Pakistan Political Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: President Dr Arif Alvi Complains Of Discomfort, Advised Rest
Pakistan Political Crisis HIGHLIGHTS: Pakistan will get a new Prime Minister today after Imran Khan was ousted from power on Saturday
Pakistan lawmakers elect Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Shehbaz Sharif as the new prime minister of the nation.
Shehbaz Sharif is set to be elected PM unopposed after PTI MNAs announce a boycott of Parliament session.
"We are resigning from the National Assembly," says former PM Imran Khan.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and Imran Khan's aide Fawad Chaudhry said lawmakers will resign from National Assembly and fight for freedom.
"Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Parliamentary Committee has decided to resign from the National Assembly. Today, all members of the Assembly are submitting their resignations to the Speaker. We will fight for freedom," he wrote on Twitter.
According to Geo News, Imran Khan has returned from the parliament house following his first appearance on Monday after being ousted as the premier.
Imran Khan on Monday arrived at Parliament House ahead of the election for the new prime minister for the first time after his ouster as the premier, Geo News reported.
When asked to comment on PTI's massive power show on Sunday night, Imran Khan said: "Izzat dene wala Allah hai (it is God who gives us respect)."
As per Geo News, sources said that the PML-N will have the majority in the cabinet with 12 ministers.
The PPP will get seven ministries and the JUI-F will be given four ministries. Meanwhile, MQM-P will have two, and ANP, Jamhoori Watan Party, and Balochistan Awami Party one each.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is reported to be the next foreign minister, while Shazia Marri's name is said to be under consideration for a cabinet slot.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday rejected a plea seeking to place the names of the former prime minister Imran Khan and his PTI ministers on the Exit Control List (ECL), Geo News reported.
The petition also sought an investigation into the alleged threat letter cited by Imran Khan in his recent speeches.
The petition was filed by Maulvi Iqbal Haider after Khan left PM House following his ouster from the office
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued a five-page long reserved verdict against the plea while slapping a Rs 100,000 fine on the petitioner.
Deposed Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to return from London next month after Eid, a senior PML-N leader has said, amid a whirlwind of political developments that have embroiled the country following Imran Khan's ignominious ouster from power.
Mian Javed Latif said a decision on PML-N supremo and the three-time prime minister Sharif's anticipated return will be discussed with the coalition partners.
All decisions would be first brought up with constituent parties of the coalition, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted him as saying.
Eid will be celebrated in the first week of May.
Several corruption cases had been launched by the government of ex-prime minister Khan against the 72-year-old supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz since his ouster from the office by the Supreme Court in July 2017 in the Panama Papers case.
Sharif in November 2019 left for London after the Lahore High Court granted him a four-week permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatment.
He had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court to return to Pakistan, citing his record to face the process of law and justice within four weeks or as soon as he is declared healthy and fit to travel by doctors.
Sharif was also given bail in the Al-Azizia Mills corruption case in which he was serving seven-year imprisonment in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail.
Commenting on the political uncertainty in the country, Latif said the coalition government will not last longer than six months and the only solution to the prevailing woes was to hold fresh elections.
However, there was this task of election reforms that had to be done prior to elections, he said.
He noted that the issues regarding the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and overseas voting rights were two primary issues that are to be addressed at the earliest.
EVMs are susceptible to external interference and similar to RTS, this system can be tampered with easily. As for overseas Pakistanis, exclusive seats can be created for them to elect their own representative, similar to the seats in Kashmir where seats are reserved for migrants, he said.
Sharif's return to Pakistan has again made headlines in the country after ex-prime minister Khan became the first premier in the country's history to be voted out of power through a no-confidence motion held early Sunday.
The joint Opposition's no-confidence motion, which required 172 votes in the 342-strong parliament to pass, was supported by 174 lawmakers on Sunday, ending Khan's prime ministerial term and seemingly bringing an end to the protracted political crisis in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, which ruled for over three-and-a-half years, had been struggling to stay in power as its allies joined hands with the joint Opposition that had been vying for an in-house change.
The much-anticipated vote followed on the heels of the perpetually drawn-out session of the National Assembly punctuated by long adjournments amid high political drama, as well as unverified swirling speculation gripping the nation.
Sharif on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court's decision to restore the National Assembly after the deputy speaker dismissed a no-trust motion against Khan.
People of Pakistan are thanking God that this decision has been announced. The premier made the common people of Pakistan starve, he said.
I would like to congratulate everyone in the country. People have gotten rid of such a person who ruined the country. He made common people starve. The dollar has reached 200 today and people are frustrated with inflation in the country, he said. (PTI)
The names of six key aides of ousted prime minister Imran Khan have been put on a stop list by Pakistan's top investigation agency to prevent them from leaving the country, according to a media report on Monday.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) placed the names of the six on the stop list' on Sunday after Khan's ouster as prime minister by the joint Opposition through a no-confidence vote, Geo News reported, citing sources.
Being on the list bars them from travelling abroad without permission.
Khan's former principal secretary Azam Khan, ex-special assistant on political communication Shahbaz Gill, ex-adviser on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar, Director-General Punjab Gohar Nafees, and DG Federal Investigation Agency Punjab Zone Mohammad Rizwan's names have been added to the list, the report said.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's head of social media Arsalan Khalid's name has also been added to the list.
PTI's Shah Mahmood Qureshi participation can still be considered uncertain as PTI remains indecisive on whether to go for en masse resignations of MNAs or not, Geo News reported. The candidate will have to resign if the rest of PTI and allied parties' MNAs tender resignations.
Geo News reported sources as saying that majority of the PTI members were not in favour of resigning from the Assembly, but Sheikh Rasheed and Fawad Chaudhry were actively trying to push the party out of the political arena.
After the removal of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan from office, the PML-N and PPP on Sunday said the parties will hold by-elections in case of mass resignations by PTI MNAs from the National Assembly, The News reported.
Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said: "By-elections would be held for vacant seats if the PTI members resign en masse."
The Pakistan National Assembly (NA) will elect the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan today after Imran Khan was ousted through a no-confidence motion Saturday night.
Two candidates contesting for the prime minister's post are PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif and PTI's Shah Mahmood Qureshi, with the former having greater prospects of success.
The NA session to elect the new leader of the House, which was earlier supposed to start at 11 am, will convene at 2 pm.
Pakistan President Arif Alvi has decided against resigning from his office, media reports said on Sunday, days after the Supreme Court restored the National Assembly which was dissolved by him on the advise of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Alvi decided not to resign after consultation with the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
The president, a member of Khan's PTI, was advised to continue discharging his constitutional duties, the report said.
Background
Pakistan Political Crisis: Pakistan General Assembly session will convene today at 2pm to elect the new Prime Minister of the country.
Pakistan's Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif, who is expected to become the next prime minister, on Sunday met former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to discuss the current political situation in the country, on the eve of a crucial session of Parliament which will elect the new premier.
Sharif is likely to form a coalition government and give some of the key ministries to PPP, ARY TV reported.
Earlier in the day, Sharif, who is the joint Opposition candidate, submitted his nomination papers at the National Assembly Secretariat to contest the re-election for the slot of the prime minister.
PTI's Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former foreign minister, also submitted his papers for the same post.
The National Assembly Secretariat announced that the nomination papers of both candidates were scrutinised, after which they were accepted.
Meanwhile, a large number of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters held a protest rally at Lahore's Liberty Chowk against the ouster of former prime minister and party chairman Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition.
The charged PTI supporters, including women and children, showed their solidarity with Khan during the rally that started at 9 pm on Sunday and lasted till 3 am on Monday.
Big gatherings were also reported from other parts of the Punjab province, including Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Vehari, Jehlum and Gujrat districts. Islamabad and Karachi also witnessed major gatherings of PTI supporters.
Protests broke out in different cities after 9 pm on Sunday and continued for several hours on the call of Khan.
Earlier on Sunday, ousted prime minister Khan tweeted that "today marked the beginning of a freedom struggle" against what he said was a "foreign conspiracy of regime change" in Pakistan.
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