Pakistan

NA speaker writes letter to Imran Khan, Shahbaz for caretaker PM decision

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Asad Qaiser seeks names of four members from both the leaders for the formation of parliamentary committee.
The speaker has written these letters under powers assigned to him as per Article 224A-1 of the Constitution.
The eight-member parliamentary committee will be formed by the NA speaker.

ISLAMABAD: Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser Wednesday wrote letters to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif for the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

The speaker has written these letters under the powers assigned to him per Article 224A-1 of the Constitution.

Names of four members have been sought from both the leaders for the formation of the parliamentary committee.

Earlier this week, President Arif Alvi had sent letters to PM Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif to seek suggestions for the appointment of a caretaker prime minister for Pakistan; however, both leaders failed to reach a consensus.

According to NA rules, in case the two politicians can’t reach a consensus over one name within three days, each one of them will send two names to the parliamentary committee responsible for appointing a caretaker prime minister.

The eight-member parliamentary committee, comprising National Assembly and Senate members, with equal representation from the government and Opposition, will be formed by the NA speaker.

“224A (1) In case the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly do not agree on any person to be appointed as the caretaker prime minister, within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a Committee to be immediately constituted by the Speaker of the National Assembly, comprising eight members of the outgoing National Assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the Treasury and the Opposition, to be nominated by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, respectively,” Qaiser wrote in the letter.

Shahbaz will now nominate four members from the Opposition and PM Imran Khan will nominate an equal number of members from the treasury benches.

Shahbaz disagrees with PM Khan’s suggestion

Meanwhile, Shahbaz informed President Alvi that the Opposition does not agree with the suggestion of appointing Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed as the interim prime minister and that the process for the appointment is issued by the head of the state was a “violation of law and Constitution”.

In a letter, Shahbaz confirmed to the president that he had received his April 4 message regarding the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

The PML-N president informed President Alvi that the speaker’s ruling on April 3 on the no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan was a “blatant violation of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” and the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business” of the lower house.

“The entire super-structure built thereon, including all consequential notifications relating to dismissal of the Resolution, advice of the Prime Minister regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly, and continuation of the Prime minister in the office are all illegal, without lawful authority and of no legal effect,” wrote Shahbaz.

The Opposition leader also informed President Alvi that the Supreme Court is holding suo motu hearings on the National Assembly deputy speaker’s ruling.

He also shared the apex court’s ruling, stating that “any order passed by the prime minister and the president shall be subject to the order of the Court”.

Latest News

The IHC upholds Bushra Bibi’s request to be transferred from Bani Gala to Adiala Jail.

Published

22 hours ago

Farwa

Bushra Bibi’s request to be transferred from Bani Gala to Adiala Jail was granted by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday.

The former first lady Bushra Bibi’s application to be transferred from Bani Gala sub-jail to Adiala was heard today.

Details reveal that the Islamabad High Court heard a motion to restore the denied petition about the relocation of Bushra Bibi, the wife of PTI founder, from sub-jail Bani Gala to Adiala.

The application for the reinstatement of appeal was heard by Justice Miagul Hassan Aurangzeb. When state attorney Abdul Rehman entered the courtroom on behalf of the state, Usman Riaz Gill represented the former first lady.

State counsel did not object to the appeal being restored during court proceedings. At the following hearing, the court asked for assistance in determining what conditions must be met for a location to be designated as a sub-jail.

The court also mandated that Bushra Bibi’s medical examination be scheduled. The court subsequently delayed the hearing and gave instructions to fix the appeal for April 22.

Recall that the attorneys for former first lady Bushra Bibi, Barrister Salman Safdar, Usman Riaz Gill, and Khalid Yusuf Chaudhary, had filed an application to restore the dismissed appeal a day ago, but the Islamabad High Court had denied their request to pursue the case.

The petition contended that the traffic gridlock at the Sarina Chowk checkpoint was the reason for the delay in getting to the court.

The attorneys did not purposefully take their time getting to court. They warned that the petitioner would suffer irreversible loss if the petition was not resurrected.

IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb has voiced his displeasure at the absence of attorneys from the court.

According to Judge Aurangzeb, the former first lady would have been imprisoned if Bushra Bibi’s attorneys had prevailed in this case. The attorneys themselves were opposed to Bushra Bibi’s incarceration.

Latest News

oath-taking ceremony for the Balochistan cabinet postponed

Published

23 hours ago

Farwa

The Balochistan cabinet’s oath-taking ceremony, which was supposed to take place at the Governor’s House today (Thursday), has been rescheduled.
The Governor’s House spokeswoman announced that the Balochistan cabinet’s swearing-in event has been postponed. Nevertheless, there was no explanation provided for the ceremony’s postponement.

It is important to note that the 14-member Balochistan cabinet, which consists of two members from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and six ministers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was set to take the oath of office today, Thursday.

Latest News

PMD forecasts rain throughout the majority of the nation.

Published

23 hours ago

Farwa

During the next 24 hours (Thursday–Friday), the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted rain, windstorms, thunderstorms, and a few torrential downpours or hailstorms throughout the majority of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Islamabad, Punjab, and Balochistan.

In several areas of Sindh, a rain-windstorm/thunderstorm is anticipated. Much of Balochistan is being hit by a powerful westerly wave trough, which is expected to spread to the top regions by April 18.

Prolonged downpours have the potential to cause flash flooding in Balochistani local streams and drains, particularly in Gwadar, Jiwani, Pasni, Ormara, Kech, Awaran, Kharan, Panjgur, Washuk, Noshki, Lasbela, Khuzdar, and Kalat.

On April 18–20, heavy rains could cause flash floods in tributaries of the Kabul River as well as in Dir, Swat, Chitral, Kohistan, Manshera, Gilgit–Baltistan, Kashmir, and other areas.

Lower Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan are among the regions where landslides may occur.

At this time, standing crops, power poles, cars, solar panels, and other objects may sustain damage from wind, hail, and lightning, according to meteorologists.

Upper Sindh and Balochistan saw rain, wind, and thunderstorms in the past 24 hours. During the era, there were also significant rainfalls in South Balochistan. Wednesday’s highs of 42 degrees Celsius in Mithi kept it as the country’s hottest spot.

Officials reported that lightning-related storm-related occurrences claimed the lives of at least 65 people in Pakistan, where the rate of precipitation in April has so far been roughly twice that of previous years. Floods and house collapses were caused by heavy downpours that occurred between Friday and Monday. Lightning claimed 28 lives.

32 people, including 15 children, have killed and over 1,300 homes have been damaged in northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has suffered the greatest victim count.

The meteorological experts report that there is little probability of rain, despite the fact that drizzle fell in numerous areas of Karachi.