Page 8 - Shehbaz Sharif

Name of caretaker premier to be finalised by Saturday, says Pak PM Sharif

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday the name of the caretaker premier would be finalised by Saturday, as the country's president wrote to him and the opposition leader to propose a "suitable person" for appointment by August 12. Prime Minister Sharif told journalists in Islamabad that he and opposition leader Raja Riaz would finalise the name by Saturday and the former coalition parties would also be taken on board for political consultations. Coalition partners will be taken into confidence over the matter before taking a final decision, he said. Sharif said the Constitution provided eight days for the appointment of the caretaker premier after the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA), the lower house of Parliament. According to the Constitution, the premier and the outgoing opposition leader in the NA have three days to decide the name of the interim prime minister. In case the two fail to agree on a name, the matter would be referred to a parliamentary ..

Pak's prez asks PM Sharif, oppn to propose caretaker premier's name by Sat

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi on Friday asked outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and outgoing Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz to propose a name for the appointment of caretaker premier by Saturday. The premier and opposition parties began rounds of meetings to pick a caretaker prime minister following the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9. As many as six names were discussed in the meeting on Thursday, the Dawn newspaper reported, adding that Sharif and Riaz were expected to meet again on Friday for another round of deliberations. In a letter written to Sharif and Riaz, the president recalled that he had dissolved the National Assembly on the prime minister's advice on August 9. Under Provision of Article 224 (1A) of the Constitution, the president appoints the caretaker prime minister in consultation with the [outgoing] prime minister and leader of the opposition in the outgoing national assembly," the letter said, adding that both t

Pak President Alvi dissolves National Assembly at PM Sharif's advice

Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on Wednesday at outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's advice, marking an end to the current government's tenure and paving the way for next general elections. The notification for the dissolution of the assembly was issued by the Aiwan-i-Sadr, which said the National Assembly was dissolved under Article 58 of the Constitution. Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif on Wednesday wrote to President Alvi and sought dissolution of the National Assembly three days before the end of its five-year constitutional term. President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly at midnight on Wednesday at outgoing Prime Minister Sharif's advice, the Dawn newspaper reported. With the dissolution of the lower house, the current government's tenure will also end prematurely. Later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi said in a statement that the elected government has completed its five-year term, and his ministry had forwarded

Pak PM to formally tender advice to Prez Alvi to dissolve National Assembly

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was poised on Wednesday to formally recommend the dissolution of the National Assembly to President Arif Alvi to pave the way for the next general elections in the country. The five-year tenure of the 342-member lower house of Parliament was scheduled to expire on August 12. On the completion of the incumbent government's term, I would send a summary to the President of Pakistan for dissolution of the National Assembly by Wednesday and then an interim government will take over," Shehbaz said on Tuesday addressing a ceremony. President Alvi can either issue a notification forthwith to dissolve the assembly or can delay it for 48 hours and after that, it will stand dissolved. It is for the second time President Alvi is dissolving the assembly. First, in April of the previous year, then-Prime Minister Imran Khan advised its dissolution, which he followed but the move was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court. A final meeting of the federa

No names finalised for caretaker premier: Outgoing Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

The premier added that consultations with the government's allies and his own party members on the matter were a "continuous process" that would be completed within a day or two

Pak law minister says polls not possible till new census approved

Talking to Geo News on Saturday, Tarar said a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif "unanimously" approved new census results

Pakistan elections likely to be delayed as cabinet endorses census results

Pakistan's general elections could be delayed, albeit briefly, following the unanimous endorsement of the latest census results by a top constitutional body on Saturday. The Ministry of Planning in a briefing to the meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by Cabinet ministers, provincial chief ministers as well as other senior officials, showed that Pakistan's population had reached 240.10 million. All participants unanimously approved the results of the census carried out in March and April with enumerators going door to door, while people also had an option to login and register their family details. After the approval of its result, it is mandatory for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out a new delimitation exercise to determine new electoral districts in the entire country for elections, which is expected to impact the 60 or 90 days period needed to hold the upcoming elections after the end of the .

Environment free of terror imperative for normal ties: MEA on Pak PM

India on Thursday said an environment free of terror and hostilities is imperative for normal ties with Pakistan, days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his willingness to hold talks with New Delhi. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India wants normal ties with all neighbouring countries including Pakistan and it is incumbent upon that country to create the environment. He was responding to queries relating to comments by Sharif. "We want normal ties with all the neighbouring countries including Pakistan, but for that an environment free of terror and hostilities is imperative," he said.

'Neutral' person to be picked for interim premier post: Pakistan PM Sharif

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ruled out the possibility of the appointment of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as the caretaker prime minister, saying a "neutral person" will be selected to lead the interim government next month to make upcoming general elections transparent. Shehbaz Sharif, also the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party president indicated that Nawaz Sharif, three-time former prime minister and his elder brother, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since 2019 will return to Pakistan in the next few weeks. The 73-year-old PML-N supremo will be the Prime Minister if the party wins the election, he said. He told Geo News that the notification of the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA) would be sent to President Arif Alvi a few days ahead of the completion of the tenure of the lower house of Parliament. He maintained that the NA will complete its tenure at 12 midnight on August 12. He said the caretaker set-up would be agreed upon

Pak PM Sharif condemns Bajaur bomb blast, says culprits will be 'penalised'

Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Bajaur Blast and held a telephonic conversation with JUI-F supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Federal Minister for Communications Maulana Asad Mehmood

Smugglers using drones to send drugs across border into India: Pak official

Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, the Special Assistant on Defence to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made these remarks to Hamid Mir, a journalist associated with Pakistan's Geo News

Pakistan Cabinet approves National Adaptation Plan to combat climate change

Pakistan's Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Adaptation Plan for building resilience to climate change, which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described as a national security issue after the last year's catastrophic floods. National Adaptation Plans are widely seen as one of the most important mechanisms for adapting to climate change. They aim to reduce vulnerabilities to climate impacts by creating comprehensive medium and long-term plans, including the integration of adaptation measures into national policy. "Climate change is redefining every human experience on the planet, especially in Pakistan. In the long journey to build resilience, our government is proud to pass our country's National Adaptation Plan, which will give Pakistan the essential tools to adapt to the risks of climate stress," Sharif tweeted. "As the last year's devastating floods showed, climate change is a development, economic, human and national security issue critical to the future of our people," h

Pak petroleum dealers threaten strike as govt fails to rise profit margins

The petroleum dealers in cash-strapped Pakistan have threatened to hold a nationwide strike from Saturday as they are dissatisfied with Shehbaz Sharif-led government on its failure to increase their profit margins, a media report said on Friday. Speaking at a press conference here, Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Chairman Samiullah Khan, expressed their frustration over the government's inability to raise their profit margin to 5 per cent on the sale of two major petroleum products, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Currently fixed at Rs 6 per litre (2.4 per cent), the 5 per cent margin would amount to over Rs 12 per litre, given the prevailing petrol and diesel prices of Rs 253/litre and Rs 253.50/litre, respectively, the report said. The latest fortnightly work for determining petroleum product prices, effective from July 16, indicated that the dealers were receiving Rs 7/litre instead of the claimed Rs 6/litre. However, this Rs 7 margin falls significantly sh

Pakistan court acquits PM Shehbaz, family in money laundering case

An accountability court in Pakistan acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his family members on Thursday in a multi-million-dollar money laundering case after the anti-corruption agency failed to provide any solid evidence against them. "An Accountability Court acquitted Prime Minister Shehbaz, his wife Nusrat, his son Hamza and daughter Javaria in the PKR 7 billion money laundering case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2020," a court official told PTI. The official said the court acquitted the premier and his family members after the NAB failed to provide any solid evidence against the suspects regarding the laundering of millions of dollars abroad, especially to the United Kingdom. The official further said the court, however, declared another daughter of the premier, Rabia Imran, a proclaimed offender and issued her an arrest warrant. Rabia had left for the UK since she was named in the case.

Pakistan govt to dissolve Parliament on Aug 8 to get extra time for polls

Pakistan's major ruling coalition partners have agreed to dissolve the National Assembly on August 8, a few days before the completion of its five-year term, to get extra time for general elections, according to a media report on Tuesday. The five-year constitutional term of the incumbent National Assembly expires on August 12 at midnight four days after the date on which both parties have reportedly agreed to dissolve the legislature. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) the two major stakeholders in the federal government have agreed to dissolve the National Assembly on August 8, the Geo News reported. August 9 and 10 also came under discussion, but it was decided to go for August 8 to avoid any hurdle in the early dissolution of the lower house of Parliament, the report said, quoting sources. According to the law, if the president doesn't approve the recommendation, the National Assembly stands dissolved after 48 hours giving the ...

Shehbaz Sharif to step down as Pak PM before next month; all you must know

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said that he will hand over power to a caretaker government on August 14, paving the way for general elections

Will hand over power to caretaker setup next month: Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday announced that his government would hand over the power to a caretaker setup before the completion of its tenure next month, indicating the National Assembly is going to be dissolved days before the completion of its tenure to pace the general election in November. Just a couple of days ago the premier had announced that his government would complete its tenure which is ending on August 13. However, Shehbaz's change of mind appears to be an advice from his allied Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Asif Ali Zardari. "Zardari in a meeting with PM Shehbaz on Saturday asked him to dissolve the National Assembly a couple of days before the government completes its tenure so that elections can be held in November," a senior PPP leader told PTI on Sunday. Under the Constitution, if the National Assembly completes its term, polls are to be held within 60 days. But if the assembly is dissolved prematurely, even if by a day, it would give th

Pakistan PM launches $3.5 bn Chinese-designed nuclear energy project

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday launched the 1200-megawatt nuclear power plant being built with China's assistance in Punjab province which is seen as a sign of growing strategic cooperation between the two all-weather allies. Earlier, Prime Minister Sharif had inked an agreement with China worth a whopping USD 3.5 billion under which Beijing would build the Chashma-V nuclear plant at Chashma in the Mianwali district of Punjab. He had termed the nuclear power plant agreement signing as a token of increasing economic cooperation between Pakistan and China and vowed to complete the project without any delay. The Chashma-5 nuclear energy project, which is by itself a huge milestone, a huge success story and a wonderful symbol of cooperation between two great friends," Sharif said. This mutual cooperation to promote clean, efficient and comparatively cheaper energy is a gift of friendship between the two countries and a model for other countries to emulate," he said.

Petition seeking Pak PM Sharif's disqualification filed in Lahore HC

A petition has been filed in a Pakistani court seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for making a "false promise" to the court regarding the return of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif from the UK after his treatment. The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period, observing that this petition should have moved when Shehbaz Sharif failed to fulfil his promise during the tenure of the previous government. Nawaz Sharif, the supreme leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the elder brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has been living in self-exile in the United Kingdom since November 2019. Petitioner Azhar Abbas contended that Shehbaz Sharif had filed a "false affidavit" before a two-judge bench of the LHC in November 2019 that he would ensure the return of his elder brother within four weeks if he (Nawaz Sharif) was allowed to go abroad for his treatment. The petitioner said the LHC accepted Shehba

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