Pakistan

KARACHI: The final tally of the local bodies ele­ctions held on Jan 15 — rel­eased by the Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday — gives the rul­ing PPP 91 seats in Kar­achi, which retains a slight edge over the Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) 85 seats. However, an upcoming hearing, to be conducted by the election watchdog over complaints of irregularities in …

The Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday reached out to authorities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, proposing to them dates for the elections — days after caretaker governments were installed in the two provinces. It suggested elections be held between April 9 and 13 in Punjab, and in KP between April 15 and 17. Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi was sworn in as …

The unexpected arrest of PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in the early hours of Wednesday in Lahore triggered widespread condemnation from journalist circles, who clamoured for the government to release him. Soon after the news of Chaudhry’s arrest made the rounds on social media, a number of senior journalists, political analysts and civil society members took to Twitter to voice their …

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday decided to issue a notification confirming PTI chief Imran Khan’s victory in by-elections on seven National Assembly seats that was earlier withheld for his alleged failure to submit the party’s funding details to the electoral body. A five-member ECP body headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja announced the decision that …

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on Wednesday said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued new travel guidelines for Pakistani pilgrims who intend to travel to Iraq by air. The foreign ministry has advised that religious tourists intending to fly to Iraq should return home country via the same route. Besides, pilgrims who intend to travel …

LAHORE / LONDON: As Rana Sanaullah arrived in London for a much-anticipated meeting with his party’s supreme leader-in-exile, Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman on Wednesday joined the ranks of those predicting Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan ‘within a month’. “Nawaz Sharif is returning to Pakistan within a month and I will go to the airport to receive him,” the governor claimed …

PTI leader Asad Qaiser on Wednesday said that National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had committed a “great injustice with his office” by accepting the resignations of 34 PTI lawmakers. The PTI had resigned en masse from the lower house of parliament following the ouster of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in April last year. Subsequently, the NA speaker had accepted only …

KARACHI: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has accused the previous government of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of adopting an appeasement policy towards the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), saying that it has created problems for the people of Pakistan. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Mr Bhutto-Zardari stated that the current coalition government has ended the ‘wrong’ approach, which was initiated by the previous [PTI) …

KARACHI: Controversy surrounding the Jan 15 LG polls in Karachi deepened on Wednesday as the Election Commission took notice of alleged irregularities in six union councils (UCs) amid accusations by Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and PTI chairman Imran Khan that the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had used the resources of the Sindh government to “manipulate the results and change …

Karachi Police have registered a case against PTI Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi and 17 other party workers under terrorism and other charges after rival political activists clashed outside the Keamari deputy commissioner’s (DC) yesterday evening, it emerged on Thursday. The clashes followed Sunday’s local government elections, the contentious results of which were called into question by the PTI and …