Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Friday met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral, economic, investment and trade ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The premier is in Saudi Arabia on a three-day visit — his first since he assumed office —, along with a delegation including Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Miftah Ismail, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, Marriyum …

After weeks of deadlock, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf administered oath to Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz at a ceremony held at the Governor Houseon Saturday, just hours after Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema rejected Usman Buzdar’s resignation, deeming it “not constitutionally valid”. In unprecedented scenes today, Buzdar’s cabinet was “restored” by Cheema, according to former provincial education minister Murad …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif continues to expand his cabinet as President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday administered the oath of office to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Dr Musadik Malik as the minister of state. With Mr Malik’s addition, the total number of the Sharif-led cabinet has reached 43. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the presidency. Mr Malik …

ISLAMABAD: The war of words between the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) touched new heights on Thursday after former prime minister Imran Khan accused the Chief Election Commissioner of taking “biased decisions” against his party and the ECP dismissed the PTI’s pronouncements as “a premeditated attempt to malign the commission”. Through a statement the CEC regretted …

Former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri has approached police, seeking action against a group of unidentified men who he said attacked him and his companions while they were having Sehri at an eatery in Islamabad’s Kohsar market early Friday morning. Videos that have surfaced on social media show that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ejaz Chaudhry was present at the …

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday instructed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the vice-chancellor of the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad, to take all necessary measures to prevent their harassment and racial profiling on university campuses. According to a press release issued by the President’s Secretariat, Alvi met Baloch students earlier this month at the Aiwan-i-Sadr and heard their grievances. …

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday dismissed PTI lawmakers’ petition to disqualify Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani over “corrupt practices”, saying he had no link to the case. However, the ECP ordered the district election commissioner Islamabad to start a criminal case under Sections 167 (corrupt practices) and 168 (bribery) of the Elections Act, 2017 against Gilani’s son Punjab Assembly lawmaker …

Punjab Chief Minister-elect Hamza Shehbaz moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday, seeking the administration of oath to him by “a person nominated by the court” owing to the “defiant attitude” of President Arif Alvi and the province’s governor, Omar Sarfraz Cheema. This is the third time that Hamza — who was elected as Punjab’s chief executive on April …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) plea to club together all foreign funding cases before deciding the party’s foreign funding case. The decision was announced by a three-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja during a hearing of the PTI foreign funding case. At the previous hearing …

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been moved to ensure the implementation of its 2018 direction to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to develop a system for providing effective right to vote to overseas Pakistanis. The petition, which was filed on Wednesday by Dawood Ghazanfar, a solicitor in the US through his counsel …