Politics

Pervez Khattak’s brother joins JUI-F as Opposition mounts pressure on govt

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Pervez Khattak’s brother and former PTI member Thursday formally joined JUI-F as the Opposition mounts pressure on the government.

Former provincial minister and MPA Liaquat Khattak made the announcement that he, his son, and other people are joining the party during a joint press conference with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Islamabad.

Talking to journalists, Fazl welcomed Khattak to the party and said that their family had expressed no confidence in the government’s leadership, taking a jibe at the defence minister.

Read more: ‘We will not tolerate this anymore,’ Bilawal chides PM Imran on ‘threat’ to Zardari

“The captain (Imran Khan) says he is a player and knows how to counter [problems]. You received funding from India, US, and Israel. You will suffer the same fate as Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani,” he said a day after PM Imran Khan lashed out at him.

“If you want to compete with me on a level playing field, then come out in the open,” the JUI-F chief said.

Pervez, who served as chief minister of the province from 2013 to 2018, developed differences with his brother, Liaqat, at the time of the by-election for PK-63 in 2021.

Read more: PM Imran Khan says government is ‘stable’ in meeting with Punjab CM, governor

Liaquat wanted the PTI ticket for his son, Ahad Khattak, to contest for the PK-63, which had fallen vacant after the death of the ruling party MPA Mian Jamshedduddin Kakakhel due to the coronavirus.

The ticket was given to the son of the late legislator, Mian Umar Kakakhel. This created a wedge between Pervez and Liaqat. Later, PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali Khan defeated the ruling party candidate in the by-election for PK-63 which widened the gap between the Khattak brothers.

Later, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan removed Liaqat from his post as the provincial minister for irrigation for allegedly supporting the PML-N candidate in the by-elections.

Fazl meets MQM-P leadership

Following Liaquat Khattak’s entry into the JUI-F, an MQM-P delegation — led by convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui — arrived at the PDM chief’s residence.

The meeting came in the backdrop of the Opposition’s no-confidence motion.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the MQM-P leader said that his party was concerned about the new, developing situation.

“The new situation should be handled in a way that it does not harm democracy,” Siddiqui said, adding that governments come and go, but democracy should not be harmed.

“We will take an overview of the no-confidence motion,” said the MQM-P leader.

On the other hand, Fazl welcomed the MQM-P delegation and said that every party has its own point of view.

Latest News

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

Published

20 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

20 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

Senior PML-N leaders want the X ban lifted.

Published

20 hours ago

Farwa

A veteran party leader and former railways minister, Khawaja Saad Rafique, claimed the caretaker government’s social media ban didn’t help anyone.

Saad Rafique warned his party’s present government to avoid becoming a laughing stock since politics requires political moves.

“Bans and prohibitions come where dictatorship prevails over democracy,” PML-N veteran Javed Abbasi remarked of the social media ban.

“Can we ban matches factories fearing they ignite fire?” he asked. He said, “We scare of truth and try to keep it under the veil.”

He called the PML-N administration cruel for banning free speech.

The Interior Ministry said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday that X, formerly Twitter, needed to be banned since it violated Pakistani legislation.

Interior Secretary Khurram Agha reported on the high court’s rulings on the social media ban petition for the ministry.

Social networking site X was down for two months in Pakistan when the hearing took place.