Senate campaign intensifies on penultimate day

Prime Minister Imran Khan and federal ministers on Monday spent a busy day in parliament in an effort to muster support for the PTI candidates from the federal capital. On the other hand, reliable sources privy to the matter told The Express Tribune that PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zadari has approached Syed Ali Nawaz Shah, MNA from Mirpurkhas, who won the NA-218 seat in 2018 election as an independent candidate defeating the PPP and PTI candidates. Shah once a senior PPP stalwart had left the party over differences with the PPP leadership, contested independently and bagged the seat. Bilawal along with Gilani visited him in Islamabad and requested his vote. Shah assured the PPP leader of his vote. An interesting one-on-one contest between PDM candidate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is expected on the only general seat from the capital. Dr Shaikh, who is presently serving in the cabinet of Imran Khan as finance minister, had previously served in the same position when Mr Gilani was the prime minister. The competition between Gilani and Shaikh has acquired great significance because of the party position in the National Assembly where the ruling alliance has a majority of just 20 votes. Later, Shaikh claimed achieving a historic victory in the Senate elections on March 3. Addressing a news conference along with the leaders of coalition parties, including Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the  minister said all the coalition parties wanted to put the country on right direction and that was why were united. "The MQM-P, GDA, BAP and PML-Q - we all are standing with each other," he added. The people wanted that their leadership should be honest and they found the PTI most suitable, he said. Back in parliament, the prime minister and the ruling PTI leadership turned to lawmakers, especially the backbenchers of the National Assembly, to get their support just before the Senate elections scheduled for tomorrow {Wednesday]. The premier, who remains conspicuous by his absence from parliament, suspended most of his routine activities and spent the entire day in the lower house, holding meetings with disgruntled members of the ruling party and coalition partners. Federal Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, who is the ruling coalition’s candidate for the Senate seat in Islamabad, was also seen meeting with MNAs throughout the day order to get their vote and support for the March 3 elections. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as well as several other stalwarts of the ruling party – including Defense Minister Pervez Khattak and PTI’s Chief Whip Amir Dogar – also went to the seats of various lawmakers and inquired about “their wellbeing”. Throughout the session, most of the government members were seen huddling together with Shaikh walking from one row to another and chatting with those who usually do not get any attention. One of the backbenchers even raised the slogan “Hafeez Shaikh, Zindabad” while others were seen assuring their full support to the incumbent finance minister who will face the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) joint candidate, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani. Throughout the day, the details of the PM and PTI leadership’s meetings with the party members were continually shared by the PM Office. It is expected that there will be no cabinet meeting and the PM will continue holding meetings with lawmakers at the parliament when they come to attend NA session on Tuesday. Shaikh after holding meetings with PTI’s coalition partners held a press conference in which leaders of the PML-Q, the MQM-P and the GDA expressed solidarity with Shaikh. During the press briefing, MQM’s Aminul Haq accused the PPP led Sindh government of threatening their provincial lawmakers as well as trying to buy their votes. He, however, claimed that all 21 MQM members in the Sindh Assembly stand united with the PTI and Shaikh. GDA’s Fahmida Mirza declared that the Senate elections are crucial for enacting legislation. She defended the PTI for relying on ordinances, saying the option of ordinance is used when the ruling party can’t pass bills from both the houses of the parliament. Favoring proportional representation system for the Senate elections, she wished to see candidates being elected unopposed in other provinces just like Punjab. PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema also assured his party’s full support for Shaikh, saying all the coalition partners are with PTI. Shaikh, while answering a question, said his family is in politics and serving the public for the last 70 years. He said he has remained in the Senate thrice and hopes to be re-elected once again. The finance minister claimed that March 3 would be a historic day. “The PTI would win as people want honest leadership in the country,” he added. Despite all these efforts, lawmakers from ruling parties are reportedly still not convinced to vote in favour of Shaikh as two PTI members from the Sindh Assembly announced that they will not vote for their party's candidates, alleging that "a few candidates were given tickets only in exchange of money". MNA Amir Liaquat Hussain had also announced that he would not cast his vote in favour of Shaikh. Sanjrani’s offer to PDM Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has offered four Senate seats to the leaders of the PDM for ensuring unopposed Senate elections in Balochistan. Sanjrani, who is in Quetta these days, is making efforts to muster support for candidates of the ruling BAP and its allies. On Monday, he had a meeting with the JUI-F secretary general Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and some other opposition leaders. Sources said Sanjrani told the PDM leaders that the government is ready to give two generals seats and a technocratic and a woman seat to them. Abdul Ghafoor Haideri confirmed the development but said the PDM has rejected the offer. "We have asked them to give 50 percent Senate seats to the opposition. Only then we can talk about holding an unopposed Senate election in Balochistan," he said. BNP-M’s Sardar Akhtar Mengal, JUI-F’s Haideri and PkMAP’s Mehmood Khan Achakzai while speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting on Monday evening demanded that the government offer them 6 out of the 12 Senate seats up for grabs in the province. If the government is ready to offer 6 out of 12 Senate seats then the opposition is ready for an unopposed election of the Senate in Balochistan. The PDM can win 5 Senate seats on March 3 and we are making efforts to get even more seats, they said. With additional input from Mohammad Zafar in Quetta and APP

from Pakistan News, Latest News Pakistan, Pakistan Headline | eTribune https://ift.tt/3bTGiRC

Understanding the senate and the senator

The National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan, which came into being under the 1973 Constitution, together make up the country’s parliament. The formation of the senate had two fundamental purposes. The first was to provide the four provinces equal representation in the Federal Assembly. A move aimed towards establishing the provinces’ trust in the state, so that there is no distinction between big and small provinces, and all get to take part in the decision-making process. The second objective of the senate or the Upper Legislative Chamber, was to form another House of Parliament, to review the work of the National Assembly. One of the senate’s purposes is also to rectify any mistakes in the National Assembly’s work, should they be overlooked. Thus, all laws require the senate’s approval before they can come into force. Additionally, the senate also serves as a forum raising the voice of the populace. Elected representatives here can raise various public concerns which may go unaddressed in the National Assembly. A senate seat is particularly significant in terms of national narrative, because it lasts for six years and does not require direct election. Instead, the national and provincial assemblies are their constituencies and each election only renews half of the senate. Perks of the job Senators, on the other hand, have access to all the perks and privileges granted to National Assembly members. Although the basic salary of an elected senator of the Upper House is marked at a sum of Rs150,000 a month, a lot of their daily expenses are compensated by the state. For instance, a senator is paid Rs8,000 a month in office allowance, Rs10,000 per month in telephone allowance and Rs15,000 a month in ad hoc relief allowance. In addition to that, travel vouchers worth Rs300,000 are also provided annually, which can be cashed for Rs90,000 if not used. The senate member, in addition to that, is also provided a Blue passport and offered 25 business-class open air tickets, which can be used by the senate member or his or her family. They also pocket an air-conditioned class and second-class fair allowance in the form of travel stipend. The fare for a business class seat is Rs150 per kilometre for air travel, while Rs10 per kilometre is given for road travel. Free telephone service is also available at the senators' residences. On top of that, members of the Senate are also paid Rs2,800 for General Daily Allowance, Rs4,800 for Special Daily Allowance, Rs2,000 for Convention Allowance and Rs2,000 for House Allowance. Other benefits include free medical care equivalent to a Grade 22 officer. However, where there is great power there is also great responsibility. Highlighting the prevalent threat of illegal buying and selling of parliamentarians to sway senate polls, Election Commission Secretary Kanwar Dilshad said that horse-trading can only be stopped through direct elections. “Turning the secret ballot into an open ballot won’t be of much help in this case. Instead direct elections should be adopted for the Upper House of Pakistan too, much like USA, Canada, Thailand and Indonesia where senators are brought by people’s vote and not through favoritism of party leaders and assembly members,” he explained, offering a solution to horse-trading. 

from Pakistan News, Latest News Pakistan, Pakistan Headline | eTribune https://ift.tt/3uHyMSm

Govt, opposition claim victory over SC ruling

The government as well as the opposition on Monday both claimed victory following the Supreme Court’s opinion on the presidential reference regarding the voting method for the Senate elections. Several government ministers, including Information Minister Shibli Faraz, and both the major opposition parties -- the Pakistan and Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -- praised the ruling in their separate statements and media talks. Talking to the media outside the Supreme Court after the announcement of the ruling, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed said that the court’s opinion was “a splendid decision and a victory for Pakistan”. He said that the attorney general and his team worked hard and great arguments were given and such a detailed discussion on the ballot for Senate has not happened before. “The court has declared that secrecy of the Senate election vote is not absolute...,” he added. Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood, Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan, and Special Assistant Shehbaz Gill also termed the apex court opinion historic. However, they highlighted the Supreme Court directions to the ECP regarding steps to ensure transparency in the election of the upper house of parliament. “The decision supports our stance and moves it forward,” said Shafqat Mahmood. “The paragraph 3, 5 and 6 are very important where the court has highlighted the PTI’s stance,” Babar Awan told reporters. He added that the court had asked the ECP to decide the matter regarding secrecy of votes by keeping in view the ground realities. Awan said that it was a decisive moment for holding of transparent election and all segments, including the ECP, political parties and individual voters, were bound to follow transparency in the election procedure. “A decisive movement has come in the Senate election issue.” Fawad Chaudhry said that the government had expressed full confidence in the ECP. “We have expressed full confidence in the ECP, considering the fact that if the institutions will be strengthened, the country will become strong”, he stated. “Secrecy of ballot , as per the Supreme Court’s decision, will be kept for the political parties but not for the ECP which would empower ECP to conduct inquiry if there will be any allegation of horse trading raised by any member”, he explained. “The final decision would be of ECP.” And addressing the media in Peshawar, Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz termed the apex court’s opinion “historic” and said that now the ECP was responsible for taking all the necessary measures to ensure transparency in the upcoming election. Faraz said that the Senate was a highly respectable institution and it was necessary for upholding its sanctity by electing honest, upright and competent candidates, who could serve the masses irrespective of their personal interests. “The PTI believes in strengthening of national institutions.” Interior Sheikh Rashid Minister told a private TV channel that the government fully respected the Supreme Court’s decision and remained committed to ensuring free, fair and transparent elections.  He added that the ECP was fully empowered to take all necessary steps to discourage horse trading. Constitution reigns supreme From the opposition parties, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz was among the first to offer comment on the apex court’s opinion, emphasising in a tweet that Constitution reigned supreme above all other laws and ordinances. “It is proved once again that the Constitution is far greater than the references and ordinances based on the deceit and malicious intent of the vote thieves,” Maryam tweeted. “Remember, now no RTS or Daska fog technology will work,” she added. “Why be scared of the power of the vote”. Separately, the PPP welcomed the Supreme Court opinion, describing it as “triumph of law, justice and Constitutionalism”. PPP Secretary General Farhatullah Babar also said that the ruling was a vindication of the position taken by the PPP on the issue. Sindh government’s spokesperson Barrister Murtaza Wahab also said that the Supreme Court opinion agreed with the “principled stance of the PPP, the Sindh government, different opposition parties and Pakistan’s various lawyer organisations”.   (With input from APP)

from Pakistan News, Latest News Pakistan, Pakistan Headline | eTribune https://ift.tt/3uIdMLf

Debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 87%, NA told

Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio currently stands at 87%, but the government is trying to bring it down to 81% in the next three years, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Zain Qureshi told the National Assembly on Monday. The house was also informed that the government had cut its expenditures through various austerity measures, while the growth in external debt this year was the lowest in six years. Qureshi presented the debt figures in the house while responding to a question from the lawmakers that the government was borrowing more than the ratio of the gross domestic product (GDP). Qureshi said that the ratio was 63.8% in 2012-13 but it went up to 86.1% in 2018-19. “In 2020-21 the debt-to-GDP ratio is 87%,” the parliamentary secretary said. “We will bring it down to 81%,” he added. “The government has cut government spending through austerity measures.” Industries Minister Hammad Azhar said that this year, the growth rate of the external debt was the lowest in six years. “If imports increase by 30 to 40% and exports decrease, debt will increase in proportion to GDP,” he added. Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Ministry Kanwal Shauzab said that the ordinance regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority has expired, adding that following the expiry of the ordinances, salaries of its chairman and the chief executive officer were not being paid. Maulana Jamaldini raised the question about the interest system in the country. “We were thinking that there would be a war on interest in the state of Madina,” he said, asking whether the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was still continuing interest rate system. Speaker Asad Qaiser said that the house had passed a bill against interest last Tuesday. The lawmaker then asked when the interest-based system would end. Zain Qureshi said that he could not say when the interest system would end but added efforts were afoot to eliminate interest. Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that the SBP was responsible for the continuation of the interest-based system. Maulana Abdul Shakoor said that on the one hand the government was talking about the state of Madina but on the other, the government lawyer spoke in favour of interest in a court. However, the speaker told the lawmaker to speak with evidence, stressing that nothing of that sort had happened. Qureshi said that a sub-committee was formed to consider elimination of interest. The speaker said that input from scholars should be invited on this issue. Responding to another question, Hamad Azhar said wheat would be grown on more area than the last year. He admitted that there was a gap in demand and supply, therefore, wheat was being imported. “Wheat imports will keep prices stable,” he said. In a written reply during the session, Finance Minister Hafeez Sheikh gave details of the petroleum development levy collection in the last three years. The reply said Rs679 billion revenue was collected in three years under the PDL.    

from Pakistan News, Latest News Pakistan, Pakistan Headline | eTribune https://ift.tt/3sCZNVa

Indian plane makes emergency landing in Karachi after passenger dies mid-flight

KARACHI: An Indian airplane made an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport Karachi after, a man passed away while flying from Sharjah to Lucknow, ARY News reported, citing sources.

The pilot of an Indian airliner had to force the plane to make an emergency landing to deal with the situation at hand. The pilot sought permission from the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) after communicating the situation and later was allowed to land.

Flight no 6E 1412 made an emergency landing around 5 in the morning today.

According to the sources within the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) the passenger expired before getting first aid after the landing.

The flight took off at 8.36 am to its destination after ensuring important measures.

Read more: Air ambulance makes technical landing at Islamabad airport

Yesterday, an air ambulance had made a technical landing at Islamabad International Airport after taking off from Kolkata to Azerbaijan, said sources.

The air ambulance which took flight from Indian city Kolkata to its destination in Azerbaijan’s Baku made a technical landing at Islamabad airport, sources told ARY News.

The post Indian plane makes emergency landing in Karachi after passenger dies mid-flight appeared first on ARY NEWS.

from ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3uNwz7R

Unexploded 1,000-kg WWII bomb detonated near university

A controlled explosion of an undetonated World War II bomb was carried out near a British university after evacuating 2,600 properties.

The World War II bomb had been discovered by crews at a construction site near the University of Exeter which was detonated by concerned authorities in Britain.

Devon and Cornwall Police said Royal Navy bomb disposal teams were summoned to the area Friday morning to inspect the suspected explosive device from WWII.

Police confirmed that the object was a German SC 1000 Sprengbombe, commonly known as a Hermann Bomb.

Following the confirmation, the Royal Army evacuated the school and 2,600 nearby properties Saturday to allow bomb disposal experts for conducting a controlled explosion of the 1,000kg-heavy bomb.

The witnesses told local media that the explosion could be heard from several miles away when the WWII bomb was detonated at 6:10 pm Saturday.

No injuries were reported, however, some residents reported they returned to their homes to find windows had been shattered by the blast.

According to DevonLive, Exeter was struck by bombing raids in several different phases of the Second World War – with early raids in 1940 killing no souls except a canary and several chickens, according to a news report at the time.

Where the first German bombing raids were devastating to industrial or military cities like Plymouth and London – destroying cities of historic value, and no strategic significance, like Exeter was contrary to Hitler’s plan for a Nazi Britain.

But after allied bombers caused a firestorm in the historic German city of Lübeck, the Nazis retaliated with 49 bombers on the night of April 23 1942. Cloudy conditions meant they missed most of their targets but still killed five people.

The following night, 40 bombers raided the city during clearer conditions. 73 people were killed, and 54 more were injured mostly in the city centre and Pennsylvania.

The most devastating raid, though, was the night of May 3, 1942, when a 20-strong bombing raid levelled a large chunk of central Exeter.

After days of fires that were not fully controlled until May 7, the death toll reached 156, and 583 more were injured. This was also the raid that hit Exeter Cathedral, destroying St James’ Chapel, and the city’s library.

According to local history site Exeter Memories, it took 20 years for the city to fully rebuild after around 1,500 houses were destroyed – and a total of 265 lives lost.

The post Unexploded 1,000-kg WWII bomb detonated near university appeared first on ARY NEWS.

from ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3sCXQIk

Man withdrawing Rs0.5m cash from bank narrowly escapes snatching bid

KARACHI: A man narrowly escaped a snatching bid after he withdrew cash from a bank in a Karachi neighbourhood, ARY News reported.

According to the police, a suspected snatcher chased and intercepted the citizen after he withdrew Rs500,000 cash from a bank in the Boat Basin area.

Also Read: People withdrawing Rs500,000 or more from banks to get security

The man put up resistance, following which the suspect opened fire. Alerted by firing, the police reached the spot in no time and caught the suspect, identified as Aamir Zeb.

Looted cash, a motorcycle and a pistol were recovered from the possession of the suspect.

Also Read: Karachi man robbed after withdrawing cash from bank

He is a member of the gang involved in looting citizens withdrawing cash from banks, a police official said. He is a history-sheeter as four cases are registered against him at Ferozwala police station and had also been been to jail in 2016, the police said.

The post Man withdrawing Rs0.5m cash from bank narrowly escapes snatching bid appeared first on ARY NEWS.

from ARY NEWS https://ift.tt/3q92CvF