Pakistan

LAHORE: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has asked those seeking audit of the Feb 8 elections results to first apply this rule on the 2018 polls, and announced initiating a grand dialogue with all parties. Addressing a ceremony on Sunday, senior PML-N leader Saad Rafique said, “Those who allege that the Feb 8 elections have been rigged and desire an audit …

QUETTA: The leadership of future coalition partners in Balochistan, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) could not finalise the names of their candidates for the top slots of the leader of the house, speaker, and deputy speaker, with three days remaining for the first session of the Balochistan Assembly, which has been summoned on Wednesday. According …

KARACHI / LAHORE: The two key allies in the expected ruling coalition in the Centre, the PPP and PML-N, are set to grab the coveted position of the chief minister in two major provinces on Monday, though the PTI-backed candidates promised a ‘surprise’ in the 371-member Punjab Assembly. In Punjab, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif is the party’s …

Amid boycotts and delays, the Punjab Assembly on Monday elected PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz as the first female chief minister of the province and Pakistan. Maryam clinched an overwhelming victory with 220 votes against rival Rana Aftab Ahmed Khan of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Initially, the SIC — which is now home to the PTI-backed independent candidates who won the …

PPP leader Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday was elected the Sindh chief minister for the third time in a row. Murad had previously held the position of provincial chief executive from 2016 to 2018 and from 2018 to 2023. During today’s election, presided over by Sindh Assembly Speaker Owais Qadir Shah, a total of 148 votes were cast, with …

DURBAN: South Africa’s ruling ANC launched its election campaign on Saturday, hoping to overcome anger over high unemployment and a sluggish economy and to protect its three-decade-old majority. In power since the advent of democracy in 1994, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress has suffered a sharp decline in support, beset by allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Yet the party …

ISLAMABAD: Still coping with the post-poll challenges amid rigging allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is now gearing up to hold the election for the office of the country’s president by March 9, two days before the retirement of half of the senators after completing their six-year term, Dawn has learnt. “The president will be elected by the present senators after …

MANSEHRA: Candidate in Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency Shahzada Gustasab Khan on Saturday said he was hopeful that the Election Commission of Pakistan would reject the objections of his rival candidate and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif about election results to let him take the oath in the National Assembly next week. “Mr Sharif has lost the election by a margin of over 25,000 votes …

LAHORE: A day after more than 300 members took oath as lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly, the provincial assembly lawmakers through a secret ballot on Saturday elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the house and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy. Malik Ahmad Khan, Sharifs’ loyalist from Kasur, and Mr Channar from Bahawalpur defeated the PTI-backed …

ISLAMABAD: Find­ings of a study carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) confirms that women farmers in Pakistan are largely unrecognised for their vital contributions to the country’s agriculture sector, food security and the economy at large. The study, “Protection issues faced by women farmers in Pakistan”, says their labour tends to be undocumented and they are rarely …