PM says have advised president to dissolve assemblies

 

• PM says have advised president to dissolve assemblies. 

ISLAMABAD, APR 2: Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an address to the nation on Sunday, said he had advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve assemblies.

His announcement came moments after National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, who was chairing today's session, dismissed the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming it a contradiction of Article 5 of the Constitution.

He congratulated the nation for the no-trust motion being dismissed, saying the deputy speaker had "rejected the attempt of changing the regime [and] the foreign conspiracy".

The premier said he had been receiving messages from many people who were worried, adding that "treason" was being committed in front of the nation. "I want to say, 'ghabrana nahi hai' (do not worry). God is watching over Pakistan."

He said he had written to the president with advice to dissolve the assemblies, adding that the democrats should go to the public and elections should be held so the people could decide who they wanted in power.

Prime Minister Imran said the "billions of rupees" that had been spent to "buy" lawmakers' votes would be wasted and advised those who had taken money to donate it to orphanages and the poor.

"Prepare for elections. No corrupt forces will decide what the future of the country will be. When the assemblies will be dissolved, the procedure for the next elections and the caretaker government will begin," he added.

Shortly afterwards, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the prime minister's advice to dissolve the National Assembly had been sent to President Dr Arif Alvi under Article 58 of the Constitution.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said new elections would be held in 90 days.

Earlier today, Information Minister Chaudhry, who took the floor shortly after the NA session began, said that loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen under Article 5(1). He reiterated the premier's earlier claims that a foreign conspiracy was behind the move to oust the government.

"On March 7, our official ambassador was invited to a meeting attended by the representatives of other countries. The meeting was told that a motion against PM Imran was being presented," he said, noting that this occurred a day before the opposition formally filed the no-trust move.

"We were told that relations with Pakistan were dependent on the success of the no-confidence motion. We were told that if the motion fails, then Pakistan's path would be very difficult. This is an operation for a regime change by a foreign government," he alleged.

The minister questioned how this could be allowed and called on the deputy speaker to decide the constitutionality of the no-trust move.

Suri, who chaired the session after opposition parties, in a surprise move, filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser, noted that the motion was presented on March 8 and should be according to the law and the Constitution. "No foreign power shall be allowed to topple an elected government through a conspiracy," he said, adding that the points raised by the minister were "valid".

He dismissed the motion, ruling that it was "contradictory" to the law, the Constitution and the rules. The session was later prorogued.

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Courtesy Dawn News

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NA speaker dismisses no-trust move, terming it against Article 5 of Constitution

 

ISLAMABAD, APR 3: National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday dismissed the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming it against Article 5 of the Constitution.

Suri chaired today's session after opposition parties, in a surprise move, filed a no-confidence motion against Speaker Asad Qaiser.

Opposition lawmakers earlier appeared confident of the success of the no-trust move as they made their way to Parliament House.

The opposition needs the support of at least 172 lawmakers from a total of 342 to oust the premier through the no-trust move.

As the situation stands now, opposition parties have managed to cross the magical figure of 172 and enjoy the support of 174 members in the NA, according to a list shared by PML-N's Marriyum Aurangzeb today.

The number does not include over a dozen dissidents of the ruling PTI, who have already publicly declared the withdrawal of their support to the prime minister.

No-confidence motion submitted against Qaiser

Prior to today's session of the National Assembly, the opposition also submitted a no-confidence motion against NA Speaker Asad Qaiser.

The resolution, addressed to the secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat, was submitted by Murtaza Javed Abbasi of the PML-N. The resolution carried the signatures of more than a hundred lawmakers.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who shared an image of the resolution on Twitter, tagged the official handles of PM Imran and Qaiser, with a simple "surprise".

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Courtesy Dawn News

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‘Powerful’ country angered by recent visit to Russia: PM Imran

 

ISLAMABAD, APR 1: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday that a “powerful” country had been “angered” by his visit to Russia in February and had questioned his decision to go ahead with the two-day tour amid Russia-Ukraine tensions.

He did not name the country in his speech at the Islamabad Security Dialogue. The premier noted that the unnamed country’s ally, India, was importing oil from Russia at a time when the West was trying to impose sanctions in the aftermath of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Today, I read the British foreign secretary’s statement that they can’t say anything to India as it has an independent foreign policy. So what are we then?” he asked, adding that the blame lay with Pakistan.

“No country is respected unless it stands on its own two feet.”

During his speech, the premier also praised India for its independent foreign policy that was centred around its people. “They protect their independent foreign policy.”

He began his address by highlighting the importance of the event. “In our minds, security was defined as military [might],” he said, adding that it was, in fact, “multi-dimensional”.

He said that the biggest “insecurity” for a nation is when there is a small island of wealthy citizens surrounded by a sea of underprivileged. “A country which does not have inclusive prosperity will always remain insecure.”

He regretted the fact that many were unable to understand the concept of Riyasat-i-Madina. “They think that I talk about Riyasat-i-Madina to garner votes and use Islam for political purposes.”

Commenting on the state of Madina, he called it a “unique” model where the people were uplifted to become a great civilisation. “This is a part of history, not mythology,” he said, adding that this model was the very definition of national security.

“They proved that when a nation takes care of its weakest people, that is real security […] security follows when every citizen owns their country,” he said, adding that the military could only give you “limited security”.

Turning towards Pakistan, the premier labelled “unequal development” in Pakistan as the biggest reason for the country’s insecurity. “A small elite laid capture to our resources and did not allow its competition to succeed.”

He went on to say that the same elite also introduced an English medium education system which meant that good jobs would only go to those who spoke the language. PM Imran further said that this also had an impact on the health and justice system, where only the affluent were being catered to.

The prime minister also held the absence of rule of law as the reason behind the country’s insecurity, stating that no country could truly progress or reach its potential without it. He noted how the same was enforced in the state of Madina.

“I want to be a part of a state that gives me justice, where my rights, life and property are protected,” he said.

Giving an example from history, he said that conquerors from the North would travel straight to Delhi facing little to no resistance. “They faced no resistance because the people did not have a stake in the system. It was a feudal system,” he said that the person at the top ruled over the people.

Finally touching upon an independent foreign policy, he said that the policy at the time of independence “made sense”. “We were bankrupt, we did not have resources and had refugee problems.”

But our dependency on foreign aid caused the most damage to the country, he said. “We did not bother to discover the potential that God had given us. A person reaches his true potential when he faces resistance,” he said, giving the example of a muscle atrophying when it is not in use.

“When a nation starts thinking we can’t achieve anything without aid, it can’t succeed,” he said, adding that an independent foreign policy was inextricably linked with a nation’s progress.

‘Sacrificed own country for another’s interest’

Talking about the Afghan ‘jihad’, the prime minister said that Pakistan had never evaluated what it had lost and what it had gained through its participation.

“We never evaluated whether we got involved in order to help the Afghan people or whether it was for obtaining foreign aid,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s losses far outweighed the foreign aid that was given.

He went on to say that after 9/11, Pakistan changed its stance on resistance against foreign occupation terming it as “terrorism”.

“We violated our own principles,” he said, noting the economic devastation and labelling of Pakistan that followed soon after.

“We sacrificed our own country for the benefit of another […]. That is why I believe that a country without an independent foreign policy does not have any respect in the world and cannot protect the interests of its people.”

He went on to say that the objective of the PTI government was to draft an independent foreign policy and to stop the country from becoming part of a particular camp. “We tried to keep our foreign policy independent, one that is only affected by what is good for Pakistan’s 220 million people,” he said, adding that the country had never received the amount of international respect given during the last three-and-a-half years.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly criticised the prime minister’s speech, stating that he was “shocked at the way Imran Khan had endangered the global interests of the country”.

“His recurring praise for [Narendra] Modi’s foreign policy is an insult to the sacrifices of valiant Kashmiris braving Hindutva. Among other things, the damage done to our foreign policy is incalculable,” he said.

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Courtesy Dawn News

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Ramazan likely to begin from Sunday: PMD

 

KARACHI, APR 1: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) predicted on Friday that there are chances of sighting of Ramadan moon on the evening of April 2, Saturday.

The weather department said the sunset on Saturday will take place at 6:45pm in Karachi and the crescent could be seen until 7:57pm. The moon’s age will be 31 hours and 48 minutes at the time of the sunset, it added.

A meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will take place in Peshawar on April 2, Saturday, to sight the moon of Ramadan. The meeting will be chaired by Chairman Reut-e-Hilal Committee Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azaad.

 Zonal committees will also meet in their respective regions for the sighting of the moon. Earlier, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had announced April 2 as the expected date for the sighting of the new moon, marking the start of the holy month of Ramadan.

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Zong subscribers can now make Int'l direct dialing bundles of their own choice

ISLAMABAD, APR 1: In pursuit of service excellence and facilitating Pakistanis in every possible way, Zong 4G – Pakistan’s cellular and digital services leader – now provides its International Direct Dialing (IDD) subscribers to make their own IDD bundle.

Called ‘Zong IDD Mera Apna Bundle’, the offer allows Zong’s IDD users to create their own international direct dialling bundles initially for Saudi Arabia MOBILY Network Only, followed by more destinations to be made part of the offer for Zong 4G Subscribers. 

Both prepaid and postpaid subscribers of Zong 4G can now choose destinations, minutes, and validity (on bill run for postpaid) as per their needs through the ‘Zong IDD Mera Apna Bundle’.

“Being the leaders of ICT-powered digital transformation in the country, we know the changing connectivity needs of the customers and move proactively to address them,” shared Zong’s official spokesperson.

“Customers are the heart of everything we do and we are aware of the digital needs of our subscribers. The ‘Zong IDD Mera Apna Bundle’is a testament to our customer-centric approach and has been designed to facilitate our IDD customers better and ensure they never get out of touch with their loved ones or work.”

Zong’s motto ‘Let’s get digital’ resonates well in the ‘Zong IDD Mera Apna Bundle’ which gives supreme flexibility to users to create their international bundles. and meet their connectivity needs. 

To avail the offer, visit Zong 4G website or download the My Zong App or dial 310 (3101 for Corporate Customers) – 051 111 222 111 for assistance.

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