Senior Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz leader Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday claimed there was 'concrete' proof of India's alleged involvement in fomenting unrest in Pakistan's Balochistan province and tribal areas. Sharif, the brother of former premier and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, claimed India is involved in disrupting peace in tribal regions like Balochistan and Waziristan. "There is concrete information that India has a dirty role in destabilising Balochistan," he said.
Pakistan's top election body on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Imran Khan and other top leaders of his party in a contempt case.
Results and trends from the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls showed that the PML-N was set to bag in excess of 110 seats, while the Pakistan People's Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf were lagging far behind with about 35 seats each
In an interview to ABC News, Musharraf called Sharif 'abrasive' and 'confrontational'.
As differences between the two men apparently reached a point of no return, close aide Sardar Zulifqar Khosa resigned from the post of senior adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif.
Describing the United States' drone strikes inside Pakistan as attacks on the Pakistan's "self-reliance and self-respect", opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said no sovereign country can tolerate such attacks.
Sharif also urged other parties to boycott the elections.In the event of a collective response, the credibility of the January 8 elections could be seriously called into question. Sharif said that after three days of mourning, he would chalk out a strategy to challenge Musharraf's rule but he rebutted suggestions that he could gain political mileage from her demise.
In a move towards political reconciliation in Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday met opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif offering an "olive branch", as reinstated chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry returned to his post after two years of protests over his ouster.
Shahzain Bugti, leader of the Balauch Jamhoori Watan party, has charged the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government at the centre of "inaction" in not registering cases against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for allegedly murdering his grandfather Nawab Akbar Bugti.
In a thinly veiled reference to another military coup in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has warned former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to understand the gravity of the situation and act wisely, lest either of them has to visit the other in jail.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday removed a senior Pakistani official from his post for issuing advertisements to the media to congratulate the Pakistan Muslim League-N on its victory in the May 11 general elections.
This came after the beleaguered Zardari was put on notice by the US, which reportedly gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to ease the simmering political crisis in Pakistan amid speculation that a deal brokered by Washington and the UK in consultation with the Pakistan army had been conveyed to the government.
Pakistan's main political parties on Monday stepped up their war of words, with opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif asking the people to rise up and join him in a 'revolution' against President Asif Ali Zardari's regime and the ruling Pakistan People's Party criticising the politics of confrontation. PML-N president and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif ruled out any reconciliation with Zardari till he gave up his controversial powers.
Bhutto's planned long march, which will traverse a distance of nearly 300 km, is expected to be the PPP's largest show of strength since her homecoming rally in Karachi on October 18 that was marred by a suicide attack, which killed nearly 140 people and injured hundreds more.
Ending the suspense on government formation in Pakistan, the two main opposition parties on Thursday announced they would form a new ruling coalition, but did not name any prime ministerial candidate.
Musharraf, 79, was suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body, The Express Tribune reported.
Sharif, the PML-N prime ministerial candidate, said that Pakistan cannot become a great nation by voting leaders like Imran Khan who have made false promises to "our nation".
Though she is not willing to vote for the President even if all cases against her are withdrawn, she has indicated that she would covertly support the reelection by asking her party to abstain at the time of voting, sources said.
All the behind the scenes drama and the between the lines intrigue from Pakistan, a day before the presidential poll.
Nine candidates on Wednesday filed nominations for Pakistan's presidential election, with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's India-born nominee Mamnoon Hussain emerging a clear frontrunner for the poll to be held on July 30.
The fresh plea, filed through lawyer Ashwani Dubey, seeks dismissal of the pending PILs of various petitioners including the Indian Union Muslim League on various grounds.
A political storm appeared to be brewing in Pakistan on Monday with Asif Ali Zardari's ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement asking him to quit over a controversial law that allowed the President to return home in 2007 by scrapping graft cases and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif threatening to challenge the legislation in court.
The ruling Pakistan People's Party's efforts to finalise a constitutional reforms package suffered a major setback after it failed to achieve consensus with the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on the procedure for appointing judges and on renaming the North West Frontier Province.
Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to narrow its differences with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party over the operation launched against militants in the country's northwest.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday failed to break the deadlock over modalities for impeaching Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and reinstating deposed judges.
Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Sunday said that he is not scared and announced that he will return home later this month to launch his political career despite facing threats of arrest in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.
The strained relations between Pakistan and India could seriously affect efforts in the war against terror, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief and former premier Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday.
'We welcome (you) back to the purana Pakistan,' top Opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Sunday, as he took a jibe at ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan following the adoption of a no-confidence vote against him.
Tariq Fatemi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said President Pervez Musharraf's failure to rout terrorism in Pakistan was largely because he did not have popular support, as the war on terror was seen by the people as 'America's war.'
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, currently living in London on a self-imposed exile, will not visit Pakistan for the launch of his All Pakistan Muslim League party in September as decided earlier, according to a media report on Monday.
The crucial talks between the top leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition ended inconclusively on Friday, with Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari seeking more time from his ally Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, to consider the modalities for reinstatement of the deposed judges. Sharif said that his party remained committed to the restoration of the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf, by May 12. Zardari did not talk to the media.
Senior leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition partners the Pakistan's People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz -- will resume talks for the fourth day in Dubai on Thursday, about finalising a deal to reinstate deposed judges, while insisting that there is no threat to the government. "We have made progress during seven hours of marathon meetings, but there are still differences on certain legal issues," PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar said.
Even as the talks between leaders of Pakistan's coalition government on restoration of deposed judges remain inconclusive, co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari has said the reinstatement would be brought about through a constitutional package. The PPP calls for reinstatement of judges through a constitutional package, but the PML-N insists that they should be restored through a parliamentary resolution, as initially agreed by the two parties.
Counting has begun for the election which will be the second democratic transition of power in the nation's 70-year history.
The distribution of ministries and parliamentary committees was discussed by top leaders of the PPP and PML-N in Islamabad on Thursday, though the final decision on the government is expected to be announced only on March 17, shortly before the first session of the new National Assembly. Sources said the two parties were yet to decide about key ministries like interior, finance, foreign affairs and defence.
Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has asked the government to put former President Pervez Musharraf on trial for allegedly being responsible for the assassination of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
The PPP and PML-N, in a charter signed two years ago, had committed to setting up a commission to review the Kargil conflict. Musharraf claimed that Sharif, the then prime minister, was aware of the Pakistan army's advances into Kargil. Sharif has denied the charge, and is seeking a probe to fix responsibility for the war.
At a luncheon hosted by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for newly elected Parliamentarians, leaders of the three parties said they would support each other to form the federal government and to change the establishment to ensure that the military no longer had a role in Pakistan's politics.
Pakistan's two main Opposition parties stepped up efforts on Friday to identify a consensus candidate for Prime Minister and hammer out a power-sharing formula after the former rivals agreed to form a coalition government.
A much-awaited meeting between Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif concluded without any major breakthrough on Monday.
