Another alleged audio clip featuring Imran Khan, party leaders gets leaked.
PTI chair reportedly speaking to party leaders Shah Mahmood, Azam Khan and Asad Umar.
Leak comes days after purported clip of Khan, Azam talking about how to “play” with US cypher.
Another purported audio clip of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his team has surfaced, just days after asound biteof the former prime minister allegedly telling his then-principal secretary Azam Khan to “play” with the US cypher had come to the fore.
Following is a rough transcription of the audio
Imran Khan: Shah jee [Shah Mahmood Qureshi], we three [Imran Khan, Azam Khan and you] have to hold a meeting tomorrow, along with the foreign secretary [Sohail Mahmood]. [In the meeting], we will ask him to just sit quietly and write the minutes of the meeting as is. Azam [Khan] is saying to write the minutes […] and we will keep the photostat.
Azam Khan: This cypher came on the 7th, 8th or 9th [March]?
Another person [present in the meeting]: It came on the 8th.
Imran Khan: But the meeting took place on the 7th. We do not have to name Americans under any circumstances. So on this issue, please, nobody should name the country. This is very important for all of you. From which country did the letter come? I don’t want to hear it from anyone.
Asad Umar: Are you intentionally calling it a letter? Because this isn’t a letter, it is a transcript of the meeting.
Imran Khan: It is the same thing, whether it’s the meeting transcript or a letter. People won’t understand what a transcript is. You have to say this in your rallies.
What was the first audio leak?
On Wednesday, a sound bite of former prime minister Imran Khan allegedly telling his then-principal secretary Azam Khan to “play” with the US cypher had surfaced.
In the audio allegedly featuring Khan, a man could be heard talking about the cypher which Khan — time and again — has claimed mentions the “threat” to remove his government.
Khan allegedly told Azam in the audio — the date of which could not be ascertained — that “let’s just play” with the cypher and not mention America’s name.
In response, Azam tells Khan a scheme of how to use the cypher to forward PTI’s political agenda — and in that, he also suggests using Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood so the matter can be highlighted at a “bureaucratic level”.
In July, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi had warned that the audio would come forward and the PTI, in response to the blog, said that it would “not sit quietly” if such a thing happens.
The development came after audio leaks of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers, and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz surfaced last week.
SC expresses displeasure over delay in AGP’s appointment.
Justice Isa calls govt “incompetent”.
Says govt violating Constitution by not appointing AGP.
The Supreme Court on Monday, while fuming over the delay in the attorney general of Pakistan’s (AGP) appointment, told the federal government to fill the constitutional post.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa gave remarks on the lack of assistance from the attorney general in a case related to tampered car.
“We are asking you politely to appoint the attorney general,” Justice Isa told the government during the hearing.
“Who is the attorney general in the country right now?” questioned Justice Isa.
At this, the deputy attorney general failed to give a satisfying answer.
“The government is so incompetent that it cannot even appoint an attorney general,” said the Supreme Court justice.
He questioned whether the government is bargaining with someone over the AGP’s appointment.
“The Supreme Court has 5,500 lawyers but the government cannot find a single one,” he added.
Justice Isa said that the government is violating the Constitution by not appointing the AGP, adding that the orders given by the apex court were not followed either.
The court said that the additional attorney general and the deputy attorney general are bound to take instructions from the AGP only.
“It is against the law for the deputy and additional attorney general to appear without instructions of the AGP,” the court added.
‘AGP to be finalised in 2-3 days’
On January 21, Federal Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the new attorney general will be finalized within two or three days.
The judiciary had expressed displeasure with the government for not appointing the AGP after former attorney general Ashtar Ausaf Ali tendered his resignation in October last year due to health reasons.
President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Mansoor Usman Awan, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, as the AGP on December 23 after accepting Ausaf’s resignation. However, he refused from taking charge.
“I am going to meet PM Shehbaz today (Saturday) and possibly the issue of appointing the new attorney general will be finalised within two or three days,” Tarar said.
He revealed that first Awan consented to be the attorney general but later he verbally and in writing refused to accept the office, citing his professional engagements.
“I can’t disclose the names of the new potential candidates, being nominated for the slot of attorney general but hopefully the prime minister will finalize the name within two to three days,” he told The News.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Friday accepted the resignations of 35 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs taking the total number of resignations accepted in the last eight months to 81.
The National Assembly Secretariat, in a statement issued in this regard, mentioned that the resignations have been approved under Clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Following the approval of the resignations, the summary was sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to de-notify the PTI lawmakers.
Here’s a list of all 35 MNAs whose resignations were accepted today:
Dr Haider Ali Khan — NA-2
Saleem Rehman — NA-3
Sahibzada Sibghatullah — NA-5
Mehboob Shah — NA-6
Muhammad Bashir Khan — NA-7
Junaid Akbar — NA-8
Sher Akbar Khan —NA-9
Ali Khan Jadoon —NA-16
Engr Usman Khan Tarakai — NA-19
Mujahid Ali — NA-20
Arbab Amir Ayub — NA-28
Sher Ali Arbab — NA-30
Shahid Ahmed — NA-34
Gul Dad Khan — NA-40
Sajid Khan — NA-42
Mohammad Iqbal Khan — NA-44
Aamer Mehmood Kiani — NA-61
Syed Faiz ul Hassan — NA-70
Ch Shoukat Ali Bhatti — NA-87
Umar Aslam Khan — NA-93
Amjad Ali Khan — NA-96
Khurram Shahzad — NA-107
Faizullah — NA-109
Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar — NA-135
Syed Fakhar Imam — NA-150
Zahoor Hussain Qureshi — NA-152
Ibraheem Khan — NA-158
Tahir Iqbal — NA-164
Aurangzeb Khan Khichi — NA-165
Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar — NA-177
Abdul Majeed Khan — NA-187
Reserve Seats
Andaleeb Abbas — RS-Women
Asma Qadeer — RS-Women
Maleeka Ali Bokhari — RS-Women
Munawara Bibi Baloch — RS-Women
The NA speaker accepted 70 resignations this week, as he approved the resignations of 35 lawmakers earlier this week.
Here’s a list of all those 35 MNAs de-notified by the ECP:
Resignations accepted in accordance with Article 64 of Constitution.
Summary sent to ECP to de-notify PTI lawmakers.
Seventy PTI resignations have been accepted this week.
ISLAMABAD: The political uncertainty continues in Pakistan after the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz on Friday accepted the resignations of 35 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs.
The PTI had resigned from the lower house of parliament after the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan in April 2022.
According to a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the resignations were accepted in accordance with clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution and rules of procedure and conduct of Business in the NA.
“In accordance with clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, read with Rule 43 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly of Pakistan 2007, the Hon’ble Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan has been pleased to accept the resignations of the following Members of the National Assembly with effect from April 11, 2022, the date when the letter of respective resignations was submitted,” said the statement.
The resignations had been accepted with effect from 11 April 2022, the date when the letters of respective resignations were submitted, said Radio Pakistan.
Following the approval of the resignations, the summary was sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to de-notify the PTI lawmakers.
Here’s the list of PTI lawmakers whose resignations have been accepted:
S.No
Name
Constituency
01
Dr Haider Ali Khan
NA-2
02
Saleem Rehman
NA-3
03
Sahibzada Sibghatullah
NA-5
04
Mehboob Shah
NA-6
05
Muhammad Bashir Khan
NA-7
06
Junaid Akbar
NA-8
07
Sher Akbar Khan
NA-9
08
Ali Khan Jadoon
NA-16
09
Engr Usman Khan Tarakai
NA-19
10
Mujahid Ali
NA-20
11
Arbab Amir Ayub
NA-28
12
Sher Ali Arbab
NA-30
13
Shahid Ahmed
NA-34
14
Gul Dad Khan
NA-40
15
Sajid Khan
NA-42
16
Mohammad Iqbal Khan
NA-44
17
Aamer Mehmood Kiani
NA-61
18
Syed Faiz ul Hassan
NA-70
19
Chaudhry Shoukat Ali Bhatti
NA-87
20
Umar Aslam Khan
NA-93
21
Amjad Ali Khan
NA-96
22
Khurram Shahzad
NA-107
23
Faizullah
NA-109
24
Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar
NA-135
25
Syed Fakhar Imam
NA-150
26
Zahoor Hussain Qureshi
NA-152
27
Ibraheem Khan
NA-158
28
Tahir Iqbal
NA-164
29
Aurangzeb Khan Khichi
NA-165
30
Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar
NA-177
31
Abdul Majeed Khan
NA-187
32
Andaleeb Abbas
Reserved seat
33
Asma Qadeer
Reserved seat
34
Maleeka Ali Bokhari
Reserved seat
35
Munawara Bibi Baloch
Reserved seat
Earlier, Ashraf had stalled the process of accepting resignations after July 28 stating the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.
However, contrary to his claims he quickened the process by accepting the resignations of 34 PTI MNAs and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid earlier this week after an eight-month hiatus.
Soon after the PTI announced its return to the assembly and test the PM through a no-trust move, the government so far accepted 70 PTI resignations during the current week only.
Around 131 MNAs of the PTI had tendered their resignations en masse after Imran Khan’s government was ousted through a no-confidence motion in April last year.
By July 28, 2022, the NA speaker had accepted the resignations of only 11 PTI lawmakers.
PTI calls govt’s move ‘illegal and immoral’
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament House, senior PTI leaders said the speaker retracted from his old stance by accepting the resignations of 35 more PTI lawmakers today.
Asad Qaiser, Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and others termed the government’s move “illegal and immoral”.
Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser condemned the decision and revealed that Ashraf had called the PTI leaders to the assembly and told them that the resignations would not be accepted unless he had a word with the MNAs himself separately.
“Were those whose resignations were accepted called by the Speaker?”Qaiser asked.
Berating the speaker’s decision, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said now that 81 resignations were accepted, the government must also give a date for the general elections.
Expressing his displeasure over the decision, the PTI leader blamed Islamabad for the political and economic crises in the country.
“We are heading towards a Sri Lanka-like situation,” Chaudhry claimed.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the speaker first said that he cannot accept the resignations collectively.
“We decided to come to the meeting and he [the speaker] postponed it and when we came to the assembly, he accepted the resignations of 35 more MNAs,” said Qureshi, demanding that the rest of the resignations should also be accepted.
The party’s vice chairman said that the PTI wants snap polls so that the people can decide for themselves.