ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), has said he rejected the government’s proposed constitutional amendments, criticising the draft for limiting fundamental rights and expanding the military’s role. The JUI-F leader made the statement while speaking to the media in Multan on Friday, highlighting his concerns over the draft received from the government. …
ISLAMABAD: Party positions in Pakistan’s National Assembly have shifted following a letter from Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to the Election Commission of Pakistan. The reshuffle, announced by the National Assembly Secretariat, sees 80 members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – previously under the category of ‘Independent’ candidates – are now listed under the Sunni Ittehad Council. The new party positions, …
ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Friday said that President Asif Ali Zardari has signed off on the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Amendment Ordinance 2024 that amended the law to clip the top judge’s powers of bench formation, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. In October 2023, the Supreme Court had upheld the SC (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023 which was …
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the city’s deputy commissioner to decide by 5pm upon PTI’s petitions for permission to hold a rally in the provincial capital tomorrow. A three-member bench, constituted by LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, took up the petitions a day ago and sought the personal appearance of top civil brass, including the Punjab …
ISLAMABAD: Six soldiers embraced martyrdom while 12 terrorists were killed during two encounters in North and South Waziristan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Friday. According to the military’s media wing, security forces on Thursday detected the movement of seven terrorists trying to infiltrate the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan’s Spinwam …
RAWALPINDI: The United Nations has awarded two Pakistani female peacekeepers with the Gender Advocacy Award for their “outstanding performance”, a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. In a statement issued on Thursday, the ISPR said the awards were presented to Major Sania Safdar, part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus, and Major Komal Masood, who served in …
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has said that proposed constitutional amendments can’t be challenged at this stage, since they are yet to be passed by parliament. Meanwhile on Thursday, lawyers continued to express concerns over the government’s attempts to “secretly” amend the Constitution. The SC registrar office returned a petition moved by former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Abid Shahid …
ISLAMABAD: An apparently defiant Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to meet today (Friday) for the third consecutive day to deliberate over the Supreme Court’s order on reserved seats, whereas the National Assembly speaker urged the body to honour laws made by parliament, insisting that the amended Elections Act prevents independent lawmakers from switching parties. Sources told the ECP’s …
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday held talks with Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in Beijing, with the two sides pledging to deepen cooperation in each other’s modernization efforts. The Malaysian king is on a four-day state visit to China that will conclude on Sunday. It is his first visit to a non-ASEAN country since assuming office as the …
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has reiterated his party’s long-standing demand for judicial reforms, emphasising the need for a constitutional court to ensure a fair judicial system. Speaking to representatives of lawyers across the country on Thursday, Bilawal praised the legal community for their resistance against dictatorships, particularly in defeating General Musharraf’s regime. “Lawyers have always stood …