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.
PCB's interim chief Najam Sethi said he will not seek a permanent position in the PCB after pulling out of the race to be its next chairman.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf is set to form government in the militancy-hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province with the backing of the Jamaat-e-Islami while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and several smaller parties are expected to form a coalition in the restive Balochistan rovince.
Pakistan's opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday gave the beleaguered government a 72-hour ultimatum to act on several demands, including rollback of a fuel price hike and probe into corruption scandals, failing which the Pakistan People's Party could be booted out from the Punjab government. Sharif, chief of the country's main opposition party the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, did not link the demands to support for the PPP-led government at the centre.
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.
India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis.
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.
Bilawal has said the reality is that his party does not have a mandate to form a federal government.
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.
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.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
Amid claims that a group of four generals led by the then army chief Pervez Musharraf masterminded the Kargil operation, Pakistan's main opposition Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz, which was the ruling party at that time, on Thursday demanded a judicial inquiry into the 1999 conflict with India.
The Pak PM reiterated his government's firm resolve to extend its fullest moral, diplomatic and political support to the indigenous freedom struggle of Kashmiri people.
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.
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.
Last year, Musharraf declared Ifikhar Muhammad Chaudhry a non-functional chief justice of Pakistan. This year, he is becoming the first non-functional President of the country. Some close friends have already advised Musharraf to step down quietly, but the General is still confident that his hand picked army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kyani will rescue him soon.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Friday responded to corruption allegations leveled against him by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, by accusing former premier Nawaz Sharif of failing to pay taxes and investing billions of dollars abroad.
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.
A political source revealed that Naqvi assumed the role of chairman through a clear understanding between influential stakeholders and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Refusing to play second fiddle to the powerful military, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said he will be the Army chief's "boss" if voted back to power in the May 11 general elections.
With the 30-day deadline for restoring the judges expiring on Wednesday, senior leaders of the two parties, including Sharif and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, are trying hard to sort out their differences on modalities. Some progress was made during the talks, but there were unresolved issues, Sharif said adding, he expects the negotiations to conclude on Thursday.
The Pakistan government's coalition partners - PPP and PML-N - have 'agreed' to reinstate the judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf in 2007, PPP chairman Asif Ali Zaradari said. The coalition partners had agreed to finalise modalities for restoring the judges in 30 days of assuming power. The deadline expired on Wednesday.
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.
The Pakistan People's Party-led government is considering a proposal to seek Interpol's Red Corner notice against ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf, in a bid to bring him back from abroad to face treason charges, days after he called party chief and President Asif Ali Zardari 'a criminal and a fraud'. Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani had even hinted that it might not be possible to put Musharraf on trial, after main opposition PML-N stepped up demands for action against him.
In another strong indication how difficult it would be for the former military ruler to cling on to power, the poll found that the two main opposition parties -- the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) -- had a combined backing of an overwhelming 72 per cent.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif is keen to visit Jammu and Kashmir to trace his ancestral roots, the former Pakistani premier told visiting People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti. Mufti, who travelled to Islamabad last week to participate in a conference, had met Sharif in Lahore on Thursday.
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.
Pakistan's opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif gave a slip to the police and went into hiding on Sunday, before he could be served orders for his house arrest, a party spokesman said.
Musharraf had deposed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges after he imposed emergency in November 2007. The judges had challenged the constitutional validity of the emergency imposed by him. Musharraf had replaced the judges with a hand-picked judiciary, who also validated his re-election as president.
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.
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.
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.
Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's supporters reached the heart of Pakistan's capital on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, after removing barricades and battling police in clashes that killed six security personnel and injured dozens.
Pakistan's deteriorating political and security situation has fuelled media speculation that the powerful army may be forced to intervene amid reports it has even asked President Asif Ali Zardari to quickly set things right with his political rival and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif.
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