Pakistan

HYDERABAD: Grand Democratic Al­­l­iance (GDA) leader Pir Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi on Friday hinted at the possibility of imposition of an emergency or martial law, because “the army has tried everyone and none is left to be tested” now. The Pir Pagara further said that in such an eventuality the judges would provide legitimacy and legal cover to martial law or …

ISLAMABAD: PTI foun­ding chairman Imran Khan has challenged his convictions in the cipher and Toshakhana cases in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was a co-accused in the cipher case, has also moved IHC against his conviction. Barrister Syed Ali Zafar has filed Mr Khan’s appeals against his conviction. Another appeal against his conviction in the iddat case will be …

GILGIT: Protest demonstrations broke out across Gilgit-Baltistan on Thursday against prolonged electricity load-shedding, paralysing routine life in the region. Most areas in the region have been enduring 22 hours of outages in a day for a long time. People of Kashrote Gilgit area, incl­uding women and children, took to streets aga­inst prolonged outages. Enraged people, carrying banners inscribed with their …

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party on Thursday ruled out negotiations with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, claiming it had stolen ANP’s mandate. In a statement issued here, ANP central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that PTI senior leader and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser had contacted the party leadership. However, Mr Hussain said that ANP was of the view that under the …

KARACHI: Democratic standards across the world fell in 2023 amid the spread of wars, authoritarian crackdowns and declining levels of trust in mainstream political parties, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said on Thursday. Titled Age of Conflict, the study provides a snapshot of the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories, and basing its scores on a range …

LAHORE: As the PTI initiates talks with its bitter rival JUI-F, a faction within PML-N has also advised the Sharif family to extend an olive branch to Imran Khan’s party, a party leader has told Dawn. However, any thaw in the animosity between the two parties is unlikely in the near future as the leadership is “in no mood” to extend any friendly …

QUETTA: PML-N leaders in Balochistan have said that no decision has so far been taken about the upcoming chief minister’s slot, which will be annou­nced after consultation with the would-be coalition partners. Former chief minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani told a joint press conference on Thursday evening that the party’s central leadership would take a decision about forming a government …

ISLAMABAD: PTI founder Imran Khan on Thursday nominated Omar Ayub as the party nominee for the post of prime minister as he instructed his party leaders to make contact with other aggrieved parties to put up a joint front against alleged rigging on Feb 8. This was revealed by PTI leader Asad Qaiser, who was allowed to meet the former …

RAWALPINDI: A police official was suspended and charged after he was found guilty of torturing journalists during PTI’s protest in front of the Divisional Election Commission Rawalpindi on Sunday. After the incident came to light, Regional Police Officer Syed Khurram Ali and City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Hamdani ordered an inquiry into the incident and appointed SP Rawalpindi Faisal …

Former Supreme Court judge Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi has said that after his resignation, the Supreme Judicial Council has “no jurisdiction to initiate or continue with any proceedings” against him, it emerged on Friday. The former judge is facing an inquiry over allegations of misconduct, a show-cause notice for which was issued in October last year. In a letter penned to Chief Justice of Pakistan …