates’ official news agency WAM said the Gulf country had begun a joint operation with Egypt to drop food and medical aid. The operation would last several weeks, it said. In the south, nearly 1.5 million people trying to flee the fighting are now packed into Rafah city, also short of food, as Israel threatens to send in troops against Hamas fighters there.