As he settled down to his job as army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa -- who died last week; his passing did not merit even an obituary in major print or electronic media in Pakistan! -- developed a vision of reducing his country's and his institution, the army's traditional hostility toward India, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
'Under the circumstances, this announcement may remain limited to bravado and little else, adding momentum to Imran's narrative of victimhood,' points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Creating a powerful new chief of defence forces has split the Pakistan military into four competing factions, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
The result is a big blow to the military establishment, revealing the limits of 'political engineering'. It reflected the anger of the electorate, especially its younger voters, who have spoken decisively against the persistent harassment and victimisation of Imran Khan's political party, asserts Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took action against Awan in response to a petition seeking the disqualification of lawmakers with dual nationality.
Speculation swirls in Pakistan regarding potential changes in the political landscape, fueled by rumors of the army chief's possible presidential aspirations and discussions between top civilian and military leaders.
Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has swept the country's last by-polls ahead of next year's general election, winning seven out of eight provincial and national assembly seats that went to the polls in Punjab province.
The Pakistan People's Party on Tuesday nominated 51-year-old Mirza, a medical graduate, and Faisal Karim Kundi as its candidates for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker respectively of the Lower House of Parliament. The two candidates are expected to win as the Pakistan People's Party and its allies -- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam -- have a majority in the National Assembly.
Among the political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the largest party, winning 227 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 160 seats.
The PPP, PML-N and ANL together hold 225 out of the required 228 seats to gain a two-thirds majority, which would give the coalition the power to impeach President Musharraf and revoke presidential powers to dissolve the National Assembly.
'Five months after the elections in February 2024, the Pakistan army has not been able to break Imran Khan's resolve and break his political party.'
President Alvi recalled the fight for the EVMs waged by the previous PTI-led government, saying that the entire endeavour -- which involved more than 50 meetings at the presidency alone -- was abandoned.
The Pakistan prime minister will be from Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz joint secretary Siddique-ul Farooq said on Friday.
Clearly, her father hopes that a successful tenure in Lahore will give Maryam the ballast to be prime minister after the next general election.
'Will Imran compromise with the army? We are all human beings. We all compromise.'
As part of the PML-N and PPP alliance, Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, is expected to become Pakistan's next prime minister.
The Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz has formally nominated its chief Nawaz Sharif for the office of prime minister after the party moved towards a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly or Pakistan's lower house of parliament. The final approval for Sharif's nomination will be made during a meeting of the PML-N's parliamentary committee before the start of the first session of the new National Assembly.
Sharif, 68, was disqualified by the apex court in the Panama Papers case last year under Article 62 of the Constitution for failing to declare a receivable salary as an asset.
Leaders of the All Parties Democratic Movement termed the amendment 'a clear violation of the Constitution.'
Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has attained a majority in Pakistan's National Assembly after 18 independent candidates joined the party, placing it in a position to form government at the centre without striking an alliance with any other party.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday struck down National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri's controversial move to dismiss a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a major blow to the cricketer-turned politician who is now likely to face a no-trust vote in parliament after the ruling.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
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.
'Outrage will take place sooner than later, because it's not only that their mandate has been stolen, but the most important issue right now is the sinking economy in Pakistan.' 'Inflation is 26%-27%. It is backbreaking inflation.' 'Food, energy, education, health, which are the primary things that every family requires, is going beyond the reach of the masses.'
According to a report in the Dawn newspaper, 22 constituencies with a greater number of rejected votes than the margin of victory fell in Punjab, with one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh province.
Nawaz Sharif is expected to be sworn in for a record third term as Pakistan's prime minister Wednesday with a very small cabinet comprising close aides shortly after he is formally elected to the post.
Three new victors -- the Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Awami National Party have shown their majority many days ago, but President Pervez Musharraf is playing delaying games and using secret agencies to break the majority party PPP from the PML faction of Nawaz Sharif.
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.
Pakistan's election commission on Sunday declared the final result of Thursday's general elections in which independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party got the biggest piece of the cake by winning 101 seats.
A bill aimed at shielding top Pakistani leaders from contempt charges and curbing the apex court's efforts to push Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf into reopening graft cases against the President has been approved by the lower house of Parliament.
The bomber blew himself up at the residence of PML-N leader Rasheed Akbar Nawani, a prominent politician of Bhakkar district and a member of the National Assembly, almost destroying his home and shaking the entire area sending his panicked neighbours and shopkeepers scurrying for safety.
Asif Ali Zardari was overwhelmingly elected as the 14th President of Pakistan on Saturday, becoming the only civilian President of the coup-prone country for a second time.
The lawmakers expressed concerns about "pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan's recent parliamentary elections" and urged the US Congress to "withhold recognition of a new government in Pakistan until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted".
Wasim Qadir, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidate who defeated PML-N's stalwart Sheikh Rohail Asghar from Lahore's National Assembly-121 constituency, joined the PML-N after a meeting with Maryam Nawaz, daughter of the party supremo Nawaz Sharif, at her residence.
PML-N chief and former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to contest the by-election from Lahore. He will contest a seat vacated by top PML-N leader Javed Hashmi, who won from three constituencies in the last general election. Sharif last contested the election in February 1997 from his Gawalmandi constituency in Lahore. He has won from the constituency five times consecutively.
On Sunday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) formed the committee to probe the explosive allegations levelled by former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha that widespread rigging aided by the judiciary and the top election body took place against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Dr Arsalan Khalid had worked as the focal person for Khan on the digital media team since 2019.
In a surprise development, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday nominated its president Shehbaz Sharif as the prime ministerial candidate of Pakistan instead of the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif.
There was no progress in the formation of a new coalition government in Pakistan on Tuesday as top leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) failed to agree on a power-sharing deal in their latest round of talks, indicating deepening fissures in the country's political landscape.
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