Staff Report

ISLAMABAD, The lawmakers in the National Assembly on Monday condemned the killing of a journalist, anchorperson Arshad Sharif and demanded for fair investigation into the incident.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, MMAP lawmaker Salah Uddin Ayubi condemned the killing of journalist Ashrad Sharif in Kenya and condoled the bereaved family members to bear this irreparable loss.

He demanded an investigation into this incident.

He congratulated Ali Musa Gilani and Abul Hakim Baloch for winning by-elections Multan and  Karachi, respectively.

He said that the people of Karachi and Multan had exposed those who told lies to them in 2018.

Salahuddin Ayubi said that the financial scams of BRT in Peshwar and Malam Jaba should be investigated.

He said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had given a historical verdict by declaring the person a thief who sold gifts of the state. 

Javeria Zafar also condemned the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif and appealed  the people especially social media users to avoid speculations on the issue.

She said that fair investigations should be ensured in the case. She also demanded the chair to ensure the presence of ministers in the House and the interest of lawmakers in the proceedings of the lowe house.

MNA Nisar Ahmed Cheema said that the killing of a renowned journalist was a tragic incident and demanded a fair investigation into the incident.

He also congratulated two new MNAs who took oath over winning by-elections in Multan and Karachi.

Cheema said that Yusuf Raza Gilani was known as a decent politician and his son Ali Musa Gilani would follow his father in politics.

He said that Abdul Hakeem Baloch was a seasoned politician and the members of the house welcomed him in the lower house.

He said all rehabilitation in flood-hit areas should be the priority of provincial and federal governments and all politicians should play their role in that regard.

MNA,  Jamal Uddin also congratulated two MNAs who took the oath and condemned the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif.

Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan, Kishwer Zehra strongly condemned the killing of Arashd Sharif and demanded the government to conduct a transparent investigation into the case.

Pakistan People Party Parliament MNA Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmad Khan congratulated the newly elected member of the Pakistan people’s party.

He also felicitated the Hindu Community in the country on their religious festival of ‘Diwali’.

 He also demanded a fair investigation into the Arahsa Sharif’s murder.

On the eve of 75th foundation day of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), he said the people of Jammu and Kashmir would get their right to self-determination soon for which they had been striving for past years.

He expressed complete solidarity with the people of illegally Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and said the people of Pakistan were supporting firmly Kashmiri brethren in their struggle for their just cause.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla also condemned the killing of Arshad Sharif and demanded the government to unearth the truth behind this incident.

He also congratulated the two newly elected members of the house.

PML-N Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh expressed deep grief and shock over the tragic death of journalist Arshad Sharif.

He also congratulated the Pakistan People’s Party for winning MNA seats in the by-election.

PML-N MNA  Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk condemned the malicious campaign against the Pakistan armed forces and urged the government to take action against them.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24 (DNA): The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on
Monday approved three names of high court judges for the judgeship of
the Supreme Court.

The commission’s meeting chaired by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar
Ata Bandial was held here in Islamabad on Monday.

In the meeting, the name of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice
(CJ) Athar Minallah, Lahore High Court’s judge Justice Shahid Waheed,
and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi were unanimously approved.

While the JCP sitting did not make any consensus on the name of Justice
Shafi Siddiqui of the Sindh High Court so his recommendation has been
postponed.

The Commission has sent the recommendations to the Parliamentary
Committee for final approval. The report said that the names of three
judges were recommended in the ratio of five to four.

As per the report, the names of Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Hasan
Azhar Rizvi were approved by a majority vote and the name of Justice
Athar Minallah was unanimously approved.

The meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) was held today
(Monday) to elevate the high court judges to the Supreme Court under the
shadows of the strike call given by the Pakistan Bar Council and Sindh
Bar Council.

Supreme Court of Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial presided over
the meeting. The meeting considered the nomination of four judges for
their elevation to the apex court.

The names of judges who have been recommended for the elevation by Chief
Justice of Pakistan Bandial include Islamabad High Court Chief Justice
Athar Minallah, Lahore High Court Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Syed
Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Justice Shafi Siddiqui of the Sindh High Court.

It is worth mentioning that the legal fraternity including Pakistan Bar
Council and Sindh Bar Council, and Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez
Isa have expressed their reservations over the nominations of the high
court judges.

The PCB and SBC have resented the CJP’s decision who has nominated
junior judges of the high courts for their elevation to the apex court.
Both the bars have given a strike call.

The lawyers in Karachi shut the doors of main building of the Sindh High
Court today in protest.

In his letter to the CJP a couple of days ago, Justice Isa also
requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial to withdraw the names of
three junior judges who have been rejected by the Judicial Commission of
Pakistan (JCP) in its last meeting of July 28.

It is to be noted that Justice Qazi Faiz Essa and Justice Mansoor Ali
Shah voted against the appointment of Justice Shahid and Justice Hassan
Azhar to the Supreme Court. Representative of the Pakistan Bar Council
Justice Sardar Tariq also voted against the elevation of the two judges.

RIYADH, Oct 24: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif  Monday arrived here on a two-day visit, mainly to attend the Future Investment Initiative Summit being held from October 25-27.

The prime minister is visiting the Kingdom at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.

At the airport, Governor of Riyadh Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received the prime minister who was accompanied by a delegation comprising the federal ministers.

During his stay in Riyadh, the prime minister will hold consultations with the Saudi crown prince to review the longstanding fraternal relations, with a view to further strengthening the multifaceted cooperation, especially in the economic field, according to the Foreign Office.

Prior to his departure, he in a series of tweets said the present state of the global economy needed “new thinking and bold vision to overcome the irritants and forge new paths”.

“The pandemic and climate-induced disasters have already put immense strains on the developing countries,” he said, adding that it was high time the world explored solutions to the deepening challenges through candid dialogue.

The FII summit will convene the world’s foremost CEOs, policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs, and young leaders to shape the future of international investment and the global economy.

The event will include in-depth conversations about new pathways for global investment; analysis of critical industry trends; and unparalleled networking among CEOs, world leaders, and experts.

DNA
Brussels, OCT 24: The Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment, Syed Naveed Qamar, met the Chair of the European Parliament’s committee for International Trade, MEP Bernd Lange, in Brussels, today.  The Ambassador of Pakistan to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, Dr. Asad Majeed Khan and other officials were also present during the meeting.

The Commerce Minister underscored that trade and investment ties were a key component of Pakistan’s multifaceted relationship with the EU. The GSP Plus has been a mutually beneficial undertaking that played an important part in the growth of Pakistan’s bilateral trade with the EU countries, he added.
The Minister highlighted that economic stabilization and growth were the key priorities of the current government particularly in the aftermath of the devastating floods and the EU remains a major partner for Pakistan to realize these objectives.

Minister Qamar emphasized that the GSP Plus was an excellent model for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides, as Pakistan’s export to the EU has increased by 86 percent whereas the EU’s exports to Pakistan grew by 69 percent, since inception of the scheme in 2014. He expressed the hope that the new GSP Plus regulation would continue to focus on its central tenets of supporting sustainable development, poverty alleviation and good governance in the beneficiary countries.

The Chair INTA Committee MEP Lange thanked the Commerce Minister and agreed to work together in further strengthening Pakistan-EU relations, including enhanced exchanges.

During his meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mr. Janusz Wojciechowski, Minister Qamar stressed the importance of enhancing Pak – EU cooperation in agriculture sector especially for modernization of agro based industries, expansion of storage facilities, research, water management, food security and flood protection.

In a separate interaction, Minister Qamar met the Standing Rapporteur of Trade Monitoring Group for South Asia in the Committee on International Trade, MEP Maximilian Krah and briefed the MEP about ways and means to further strengthen Pak EU trade and investment relations.

The Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment is visiting Brussels on a weeklong official visit from October 23 to 29, 2022.

DNA

JAKARTA, OCT 24: Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani has reached Bandung, Indonesia on a 3-day visit to participate in the meeting of World People’s Consultative Assembly Forum to be held from October 24 to 26. He was invited by Speaker of Indonesia’s People Consultative Assembly.

Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani along with other leaders of the Islamic world who came to participate in the conference attended the dinner hosted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Indonesia.=DNA

LAHORE, OCT 24 (DNA) — Advisor to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that adopting consultative approach is vital to strengthen democracy in the country.

Addressing a press conference at Governor’s House on Monday, he said that when Imran Khan was in power, the opposition faced political victimization. He said, “In view of the challenges the country is facing, we talked about signing a charter of economy.”

He said that decisions made with a proper consultation in the light of the Islamic guidelines were best solution to all problems. Regarding Imran Khan’s long march, he said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was making tall claims about holding a long march.

He said if Imran Khan wanted to create chaotic situation in Islamabad, he must rest assured that those days had gone when there was a practice to lay siege to any area. He said, “Now it is a time to make democratic struggle.”

He said that the government was duty bound to stop unlawful actions as per law to maintain law and order situation. About Toshakhana case, Kaira said in Election Commission every elected representative had to declare assets.

“If any member does not declare his asset, then his membership gets suspended and it continues till filing of assets declaring forms,” he said. The advisor said that in case of misdeclaration and concealment of assets, a member had to lose his seat as per law.

He further said that gifts which Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif took from Toshakhana were in their personal use, and they had not concealed those gifts. He said that Imran Khan had also given wrong affidavit in Election Commission of Pakistan.

Selling any gift was not good morally, he said adding that Imran Khan made money amounting to almost 100 million by selling gifts and he did not pay tax on it as well. Kaira said that the country could not run as per the wishes of Imran Khan.

To a question, the advisor said that dialogue with Imran Khan could be held but without any pre-conditions. He said the government would take up the matter of killing of journalist Arshad Sharif with Kenyan government at the highest level for an inquiry into the incident. He strongly condemned the incident. =DNA

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday telephoned Kenyan President William Ruto and emphasised for an impartial and fair investigation into the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.

Discussing the tragic incidnent with the Kenyan president, the prime minister also conveyed serious concerns of the Pakistani nation and the media community.

He also requested the Kenyan president to fast-track the fulfilment of formalities for returning the body of late journalist to Pakistan.

President William Ruto expressed grief over the incidnent and assured that justice would be served in the matter.

He also assured to share the investigation report soon besides accelerating the process of returning the body of late journalist. 

Says Sharif paid ultimate price for speaking truth

Questions judiciary’s inaction over institutions defying laws, violating constitution

ISLAMABAD: /DNA/ – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan expressed his grief over the brutal murder of a known anchor person Arshad Sharif, who he paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth, demanding judicial inquiry into the tragic incident.

In a statement on Monday, PTI Chairman said that he was shocked by the brutal murder of Arshad who had to leave the country and hide abroad. “My prayers and condolences go to his grief stricken family,” he added.

He said that Arshad had to leave the country but continued to speak the truth while exposing the powerful on social media and today the entire nation is mourning his death. Imran Khan demanded that a proper judicial inquiry should be initiated to examine Arshad Sharif’s statements and evidence from other sources. “We have descended into a state of brutality, unknown in civilised society, indulged in by the powerful against those who dare to criticise and expose wrongdoings,” he added.

Imran Khan stated that Arshad Sharif’s murder has sent shockwaves across Pakistan. It has highlighted an ongoing targeting of anyone who dares to criticise or question those holding power. PTI Chairman went on to say that they saw a foreign abetted regime change conspiracy taking place sending Pakistan into chaos. However, he added that senior Judiciary continued to remain aloof. “When will the Judiciary move to act against State institutions that are defying all laws and violating the Constitution?, he asked.

“When will our senior Judiciary act to ensure our citizens fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution are protected,” he raised question.

 “It is high time they did and safeguarded against excesses by the State and government. We have seen citizens, politicians, journalists and human rights defenders intimidated, arrested, charged with terrorism and incitement to mutiny and tortured. We see fake cases and misuse of power by different executive branches expanding,” he demanded.