Pakistan round-up: Ex-PM Imran, President Alvi to be tried for ‘violating Constitution’

The Pakistan government will file a reference under Article 6 against the previous PTI government leadership for violating the Constitution.

The reference will be filed against President Dr Arif Alvi, former prime minister Imran Khan, deputy speaker Qasim Suri and Punjab Governor Omar Sarfraz Cheema.

Sources said that the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs have started preparing the reference.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide Pakistan with a "sizeable package" of around $8 billion to help the cash-starved country bolster dwindling forex reserves and revive its ailing economy, a media report said on Sunday.

Pakistan secured the deal during the visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia. The financial package includes doubling of the oil financing facility, additional money either through deposits or Sukuks and rolling over of the existing $4.2 billion facilities.

Some Pakistani pilgrims who hounded and chanted slogans against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation at the Masjid-i-Nabwi in Madina have been arrested by Saudi authorities.

A Saudi official said that the protesters have been taken into custody for "violating the regulations" and "disrespecting" the sanctity of the holy mosque.

A case has been registered in Pakistan's Faisalabad against Imran Khan and other top figures of the previous government on the complaint of a common citizen.

The minimum temperature in Karachi on Friday did not drop below 29.4 degrees Celsius amid a heatwave that has gripped Sindh and Punjab. The hottest place in the country in the daytime was Jacobabad where 49 degrees Celsius was recorded, followed by Mohenjo Daro at 48 degrees.

In Balochistan, Sibbi and Turbat remained the hottest places with maximum temperature ranging between 47 and 46 degrees Celsius, while in Punjab, Bahawalpur recorded 46 degrees.

The Met office said a westerly wave is likely to enter Balochistan from Monday and under its influence, dust-thunderstorm and rain is expected in some parts on May 2-4.

Census and delimitation must be conducted before the country can go to polls, the Election Commission of Pakistan has said.

In a release, the commission said the work for delimitation of constituencies may ony begin from January 2023, after it receives results of the seventh population and housing census, expected to begin in August this year. This will be followed by a revision of elecotral rolls.

Considering these, holding general elections may not be possible before May 2023, the commission indicated.

hree Chinese nationals, including two women, were among four people killed on Tuesday when a powerful blast ripped through a van inside the premises of the University of Karachi.

The blast occurred in the van near China-built Confucius Institute - a non-profit institute teaching Chinese language to local pupils. A Baloch organisation later claimed responsibility for the incident.