Connect with us

Politics

‘Disagreement’ among ruling allies over negotiations with PTI

Published

on

  • Bilawal says closing door for talks against his party’s principles.
  • Meeting ends without reaching consensus on talks with PTI.
  • PML-N’s Javed Latif says no to negotiations with Imran-led PTI.

ISLAMABAD: The ruling allies have hit a snag over holding talks with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), sources told Geo News Tuesday, after Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) bid to bring both sides to the negotiation table.

The coalition partners — an alliance of 13 political parties in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — met in Islamabad after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting on the country’s political situation and the JI’s negotiation efforts.

During the meeting, a disagreement took place among the parties in the coalition government over holding talks with the opposition party as some believed that PTI Chairman Imran Khan could not be trusted, while others insisted that political forces should not shut channels for negotiations.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stressed holding dialogue with the opposition, with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan National Party, Balochistan Awami Party, Chaudhry Salik, and Mohsin Dawar backing him, sources said.

The PPP chairman said closing the door for talks is against his party’s principles and “undemocratic”.

“It is the need of the hour that the path of dialogue be adopted and the country taken out of the crisis,” Bilawal said.

But representatives of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) rejected Bilawal’s opinion and said that it isn’t in the coalition’s interests to hold talks with the deposed prime minister — who was ousted from the office via a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April last year.

“Imran Khan isn’t a political force; we oppose holding dialogue with him,” the JUI-F opined, while JWP’s Shahzain Bugti said that his party did not oppose talks but “Imran is a liar”.

Bugti added that the PTI chairman is “untrustworthy”.

The meeting ended without reaching a consensus on the matter of holding dialogue, the sources added.

PM Shehbaz, FM Bilawal meeting

PPP Chairman Bilawal also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Radio Pakistan reported. Bilawal apprised the premier of his ministry’s affairs.

The two leaders discussed the country’s political situation during the meeting.

‘Be a bridge, not a wall’

Separately, leaders of the PPP and the MQM-P called for a dialogue among political parties to bring political and economic stability.

Senior PPP leader and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said politicians should “play the role of a bridge, not a wall”. He addressed the media alongside fellow party leaders — Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar and Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira — and MQM-P leaders in Islamabad.

“The PPP wants to make a conducive environment for dialogue among the political parties as we believe all problems being faced by the county can only be addressed through dialogue,” Gillani added.

He said the PPP would approach the JUI-F in this regard.

Meanwhile, MQM-P leader Abu Bakar said his party would support the PPP to strengthen the country’s democracy.

‘No negotiations with Imran-led PTI’

Meanwhile, a day earlier, PML-N leader Javed Latif said that while the majority of the party leadership is in favour of holding negotiations with “second-tier” PTI leadership, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pervaiz Khattak, it is against talks with the “miscreant in Zaman Park”.

“Negotiating with a miscreant like Imran Khan, who is responsible for causing unbearable price hikes, rampant poverty, and economic destruction, is not in the interest of Pakistanis,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad. 

Elections

Atta Tarar’s triumph over NA-127 in the LHC is contested

Published

on

By

The victory of Attaullah Tarar, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) from Lahore’s NA-127 constituency in the general elections on February 8 has been contested in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

Samiullah Khan’s victory from PP-145 has also been contested. The petitions will be heard by Election Tribunal Judge Sultan Tanveer. The petitions have included the Pakistani Election Commission (ECP) and other parties as parties.

In the meantime, Attaullah Tarar stated during a discussion with Miss Zoe Ware, the Political Counselor of the British High Commission, that fake news, misinformation, and disinformation were global issues that needed to be managed.

According to the minister, fake news is the largest issue on social media, and the government is working to address it.

The conference covered a wide range of topics, including the two nations’ relationship and how to foster media collaboration. Collaboration in the drama and cinema industries was also covered.

According to Attaullah Tarar, social media verification should be adopted by journalists, and a global code of conduct for social media usage should be created.

Miss Zoe Ware thanked Attaullah Tarar on taking over as Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on establishing the cabinet.

She was given the assurance that the UK diplomat will work with her to promote bilateral ties between Pakistan and the UK.

Continue Reading

Pakistan

US commitment to resolving Pakistan’s energy crisis is prioritized

Published

on

By

According to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, Pakistan was assisted by the United States in producing an extra 4,000 megawatts of sustainable energy.

According to him, these kinds of initiatives have given Pakistan more capacity to produce energy, allowing it to power millions of people.

The spokesman restated that both nations will cooperate through the green alliance to address the environmental issues.

At a news briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “Earlier, the United States advised Pakistan to halt the Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline Project, as engaging in business with Iran poses the risk of encountering U.S. sanctions.”

“We always advise everyone that doing business with Iran carries the risk of encountering our sanctions, and we would advise everyone to consider that very carefully,” he continued. “I’m not going to preview any potential sanctions.”

He said, “We do not support this pipeline going forward, as the Assistant Secretary made clear last week.”

The Pakistan-Iran pipeline project was approved for completion a few months ago by the caretaker administration in Pakistan. But after this permission, Pakistan received an official statement from the US expressing its worries. Pakistan again put a stop to the project’s execution when the United States expressed concerns.

Miller said, “We condemn the attack on a convoy of PRC engineers in Pakistan,” in response to a query. Miller also denounced the terrorist attack on Chinese engineers in Pakistan. We offer our sincere condolences to all impacted by the incident and are extremely saddened by the deaths and injuries incurred.

He declared, “Terrorists have caused enormous suffering to the Pakistani people, and Chinese nationals living in Pakistan have also been the targets of terrorist strikes.” Such acts of terror should not occur in any nation.

In response to a question concerning a letter from Pakistani judges, the spokesperson stated that while he had seen the letter, he had not yet conferred with his colleagues and would not be making any comments.

Continue Reading

Pakistan

Fazlur Rehman says the government led by Shehbaz won’t be able to deliver

Published

on

By

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), expressed doubts on Wednesday over the viability of the Shehbaz Sharif administration, stating that he believes the new system will fail if citizens go to the streets.

Fazlur Rehman stated on Wednesday’s “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath” segment of Geo News that “the parliament will likely be a rubber stamp.” There are simply too many obstacles for this government to handle. In the end, politicians will be held accountable for all of their shortcomings.”

The “crime is committed by someone else and the politicians take responsibility,” he said, calling it bizarre. The leader of JUI-F declared that his organization will demonstrate against the establishments that had turned the elections into a “game.”


Levels of Quality Complete Screen
Fazl has previously said that he would abstain from the by-elections for the National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. In addition, he declared that on April 25, following Ramadan, he will start a protest campaign against the purported election manipulation from Balochistan.

“We firmly believe that there will be a rigged general election in 2024. And the factor that changed the outcome would be our aim. We reject the findings that led to the formation of this government,” he declared.

The leader of JUI-F stated that they disagreed with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election results.

“[Earlier] the issues with the PTI were ideological and not election-related,” he said.

He stated that the party had not yet made the decision to work with the PTI. He did concede, though, that the Imran Khan-led party’s attitude has changed for the better. He remarked that it was a positive attitude and that it would not be a problem if the two parties moved together.

Fazl also revealed that he told Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, that he thought of him as a new blue-eyed boy during their meeting.

Continue Reading

Trending