DNA

PESHAWAR: Tourism Promotion Services (Limited) Pakistan, the owners and managers of Serena Hotels in Pakistan announces the take over of Pearl Continental Hotel Peshawar. This will be the ninth Serena Hotel property in Pakistan.

The addition of Serena Hotels in Peshawar, the oldest city of Pakistan with a rich cultural heritage, will not only help in extending the tourist circuit in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but will also allow regional connectivity for tourists and business travelers through its vast portfolio of hotels in Islamabad, Peshawar, Kabul, and Dushanbe. The Hotel shall serve as a gateway to Central Asia, taking the brand portfolio to a whole new level.

Serena Hotels, a brand associated with unique destinations globally, will be renovating and refurbishing the centrally located Hotel building as all Serena Hotel properties’ stand as a reflection of its vision and brand values. Continuing our legacy of giving back to society and benefitting the communities where we operate, the company intends to exploit the untapped, rich potential in the tourism sector of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This will be the second Serena Hotel in the KP province after the Swat Serena Hotel, enabling the brand to connect the diverse tourist communities to the rustic areas of the province.

The upgradation of Peshawar Serena Hotel including the new construction will enhance the quality and comfort of the guest rooms, restaurants, banqueting and meeting rooms, public areas and Maisha Spa & Health Club.  The Company has rigorous training plans for its Associates to ensure service delivery, bringing it in line with Serena Hotels’ standards.

Serena Hotels’ properties in Pakistan are currently located in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Quetta, Gilgit, Shigar, Khaplu, Altit, Hunza and Sost. In addition, two new Hotels are under construction in Gilgit-Baltistan; the Hunza Serena Hotel with 85 rooms, expected to be commissioned towards the end of 2023, and Sost Serena Hotel with 56 rooms, expected to be comission in 2024.

LAHORE: While there are reports of difference of opinion among the lawmakers, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Monday decided that it would dissolve the Punjab Assembly in the first phase, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be dissolved afterwards.

Sources privy to the matter reported that the decision about the dissolution of provincial assemblies and resignations from the National Assembly was made in a meeting chaired by PTI Chairman Imran Khan with the lawmakers from Rawalpindi Division.

Initially, the Punjab Assembly would be dissolved, the meeting decided as the party members are divided upon the plan and are urging to delay the dissolution of assemblies.

PTI Secretary General Asad Umar had earlier admitted that some members are against the party’s move and asked to delay it.

Chief Minister Pervez Elahi had also reportedly conveyed the PML-Q’s opinion on the issue to Imran Khan, advising him to be very careful in this regard before taking a final decision.

However, the PTI is adamant and warned the government to give an election date by December 20 or else they will dissolve the assemblies but the government has refused to budge.

The meeting with the Rawalpindi members on Monday, the sources added, also endorsed the plan to convert the nationwide protest movement into an electoral campaign.

They said that it was resolved in the meeting that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be dissolved in the second phase.

“All the members from Rawalpindi have confirmed that they would quit the National Assembly.”

The lawmakers said that the country was going through the worst economic crisis, adding that transparent snap elections were the only way to get out of the quagmire.

Imran Khan’s video address

Meanwhile, in a video address on Monday, Imran Khan said that the only solution to the ongoing “alarming” economic condition was holding early elections in the country.

“This might be the biggest economic crisis that this country has ever witnessed […] the media houses that had to inform the people about the ongoing economic crisis aren’t doing their job,” Khan said.

The ex-prime minister said he was not only addressing the nation, but he was also speaking to the institutions as economic deterioration would affect the entire country.

Khan said when the PTI government rolled out the National Security Policy (NSP), it mentioned that despite former soviet union’s armed forces being the strongest in the world, it could not save the state from collapse due to the economic condition.

The ex-premier said the judiciary should play its role as they will also “be answerable” if the economy further worsens. “Also, I am surprised at the business community’s silence.”

Khan said that amid the ongoing crisis, small and large-scale businesses were the most affected. He added that exports were also declining gradually.

“The business community should ask why aren’t the overseas Pakistanis sending remittances. In our tenure, remittances, textile exports, tax collection, all were at a record high,” he said.

ISLAMABAD: Some retired officers during their days of Imran Khan’s political support had ‘managed’ a delay in the Election Commission of Pakistan’s handling of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) foreign funding case, a report published in The News on Tuesday said.

An informed source, who was closely monitoring what was going on behind the scene during those days, however, insisted that there was no pressure on the ECP to decide the foreign funding case against the PTI as alleged by Imran Khan.

Imran Khan has repeatedly said that the ECP was ‘told’ to decide cases against him and his party. On the contrary, the source said, retired officers had played their role in delaying the PTI’s foreign funding case. Later, the ECP was left on its own to decide the case on its merits.

The PTI’s foreign funding case was filed in November 2014 when the party’s founding member Akbar S Babar alleged gross financial irregularities in the party’s funding from both Pakistan and abroad. 

There has been an extraordinary delay in deciding the case. This delay, the source said, was caused by the influence of the retired officers.

Timeline of foreign funding case

According to the timeline of the PTI’s foreign funding case as recently reported by the Daily Dawn, Babar filed a petition with the ECP seeking an investigation into financial malpractices of the PTI funding on Nov 14, 2014. 

On Jan 14, 2015, the ECP issued notice to Babar asking him to appear before the commission and present evidence in support of his allegations.

On December 1, 2016, the ECP asked PTI to submit the documents relating to its foreign funding or face consequences. The then CEC also held the PTI responsible for delays in proceeding with the case. 

On March 22, 2017, the ECP adjourned the hearing of the case after reprimanding the party’s counsel for seeking yet another adjournment. 

On April 3, 2017, the PTI counsel finally appeared before the ECP but only to challenge the Commission’s jurisdiction to hear the matter.

On May 8, the ECP rejected PTI’s plea challenging the commission’s jurisdiction in the case. The ECP fixed May 17 as the date for the regular hearing of the case. On Sept 11, 2017, the ECP gave the PTI another opportunity to submit financial documents and details of funds received.

On Sept 17, 2017, after months of delay, the PTI finally submitted details of the party accounts and foreign funding received in the last seven years to the ECP. 

On March 27, 2018, the ECP formed a three-member scrutiny committee to investigate and audit the PTI’s accounts and complete the scrutiny within a month.

On May 9, 2018, the PTI changed its lawyer as Babar Awan replaced Anwar Mansoor Khan. 

On May 16, 2018, the PTI applied with the ECP seeking secrecy of the scrutiny of its foreign funding. 

On May 30, 2018, the ECP rejected PTI’s appeals to restrain the scrutiny committee and for the secrecy of the scrutiny process.

On Oct 2, 2018, the PTI counsel Babar Awan withdrew from representing the party in the case. 

On Oct 1, 2019, the ECP reserved its verdict on four applications by the PTI seeking secrecy in the scrutiny process. 

On Oct 10, 2019, the ECP rejected PTI’s applications for secrecy and directed the scrutiny committee to continue its investigation into the case.

On Nov 20, 2019, the ECP ordered day to day hearing of the case. 

On Sept 21, 2020, the ECP trashed the report submitted by its scrutiny committee. In its order, the commission said that the report was neither complete nor well-detailed.

On Jan 14, 2021, the opposition alliance decided to march to the ECP office in Islamabad to protest in front of the electoral body and to demand a quick verdict in the case. 

On Jan 20, 2021, as the opposition held protests and criticised the ECP for delays, the then prime minister Imran Khan called for an open trial and challenged the leadership of all opposition parties to face proceedings too.

On Feb 18, 2021, the PTI released details of millions of rupees of funds transferred from the UK to the party’s account last year. 

On March 16, 2021, the ECP issued notice to PTI and its scrutiny committee to explain their position on the secrecy of scrutiny in the case. 

On April 9, 2021, the petition demanded the ECP committee validate the authenticity of documents presented by the PTI in presence of both parties.

On Nov 30, 2021, the scrutiny committee submitted another report to the ECP after a delay of six months from the last deadline. 

On Dec 9, 2021, the ECP deferred a briefing by its DG Law on the case because of the absence of one commission member from Balochistan.

On Jan 4, 2022, the damning report compiled by the scrutiny committee confirmed the PTI received funding from foreign nationals and companies, underreported funds and concealed a number of its bank accounts. 

On Jan 19, 2022, the ECP ordered the declassification of all critical documents linked to the foreign funding case.

On April 14, 2022, the PTI counsel claimed that the PPO allows taking funds from any international source unless it’s from a multinational. He also claimed that the PTI took no funding from illegal sources. 

On April 19, 2022, the ECP bench resumed the foreign funding case. 

On April 23, 2022, the PTI moved the Islamabad High Court seeking the scrutiny of the funds of at least 17 major political parties including the PMLN and PPP. 

On May 18, the IHC questioned the ECP over the eight-year delay in coming to a conclusion and announcing a verdict on the prolonged case.

On June 15, 2022, the PTI counsel’s long request of referring to the case as “prohibited funding” and not “foreign funding” was accepted by the CEC. The same day, the PTI asked ECP to decide all funding cases at once.

On June 21, 2022, the ECP reserved its verdict on PTI’s funding case. 

On July 29, 2022, the Financial Times published a report revealing that tycoon Arif Naqvi organised a charity cricket match, whose proceeds were used to bankroll the PTI.

On July 30, 2022, Imran Khan insisted that all funds from Arif Naqvi came through banking channels and were disclosed. 

On Aug 1, 2022, the ECP announced that it would release its verdict in the case the following day. 

On Aug 2, the CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja pronounced verdict and found that PTI received prohibited funding and issued a show cause notice to PTI on why the Commission shouldn’t seize the funds.

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday the development of road infrastructure connecting all provinces of the country, particularly the disadvantaged areas, was crucial for strengthening the national economy.

The prime minister, who laid the foundation stone of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway (M-6), said connecting the deprived areas including Balochistan and Sindh would pave the way for economic and social development besides creating new business opportunities. The 306-km-long M-6 will be completed with Rs307 billion within 30 months in line with international standards. The M-6 portion will complete the North-South Motorway Corridor, also known as the Karachi-Peshawar motorway, and will interconnect major cities of the country. 

The premier in his address at the event said it was a matter of satisfaction for the coalition government to restore construction work of the M-6 motorway that faced a prolonged delay due to the inefficiency of the previous government. He emphasised the need to ensure the quality and standard of the M-6 motorway no less than rest of the motorway network in the country. He directed the relevant authorities to complete the public-private project within the stipulated period of time.

The prime minister encouraged Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to promote further projects on public-private projects so as to achieve the goals of development and prosperity. He also called for improving road connectivity from Balochistan to the up country in order to connect the significant Gwadar port and mainstream the province in the national economy. He said “cartels” opposed the development of Gwadar but its development is crucial for the Pakistan’s prosperity.

He announced the completion of the Sukkur Rohri bridge, which was earlier announced by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted protective bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son Suleman for 14 days in a money laundering case registered against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and an asset beyond means reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Earlier today, Suleman appeared before a single-member bench of IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq for bail in the money laundering case.

During the hearing, Justice Farooq asked Suleman’s counsel about the court his client has to appear before.

Amjad Pervez, Suleman’s lawyer, told the IHC CJ that his client has to appear before a special judge central in Lahore.

Justice Farooq, after learning this granted the protective bail to the PM’s son and directed him to appear before the relevant court within 14 days.

In his petition before the IHC, Suleman contended that he left Pakistan in 2018 and the case was registered against him in 2020. He also shared that the FIA had not issued a call-up notice to him, adding that he was declared a proclaimed offender by the court without any action.

Later in the day, Suleman appeared before a divisional bench of IHC to seek bail in the assets beyond means case.

After hearing arguments, the bench approved a 14-day protective bail in the case and directed the accountability watchdog not to arrest him.

Suleman was declared proclaimed offender by a court due to his failure to appear in the case

IHC had earlier ordered Suleman to surrender before it by December 13 and barred authorities from arresting him till then.

The court had issued the order after his client had assured the bench that Suleman would return to the country.

Following the court’s order, Suleman landed in Pakistan after spending over four years of self-exile in the United Kingdom on Sunday.

‘Time for Imran Khan accountability’

Addressing the media after the court hearing, Suleman slammed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and said that his time of accountability is here.

“The time of accountability is here; we will not spare him. We will not give him any space now, he will be punished,” said Suleman.

Asking about Farah Gogi, a friend of Imran Khan’s wife who allegedly sold the watches gifted to Khan, Suleman wondered why did she run away from Pakistan.

“You are crying that Farah Gogi is not a public office holder. I was not a public office holder either,” said Suleman. He added that PTI chairman, while he was in power, did not even think about women and arrested them.

“You had the power, you could have proven the cases,” said Suleman.

The PM’s son also slammed former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Javed Iqbal, saying that he was a “black stain” on the accountability system.

Suleman shared that a case was filed at the Pakistani government’s request, during Imran Khan’s tenure, in the United Kingdom. However, he added that the UK’s National Crime Agency found no proof of money laundering against his father.

The PM’s son asked the PTI chief to show the transaction of the money he got from selling the watches gifted by the Saudi crown prince.