Supporters of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan's party take part in a rally in Peshawar on Sunday. (Photo: AP)Imran Khan No-Trust Vote Live Updates: Pakistan’s Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif was nominated for the post of prime minister after the ouster of Imran Khan, whose party threatened to withdraw its lawmakers from Parliament if the former Punjab chief minister was allowed to contest the election for the top post on Monday.
The joint Opposition – a rainbow of socialist, liberal and radically religious parties – named 70-year-old Sharif for the premier’s post while ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was named by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as its candidate. The PTI has decided to withdraw its lawmakers from the National Assembly and launch a movement against the new upcoming government, which is likely to be headed by Sharif, who has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times.
Meanwhile, a large number of PTI supporters held a protest rally at Lahore’s Liberty Chowk against the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan. Big gatherings were also reported from other parts of the Punjab province, including Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Vehari, Jehlum and Gujrat districts. Islamabad and Karachi also witnessed major protests. PTI’s local leadership was leading the protest. The charged workers and supporters of the party were chanting slogans against the US, which Khan claims to be behind the ouster of his government.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a military parade to mark Pakistan National Day, in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 23, 2022. (AP/PTI)
The names of six key aides of ousted prime minister Imran Khan have been put on a stop list by Pakistan's top investigation agency to prevent them from leaving the country, according to a media report on Monday. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) placed the names of the six on the "stop list' on Sunday after Khan's ouster as prime minister by the joint Opposition through a no-confidence vote, Geo News reported, citing sources. Being on the list bars them from travelling abroad without permission. Khan's former principal secretary Azam Khan, ex-special assistant on political communication Shahbaz Gill, ex-adviser on interior and accountability Shahzad Akbar, Director-General Punjab Gohar Nafees, and DG Federal Investigation Agency Punjab Zone Mohammad Rizwan's names have been added to the list, the report said. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's head of social media Arsalan Khalid's name has also been added to the list.
The FIA had introduced a system of "stop list" in 2003 to stop unwanted people from trying to leave the country in the shortest possible time as placing someone's name on the Exit Control List takes a longer time. (PTI)
Deposed Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to return from London next month after Eid, a senior PML-N leader has said, amid a whirlwind of political developments that have embroiled the country following Imran Khan's ignominious ouster from power.
Mian Javed Latif said a decision on PML-N supremo and the three-time prime minister Sharif's anticipated return will be discussed with the coalition partners. All decisions would be first brought up with constituent parties of the coalition, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted him as saying.
Eid will be celebrated in the first week of May. Several corruption cases had been launched by the government of ex-prime minister Khan against the 72-year-old supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz since his ouster from the office by the Supreme Court in July 2017 in the Panama Papers case. Sharif in November 2019 left for London after the Lahore High Court granted him a four-week permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatment. (PTI)
Imran Khan has thanked his supporters for their participation in rallies held across Pakistan and abroad to protest against his ouster as prime minister and the formation of a "US-backed regime" in Islamabad. Protest rallies were held in different Pakistani cities after 9 pm on Sunday and continued for several hours on the call of Khan. “Thank you to all Pakistanis for their amazing outpouring of support & emotions to protest against US-backed regime change abetted by local Mir Jafars to bring into power a coterie of pliable crooks all out on bail. Shows Pakistanis at home & abroad have emphatically rejected this,” Khan tweeted on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, ousted prime minister Khan tweeted that “today marked the beginning of a freedom struggle” against what he said was a “foreign conspiracy of regime change” in Pakistan. In an attempt to galvanise his supporters, he said “it is always the people who protect their own sovereignty and democracy”.
After submitting his nomination to the legislature, Shehbaz Sharif said Imran Khan’s departure was a chance for a new beginning in Pakistan. Shehbaz, the centrist Pakistan Muslim League-N party chief, is widely expected to be named the country’s new prime minister on Monday. “A new dawn has started … This alliance will rebuild Pakistan,” Shehbaz told parliament on Sunday. His first tasks will be to repair relations with the powerful military as well as the United States, and tend to a faltering economy.
Amidst the political turmoil in Pakistan, the country’s former Foreign Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s Vice-President Shah Mahmood Qureshi filed his nomination for the position of Prime Minister, after Imran Khan was ousted from the post through a no-confidence vote for the first time in the country. Qureshi’s nomination was proposed by Amir Dogar and seconded by Maleeka Bokhari. But, who is he? Read More
With Shehbaz Sharif set to be the next Pakistan Prime Minister, New Delhi is watching the developments in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore with “cautious optimism” about a headway in bilateral ties. Top sources said the change in regime may offer a “diplomatic opening”. According to sources in the strategic establishment, the implications may be far-reaching. Read our Explainer to get a detailed understanding of how the bilateral ties may evolve.
Pakistan’s Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif was nominated for the post of prime minister after the ouster of Imran Khan, whose party threatened to withdraw its lawmakers from Parliament if the former Punjab chief minister was allowed to contest the election for the top post on Monday.
The joint Opposition – a rainbow of socialist, liberal and radically religious parties – named 70-year-old Sharif for the premier’s post while ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was named by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as its candidate. The PTI has decided to withdraw its lawmakers from the National Assembly and launch a movement against the new upcoming government, which is likely to be headed by Sharif, who has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times.
Good Morning and welcome back to our Live Blog. We will be taking you through today's election process at the Pakistan National Assembly as Pakistan’s Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif is all set to become the next Prime Minister. Follow this space for all latest updates
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to withdraw its lawmakers from the National Assembly and launch a movement against the new upcoming government, which is likely to be headed by Shehbaz Sharif, who has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times.
“The core committee has recommended to Khan that we should resign from the assemblies. We are starting from the National Assembly. If our objections against Sharif’s nomination papers are not [entertained], we will submit the resignations tomorrow,” PTI leader and former minister Fawad Chaudhry told reporters after the party held a core committee meeting at the residence of Khan. (PTI)
Hamza Shehbaz, son of PML-N president and joint Opposition's prime ministerial candidate Shehbaz Sharif, is scheduled to appear before a special court in a high-profile money laundering case on Monday.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special court on April 4 summoned Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz, his son Hamza and others for indictment in money-laundering and sugar scam on April 11.
Shehbaz's counsel advocate Amjad Pervez told PTI on Sunday that his client would file an exemption from personal appearance in the FIA special court on Monday in the money laundering proceedings.
"Mr Sharif is in Islamabad to contest the prime minister election on Monday. Therefore, the court will be requested to defer the indictment," he said. When asked whether Hamza, a chief ministerial nominee for Punjab chief minister, would be indicted, the lawyer said: "The indictment is made on all suspects." (PTI)
Chinese official media on Sunday sounded upbeat about the prospects of Shehbaz Sharif becoming the new prime minister following the ouster of Imran Khan, saying all-weather ties between China and Pakistan "could be better than under Khan".
A new Pakistan government will be formed most likely under Shehbaz, the younger brother of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, after Parliament reconvenes on Monday to vote for a new premier, a write up in the state-run Global Times said.
"Chinese and Pakistani analysts consider that the solid China-Pakistan relations will not be affected by the internal political change in Pakistan because to safeguard and develop the bilateral ties is the joint consensus of all parties and all groups in Pakistan,” it said.
"The potential successor of Khan is from the Sharif family which has been promoting China-Pakistan ties for a long time, and cooperation between the two countries could be even better than under Khan," it said, adding that close ties between the two countries were better under the traditional political parties. (PTI)
Ousted premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf announced on Sunday that its lawmakers would resign on Monday if Opposition candidate Shehbaz Sharif was allowed to contest election of the prime minister.
The announcement was made by senior party leader and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry while addressing the media after the meeting of PTI's Core Committee chaired by Khan. "If our objections on Shehbaz Sharif's (nomination) papers are not addressed then we will resign tomorrow," he said, adding that it was decided at the meeting. (PTI)
Ex-president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chair Asif Ali Zaradri had proposed Shehbaz's name for prime minister in a joint opposition's meeting. Zardari's son Bilawal Bhutto is likely to be appointed as the new foreign minister.
According to media reports, in the run up to the no-trust vote, Khan made a botched attempt to replace Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in order to bring someone more pliant and sympathetic to his idea of “foreign conspiracy” and cling on to power. BBC Urdu reported that a helicopter carrying “two uninvited guests” landed in the PM House on Saturday night and they met alone for 45 minutes with Khan. No details were provided about the meeting but it was not held in a cordial atmosphere, it said.
"The Prime Minister had issued orders an hour ago to remove one of the high officials who came to meet him. So the uninvited arrival of these guests was unexpected for the Prime Minister. Khan was waiting for a helicopter but those arriving on the helicopter were against his estimate and expectations,” it said. It further added that Khan was expecting that the helicopter would bring his “newly appointed official” whose arrival would put down all political disturbance. However, the attempted effort for a “change” failed as the defence ministry did not issue the necessary notification for the new appointment.
The BBC did not identify the “uninvited guest” but the choice of words, tenor and tone of the report unmistakably show that they could be Gen Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum. The army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations rejected the BBC Urdu article and termed it as "totally baseless and a pack of lies". (PTI)
A top officer of Pakistan's top investigative agency who was probing the PKR 14 billion money laundering charges against the joint Opposition's prime ministerial candidate Shehbaz Sharif has gone on leave for indefinite period after Imran Khan was voted out in a no-confidence motion.
Federal Investigation Agency's Lahore chief Mohammad Rizwan's application to go on leave with effect from April 11, 2022, onward, has been accepted, according to an official notification on Sunday. Rizwan's decision came a day before Shehbaz and his son Hamza are to appear before a special court for indictment on Monday.
The special court (Central-I) of FIA on April 4 had summoned Shehbaz and Hamza on Monday (April 11) to indict the father and son duo in the Rs 14 billion money laundering case. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz is likely to seek exemption from appearance as he is to contest for the prime minister's office in Parliament the same day.
Shehbaz filed the nomination papers for the slot of the prime minister on Sunday. From Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is the candidate for the position. FIA officer Rizwan has reportedly said that he has gone on leave anticipating his "certain transfer". (PTI)
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja is considering resigning from his position in the wake of the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister of the country, according to sources. Ramiz, who like Imran is also a former Pakistan captain, is presently in Dubai for the International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings which concluded on Sunday.
“Ramiz had only agreed to become the chairman of the Board on the insistence of Imran for whom all the players who played under his captaincy including Ramiz have a lot of regard and respect,” a source well aware of the developments said on Sunday. “Ramiz was well set in a career as commentator, TV personality and expert and was busy with assignments. But on Imran's insistence he agreed to put aside all his media contacts and become chairman of the board,” the source said.
“Ramiz had also made it clear to the PM that he would only remain in the Board until he (Imran Khan) was PM.”
The source said that with Imran now ousted as PM, who is also Patron-in-Chief of the Board and directly nominates the chairman for a formal election process, it is highly unlikely Ramiz would stay on unless the new Premier wants him to carry on with his job. (PTI)
Pakistan's media on Sunday welcomed the regime change in Islamabad, while expressing relief that a "catastrophic collision" between the pillars of the state has been averted as the minority government led by Imran Khan tried to cling on to power. Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership following days of high drama.
The vote was held past midnight after Khan's minority government tried its best to stall the no-trust motion tabled by the Opposition parties against the cricketer-turned-politician. "At one point late last night, it seemed as if all the pillars of the state were on course for a catastrophic collision. Calamity seemed ready to strike at the highest levels of the state," the Dawn newspaper said in an editorial. "Even with his ouster a near certainty, Mr Imran Khan seemed more than willing to turn a simple parliamentary procedure into a farce by forcing the heads of the judiciary and military, along with the entire legislature, to play along to the ‘last ball' of his tiresome ruse," it commented in an editorial titled 'Back to the pavilion.'
It also pointed out that the government of Khan became increasingly reliant on the establishment (the powerful military) for ‘guidance' in key decision-making areas. "This ultimately proved fatal for it when the establishment decided they would no longer be providing any crutches for the government to stand on," the editorial said. (PTI)
Imran Khan chaired a CEC meeting earlier today
PTI decides to submit en masse resignations in the National Assembly. Fawad Chaudry says party to launch movement against new government, reports Pakistan's Samaa. (ANI)
In his first comment after losing the no-trust vote, ousted PM Imran Khan tweets, “Pakistan became an independent state in 1947; but the freedom struggle begins again today against a foreign conspiracy of regime change. It is always the people of the country who defend their sovereignty & democracy.”
Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan will preside over a meeting of his party's core committee on Sunday to announce his party's next move after his unceremonious removal from office. Khan, 69, was removed from office through a no-confidence vote held early Sunday morning, becoming the first premier in the country's history to be sent home after losing the trust of the lower house of Parliament.
Taking to Twitter, Senator Faisal Javed Khan said, "Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan will chair the core committee meeting of the party today insha'Allah." "Imran Khan will announce the future course of action." (PTI)