Paksitan's People's Party nominee Fehmida Mirza, a loyalist of slain former Premier Benazir Bhutto, was on Wednesday elected the first woman Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. 51-year-old Mirza, who has been thrice elected to Parliament, won 249 of the 324 votes cast by the newly-elected members of the National Assembly.
Fourteen years after his last stint as a parliamentarian, Prime Minister-designate Nawaz Sharif on Saturday returned to Pakistan's National Assembly, taking oath with other lawmakers in the first democratic transition of power in the country's 66-year history.
The Pakistan government's top law officer told the supreme court on Monday it had no role to play in the disqualification of the Prime Minister, which could be decided only by the National Assembly speaker or the election commission.
While hearing the petitions filed against the National Assembly Speaker's ruling in the contempt case against Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said that a "convicted person is representing a population of 180 million people". "A prime minister does not only represent a party, but is also a country's representative," The Express Tribune quoted Justice Chaudhry as saying.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has floored an audience that included her Pakistani counterpart, senior ministers and parliamentarians by delivering a speech in flawless Urdu laced with couplets from Firaq Gorkhpuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
In a reprieve for Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan parliament's speaker on Thursday ruled out his disqualification in the wake of his conviction for contempt by the supreme court for refusing to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
President Asif Ali Zardari was repeatedly interrupted by boos and slogans from opposition lawmakers as he made his fifth consecutive address to a joint session of Parliament on Saturday to outline his government's policies for the final year of its five-year term.
Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, in her reply to the Supreme Court, has contended that she has absolute power to decide the matter regarding the disqualification or qualification of any lawmaker after the passage of the 18th Amendment.
Ashrat Ansari (32), Hanif Sayed Anees (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43) were held guilty on charges of planting powerful bombs in two taxis which exploded at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar respectively on August 25, 2003, killing 52 persons.
The Bombay high court on Friday upheld the death sentence of three Lashkar-e-Tayiba members, including a couple, in the 2003 twin Mumbai blasts that claimed 52 lives.
Indian Intelligence Bureau officials told rediff.com that since the 2003 attacks, Lashkar started using their local resources in India. Post 1993, the police believed that all terror operations in India were executed from across the border. While this is true to a large extent, post 2003 one witnessed the real birth of home grown jihadi
A landmark constitutional reforms package, which includes proposals to strip the president of his sweeping powers, was on Thursday submitted to the speaker of Pakistan's Parliament by a key committee that finalised it, ahead of its possible introduction in the House on Friday.Raza Rabbani, the leader of the 26-member parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms, presented the package, popularly referred to as the '18th Constitution amendment'.
Following is the chronology of the 2003 twin blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar.
Six years after the twin blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar, a special Prevention of Terrorism Act Court in Mumbai has given death sentence to all the three accused in the heinous crime.
A special Prevention of Terrorism Act court on Monday found the three accused in the six-year-old Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar twin blasts case guilty.The accused Haneef Sayyed, 46, an auto driver, his wife Fahmeeda, 43 and Ashrat Ansari, 32, were held guilty by the POTA Court.On August 25, 2003, two bombs left in taxis exploded in south Mumbai --- at the Gateway of India and at Zaveri Bazaar in the busy Kalbadevi area -- killing 52 people and wounding over a hundred.
Pakistan National Assembly's newly-elected first woman Speaker Fehmida Mirza has said that President Pervez Musharraf may be impeached by a two-thirds majority if Members of Parliament favour such a move. "If Parliamentarians want to impeach Musharraf, they may do so with a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and the Senate," she said. "I'll see the matter is in accordance with the Constitution because I am a custodian of the National Assembly and not a party."
A bench comprising Mr Justice H K Sema and Mr Justice A R Lakshamanan vacated the stay against the trial proceedings in the case.
The newly-announced cabinet is expected to take oath on Monday at the President's House.
Qureshi said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sent a letter on Sunday to congratulate Prime Minister Imran Khan and mentioned about talks to resolve issues.
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