Under intense pressure from the United States and amidst escalating political standoff at home, the Pakistan government on Saturday decided to challenge the disqualification of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from contesting elections, in a move seen as an attempt to defuse the crisis.
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.
'This is what Hindu Rashtra looks like, which has been enabled by conditions of democracy.'
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday acquitted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif of hijacking charges, stemming from the military coup against his government in 1999, paving the way for his return to electoral politics. Sharif had been banned from office by a lower court after being found guilty of hijacking the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf's plane in 1999.
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.
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.
Keeping up his tirade against his bete noire Asif Ali Zardari, Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Sunday compared the President to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and accused him of compromising Pakistan's sovereignty by acting on the dictates of the US.
Fresh protests broke out in Lahore on Thursday as police prevented the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz legislators from entering the Punjab assembly to hold a session after the sacking of provincial administration led by Shahbaz Sharif.
Decision will be taken in second democratic transition of power in the nation's 70-year chequered history.
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.
Sharif lashed out at "some unseen elements" for hatching conspiracies against his democratically-elected government.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday delayed his departure for China to attend the Olympic Games opening for the second time in as many days amid crucial talks between ruling coalition allies on his fate
At least 22 people, including five women and two children, were killed and over 60 others injured on Tuesday when a powerful car bomb went off outside the home of a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader in Punjab province, the latest in a wave of terror attacks in Pakistan that have claimed more than 500 lives since October.
Amid main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand that Pervez Musharraf be tried for treason, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said the fate of the former military ruler will be decided by the people and Parliament and ruled out using his powers on "frivolous issues of the past".
Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has "conceded to his exile in London" and made up his mind not to return to Pakistan in the wake of the Supreme Court's verdict that the emergency imposed by him in 2007 was unconstitutional, according to one of his close aides.
Pakistan plunged deeper into a political chaos on Sunday night as a defiant Nawaz Sharif joined by tens of thousands of supporters in Lahore was headed towards Islamabad for a mass sit-in front of Parliament on Monday amid reports that a Inspector General of Police of Punjab province's police and several senior officials had resigned and joined his 'long march' for the restoration of the Constitution.
Zardari was confident that Sharif would not dare to come on the roads himself. The Pakistan government repeatedly informed Sharif about the threat of 'suicide bombers', but Sharif was undeterred.
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.
Sharif told a television news channel in an interview on Thursday that Zardari, whom he has blamed for influencing the apex court's verdict, would not be able to complete his term. He did not give details.
The Pakistan government on Thursday said former premier Nawaz Sharif along with his brother Shahbaz would be provided with VVIP-level security in view of "serious threats" to their lives, shortly after the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief accused the "high-ranking" officials of plotting to kill him.
The Muslim politics in Kerala has taken a turn with the advent of the Popular Front, a political party floated with the support of four Islamic organisations of South India.
Malala was dressed in Pakistani salwar kameez and dupatta. She was smiling and looked happy as he was greeted at the airport.
Singh was among the many MPs who attended a breakfast meeting hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind on March 18 as well as a Parliamentary panel meeting on transport, tourism and culture attended by around 20 MPs on Wednesday. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said in a tweet, 'This government is putting us all at risk. The PM says self-isolate yourself but Parliament is on.'
Opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif claimed on Monday that there was a major breakthrough to resolve the Kashmir issue with India during his premiership but the gains were "turned upside down" by the subsequent military regime of Pervez Musharraf.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
The crisis encircling Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition reached a boiling point on Sunday with the Pakistan People's Party refusing to comply with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand on reinstating sacked judges within a deadline and the ally also not enthusiastic about supporting Asif Ali Zardari for presidency.
Former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif has threatened to pull his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party out of the ruling coalition and "sit in the opposition" if judges sacked by former president Pervez Musharraf are not reinstated by Friday.
Insisting that it is "incorrect" to dub him as a "dictator", Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said that he only did what he felt was for the betterment of the nation.
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.
Ruling out his resignation, President Pervez Musharraf has decided to face impeachment proceedings to be initiated against him by Pakistan's ruling coalition and vowed to defend himself before Parliament. Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a close confidant of Musharraf, said the President was determined to fight back.
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.
Mulk, 67, is likely to be sworn in on Friday, June 1.
India should share any concrete evidence of Pakistani links to the Mumbai terror attacks so that the two countries can resolve the issue with seriousness, opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday.India has not blamed Pakistan government for the attacks in Mumbai, Sharif told reporters after a meeting in Islamabad with Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi led the delegation. She said Modi government was 'shutting down' people's voices and bringing legislations which are not acceptable to them.
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.
A full bench of the Lahore high court, which was hearing two petitions filed against the candidature of Sharif and his brother Shahbaz, barred the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief from contesting byelections on pleas from his rivals that he was convicted on terrorism and graft charges after the 1999 bloodless coup by then army chief Pervez Musharraf.
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.
Claiming that the People's Democratic Party has no links with extremist elements, its chairman Abdul Nasser Madani on Saturday charged the Muslim League (ML) and BJP with carrying out a 'misinformation campaign' against his party to gain political mileage.
Smaller parties in Pakistan have launched a bid to patch up differences between President Asif Ali Zardari and the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif before matters reach a point of no return.
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