Pakistan

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday asked why the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was consulting with the governor on dates for the Punjab Assembly elections as the court heard petitions filed by dissident PTI MPAs against their disqualification. The ECP had disqualified 25 dissident MPAs of the PTI on May 20, 2022 on the grounds that they had voted for PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz …

ISLAMABAD: Amid an objection by a ruling coalition lawmaker to the ‘clarification’ issued by the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), the Senate on Tuesday continued to reverberate with the controversy over the remarks by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial that “the country just had one honest prime minister”. At the outset of the proceedings, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar tried to bring …

An Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) rejected on Wednesday PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan’s request for an extension in his interim bail. The plea was made in a case pertaining to a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) following its decision in the Toshakhana case. The verdict was announced by Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan on the grounds …

Pakistan plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters on Monday, as it seeks to ease a crippling foreign-exchange crisis. A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country’s power output, plunged large areas into …

ISLAMABAD: The parliament’s joint sitting on Monday witnessed a threadbare debate on the resurgence of terrorism, but the government failed to provide any framework or strategy to resolve the issue. While the second joint sitting within a week focused security and terrorism, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was conspicuous by his absence amid queries of lawmakers. Some of the members wanted …

ISLAMABAD: With the holy month of Ramazan only weeks away, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while ordering availability of essential items and edibles round the clock during the fasting month on Monday called for using technology to control the rates. PM Sharif, who is being criticised for unbridled price hike in the country, asked the provinces and administrative units to submit …

ISLAMABAD: Days after uproar in the Senate over the purported remarks of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, the government’s top law officer on Monday clarified that no adverse remarks were made by the CJP about the honesty of prime ministers in the country. “I (AGP) was personally present in the court during these proceedings and can confirm that …

LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: After the Election Co­­m­­mission of Pakistan (ECP) for­m­ed a three-member panel to consult the Pun­jab governor reg­arding the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, Governor Balighur Rehman has summoned a “consultative meeting” on Tuesday with stakeholders to decide the matter. The meeting, which will be attended by ECP officials, the Punjab chief secretary and provincial police …

Senator Raza Rabbani on Tuesday excoriated recently appointed Attorney-General for Pakistan (AGP) Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi for “daring” to explain the actions of the House in a letter explaining the chief justice’s “honest prime minister” remarks. Days after an uproar in the Senate over the purported remarks of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, the government’s top law officer had clarified that no adverse …

PML-N leader Malik Ahmed Khan on Tuesday accused former prime minister Imran Khan of wanting to “alter the election cycle” of the country by attempting to force elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before general elections — something he deemed a “flawed scheme”. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Malik Ahmed explained why holding national and provincial assemblies’ elections — …