Showing posts with label PAKISTAN BRIEF NEWS. Show all posts

Thursday, 5 January 2012

BRIEF NEWS UPDATE: 06.01.2012

PPP hints at early general election

ISLAMABAD: Amid speculations that the coalition government may be wrapped up or face a ‘big blow’ before Senate elections scheduled for March 11, the Pakistan People’s Party leadership decided on Thursday to hold them in mid-February, a senior party member told Dawn.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the PPP’s core committee, jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at the Presidency.
Some private TV channels quoted the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Khursheed Shah, as saying that the next general election could be held any time after the presentation of budget in June.
A source in the PPP said President Zardari had called a meeting of all heads of coalition parties on Friday to take them into confidence on the decision taken by the core committee.
The party sources said the committee had reiterated its earlier decision of not writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen a money-laundering case against President Zardari.
Political observers see the move as an indication of a fresh confrontation between the government and the judiciary.
The Supreme Court had ordered the government to write the letter by Jan 10. Another significant decision taken by the committee was that President Zardari would not submit a statement before a judicial commission formed by the Supreme Court to investigate the memo issue.
The PPP leaders believe that the federation’s reply submitted to the court during the hearing on maintainability of petitions filed by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and others in the memo case should be treated as a reply from the president.
“Under the Constitution we can hold Senate elections any time within one month before March 11,” Leader of the House in Senate Nayyar Bokhari told Dawn.
The Senate elections are held after every three years after the retirement of 50 per cent of its members. The term of a senator, however, is six years. Last elections were held on March 3, 2009 — nine days before the scheduled oath-taking of new members.
Article 224 of the Constitution says: “An election to fill seats in the Senate which are to become vacant on the expiration of the term of the members of the Senate shall be held not earlier than 30 days immediately preceding the day on which the vacancies are due to occur.”
The PPP leadership also decided to hold by-elections on seats recently vacated by legislators who had joined the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf.
“The meeting decided to hold by-elections on all vacant seats and complete legal formalities for the purpose at the earliest,” the president’s spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said.
Former law minister Dr Babar Awan said: “The ruling party will stick to its previous stance that no case can be tried against the sitting president.”
The meeting decided to hold consultations with coalition partners on the issue of creation of new provinces and take legislative measures in parliament for Seraiki province in the light of consultations with coalition partners.
The sources said Pakistan Muslim League-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali, who met the president separately after the core committee meeting, had endorsed the PPP decisions on creating new provinces and holding Senate polls in mid-February.
The meeting praised the cabinet’s decision to support a private member bill seeking to make it mandatory for all servants drawing salary from the public exchequer to declare and make public details of their assets in the same manner as the parliamentarians do.
“The meeting noted that in the past such initiatives were thwarted on flimsy grounds and decided to push through the proposed legislation with vigour and political determination,” Farhatullah Babar said.
He said the meeting had rejected a proposal by some political circles to set up military courts and termed it undemocratic, uncalled for and undermining of civil and democratic institutions. “The PPP will resist any such move.”
The prime minister briefed the meeting on the gas, electricity, sugar and fertiliser situation and said the government was giving top priority to domestic gas consumers and there would be no interruption in supply.
Mr Babar quoted the prime minister as saying: “Gas supplies to industry, cement, fertiliser and thermal power sectors will remain suspended during the current month because of an expected increase in consumption by domestic users.”
Mr Gilani said the cabinet committee had been asked to introduce reforms in the energy sector as early as possible and to take steps to reduce system losses by gas companies.
Mr Babar said a committee, headed by Petroleum Minister Dr Asim Hussain, had been asked to hold talks with stakeholders in Sindh to share some of the gas produced in the province with Punjab and submit its report.
The meeting decided to mobilise people and hold rallies and public meetings at divisional levels to be addressed by senior party leaders, including the prime minister.
It asked the president of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PPP, Senator Sardar Ali to make preparation for holding a public meeting in tribal areas — the first of its kind by the PPP after Political Parties Order was extended to the region by President Zardari in August last year.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik briefed the meeting on the law and order situation.
The meeting was also attended by Nayyar Bokhari, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo, Syed Khursheed Shah, Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Syed Naveed Qamar, Sherry Rehman, Faisal Raza Abidi, Sardar Ali, Nazar Gondal, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, Rukhsana Bangash, Fouzia Habib and Farhatullah Babar.

Pakistan, China to support each other’s core interests: Wen Jiabao

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that as a true and steadfast friend of Pakistan, China would continue to support Pakistan’s efforts to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, maintain its national dignity and back the country’s economic growth.
Premier Wen Jiabao underlined this message in a meeting with General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) in Beijing at Zhong Nan Hai. The meeting lasted for seventy-five minutes.
General Kayani is on a bilateral visit to China at the invitation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership. As COAS, it is General Kayani’s third visit to China.
The COAS thanked Premier Wen Jiabao and the Chinese government and people for their consistent support to Pakistan in its efforts to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as foster economic development and social stability.
“Pakistan would never seek confrontation; it would always seek relations on the basis of mutual respect,” he said.
General Kayani expressed the confidence that the resilient people of Pakistan would overcome difficulties. The COAS said that now the younger generations of China and Pakistan are engaging each other to strengthen their all-weather friendship.
Development of China-Pakistan strategic partnership is the cornerstone of the two countries’ policies and shared aspiration of their people, General Kayani said.
“China will always stand by Pakistan in difficult times. Pakistan will find it to be a reliable partner,” Premier Wen Jiabao said, who paid a historic visit to Pakistan in 2010.
Premier Wen said that China and Pakistan support safeguarding of each other’s core interests and thanked Pakistan for its people’s consistent stand on Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.
General Kayani said Pakistan armed forces will unswervingly boost cooperation with China and firmly support China’s efforts to maintain its core interests.
Premier Wen Jiabao said that in view of the complex and evolving regional and global situation, closer and strengthened coordination between Pakistan and China is imperative in order to meet common challenges.
He said Chinese Government and PLA would continue to support stronger defense cooperation between the two countries and more frequent military to military exchanges.
Premier Wen expressed his belief that the government, armed forces and people of Pakistan will work together to overcome the challenges facing them and achieve rapid development.
The Chinese Premier said Pakistani armed forces have made important contributions toward maintaining bilateral relations and boosting the China-Pakistan strategic cooperative partnership.
Premier Wen said that Pakistan is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and has given enormous sacrifices which ought to be duly recognized by the international community.
He applauded Pakistan’s efforts to create an enabling environment for peace, stability, security and economic development.
Premier Wen said that China would support Pakistan’s efforts to focus on vital economic areas of energy, infrastructure, and agriculture. In addition, he said, the two countries would continue to fortify military to military cooperation.
General Kayani said Pakistan is pursuing a holistic concept of internal and external security. Pakistan’s objective is to
see a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
“If Afghanistan is peaceful and stable, Pakistan will be the biggest beneficiary,” he said. Strong Pakistan-China ties, including between the two Armed Forces, have remained a constant factor for decades despite changes in the domestic and international situations.
“We will resolutely work towards further strengthening this relationship,” he said.
General Kayani spent a busy day here in Beijing. He held talks with General Ma Xiaotian, PLA’s Deputy Chief of General Staff, on a wide range of bilateral defense cooperation issues covering defense and security dialogue, joint exercises, training of personnel, defense co-production, and defense trade.
Before the talks, in an impressive ceremony at Ba Yi Building, General Kayani inspected Guard of Honour by a smartly
turned out contingent of PLA.
Later in the day, he met with General Liang Guanglie, China’s Defense Minister. General Kayani and General Liang expressed satisfaction that defense cooperation between the two countries had gained new breadth and depth and explored new avenues to enhance collaboration in diverse areas.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Masood Khan and Pakistan’s senior military officials also attended the meetings and the call on Premier Wen Jiabao.

Business News

Thu, 5 Jan 2012

-Rupee at record low to dollar for 2nd day
KARACHI: The rupee traded at a record low of 90.42 on Thursday for the second consecutive trading session amid inc

-Govt to issue $500mn foreign bonds
KARACHI: Federal government is set to issue foreign bonds worth $500 million in the current financial year, Geo Ne

-Forex reserves rise to $16.92 billion
KARACHI: Country s foreign exchange reserves rose to $16.92 billion in the week ending Dec. 30, compared with $16.

-Sindh CNG stations to open 10PM tonight
KARACHI: CNG stations across Sindh will open on Thursday night at 10 PM. This decision was made during talks betwe

-Debt fears weigh on euro in Asia
TOKYO: The euro continued its downward march in Asia on Thursday as traders moved out of the common currency of th

-Asian markets mixed as Europe fears return
HONG KONG: Concerns over Europe s debt crisis returned to the forefront on hursday, leaving Asian markets mixed wh

-Oil lower in Asian trade
SINGAPORE: Oil was lower in Asian trade Thursday after spiking close to eight-month highs overnight, but prices re

-TCP inks deal to import 200,000mt urea
KARACHI: Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) here Wednesday signed a commercial agreement for supply of 200,000

-Islamabad stocks go bullish
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE-10) here on Wednesday witnessed bullish trend as the index went up by 1.1

-Senate body approves SEZs Bill, 2010
ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice, Human Rights and Parliamentary Affairs on Wednesday Unanimou

-Rupee trades at record low to dollar
KARACHI: The rupee traded at a record low of 90.35 on Wednesday because of increased import payments and a deterio

-OGRA decreases CNG prices
ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has issued the notification for decrease in CNG prices. br

-PSO likely to buy costlier gasoline for Feb-Mar
SINGAPORE: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is likely to buy a costlier 210,000 metric tonnes of non-oxygenated, 87 RON ga

-Euro falls in Asia despite positive data
TOKYO: The euro fell against other major currencies in Asia on Wednesday as Europe s continuing debt woes overwhel

-Asian markets mostly up
HONG KONG: Asian shares mostly rose in the region s first full day of trade Wednesday as investors took a strong l

LATEST/BRIEF NEWS:

· NSC approves continuation of NATO supply halt

· Finance minister warns of ‘shocks’ that Pakistan can’t absorb

· PML-N chief Nawaz arrives in Quetta

· Heavy snowfall blocks Chitral-Dir road

· Gen Jones not coming to Pakistan: Munter

Mohammed Saleem Mansoori

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

BRIEF NEWS UPDATE: 05.01.2012

Notices issued to Zardari and Nawaz

ISLAMABAD: The judicial commission investigating the memo issue has issued notices to President Asif Ali Zardari, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and others.
A government official assisting the commission told Dawn on Wednesday that they had been asked to present their points of view on the memo allegedly sent to former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen on behalf of the government of Pakistan to prevent a possible military coup.
They will have to submit their statements or appear before the commission at its next meeting to be held in the Islamabad High Court building on Jan 9.
The three-member commission, formed by the Supreme Court during the hearing on maintainability of the petitions filed by Nawaz Sharif and others in the memo case, had been asked to complete its inquiry in one month.
A source in the presidency said President Zardari, who arrived in Islamabad from Karachi on Wednesday and called a meeting of the PPP`s core committee, had received the commission`s notice. But the president`s spokesman Farhatullah Babar neither denied nor confirmed receipt of the notice.
“I am travelling and not aware of it,” he said. Legal expert Anwar Mansoor is of the opinion that being head of the state it was up to the President to appear before any commission or not.
PML-N spokesman Mushahidullah said Mr Sharif had received the notice.
Meanwhile, Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, a principal character of `memogate` scandal, wrote a letter to the commission and said he was ready to fly to Islamabad.
He has acquired the services of prominent lawyer Akram Sheikh to pursue his case.
“I was out of the country and during my absence my office accepted the case of Mansoor Ijaz and now we will provide him legal assistance in the memo commission as well as in the Supreme Court,” Akram Sheikh said.
He did not say when would Mr Ijaz arrive. “He will arrive here whenever he will be asked by the commission,” he said.
In another development, former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani expressed fear that he would be killed if he left the Prime Minister`s House, where he has been staying after returning from Washington.
In an interview to a British newspaper, he said he had been branded as a `traitor` and `Washington lackey` by powerful quarters, adding that he would be murdered like former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who was killed on January 4 last year.
Mr Haqqani was forced to resign after Mansoor Ijaz claimed that the former ambassador had asked him to deliver to the US government a memo seeking help for removing Pakistan`s military leadership.
The commission had asked the authorities concerned to provide security to Mr Haqqani and Mr Ijaz whenever they attended its proceedings.
Prominent human rights leader Asma Jehangir had refused to pursue Mr Haqqani`s case in the commission. She said she had no confidence in the commission and that her client would not be given due justice.
Senior lawyer Zahid Hussain Bokhari will provide legal assistance to Mr Haqqani. He told a private TV channel that he would pursue Mr Haqqani`s case in the commission. However, he said, he had not held a meeting with his client.
“We will plead his innocence in the case. Mr Haqqani is quite concerned about his security and, therefore, a request will be submitted to the commission to seek relaxation of personal appearance,” he said.

Resignation of six MNAs accepted

ISLAMABAD: Before leaving for an official visit to the Caribbean on Wednesday, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza accepted the resignations of six MNAs who have joined the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI).

According to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the speaker has accepted the resignations with effect from the dates on which the members had submitted them.
Those whose resignations have been accepted are former foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Nawabzada Mohammad Khan Hoti, Jahangir Khan Tareen, former PML-N stalwart Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, his daughter Maimoona Hashmi and Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali.
Mr Qureshi resigned from his National Assembly seat from Multan (NA-148) and the Pakistan People`s Party (PPP) on Nov 15, before joining the PTI.
Former minister Nawabzada Hoti, who had won the 2008 elections from Mardan (NA-9) on the ticket of Awami National Party (ANP), announced his decision to quit both the party and the assembly on Dec 16.
Jahangir Tareen, a minister in the military regime of Gen Pervez Musharraf, had won his assembly seat from Rahimyar Khan (NA-195) on a Pakistan Muslim League-F ticket. He submitted his resignation on Dec 21.
Mr Hashmi and Maimoona Hashmi submitted their resignations to the assembly secretary during the session on Dec 29. Sardar Aseff also sent his resignation to the secretariat the same day.
Mr Hashmi had become MNA from Multan (NA-149), Sardar Aseff from Kasur (NA-140) and Maimoona Hashmi on a reserved seat for women.
The speaker left for Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to attend the 21st Conference of the Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Countries. The conference will begin on Jan 7 and continue till the 12th.
It was after a successful public meeting held by PTI chief Imran Khan in Lahore on Oct 30, last year, and Mr Qureshi`s announcement about joining the party a few days later that a number of prominent personalities and political heavyweights, including sitting legislators, from almost all the major parties started joining him.
A source in the PTI said it had been decided that Awais Leghari, an MNA from Dera Ghazi Khan, would not quit his seat and he was ready to face a notice or reference by the PML-Q leadership.
BY-ELECTION: The Election Commission has announced that by-election for a Sindh Assembly seat from Badin will be held on Feb 15. According to the schedule, candidates are required to submit nomination papers by Jan 13, the last date for withdrawal of the papers is Jan 24 and the final list of candidates will be displayed on Jan 25. The PS-57 seat fell vacant after Dr Zulfiqar Mirza quit the assembly in August last year. He had won the seat by securing 33,111 votes in 2008.
Political experts are of the opinion that the by-election has great significance because the decision of the Pakistan People`s Party leadership to award the party ticket can have an effect on the political situation in the province, particularly its relationship with its coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement and nationalist parties.
Sources in the PPP told Dawn that President Asif Ali Zardari had discussed the matter with his advisers more than once after Dr Fehmida Mirza, spouse of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, showed her interest in fielding their son Hasnain Mirza in the by-election.
The experts believe that if the PPP declines to give the party ticket to Hasnain Mirza, it will be considered disowning the speaker who has been winning the National Assembly seat from Badin since 1997.
Despite her husband`s continuous media outbursts against the MQM and some senior PPP members, Dr Fehmida Mirza has not spoken a word on the subject.
Similarly, it is believed that allocating the ticket to Dr Zulfiqar Mirza`s son will strengthen a perception that the former homer minister had the backing of President Zardari in his actions.

Romney says would seek to ‘influence’ Pakistan.

PETERBOROUGH: Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney said on Wednesday that diplomacy was like dealing with a child and vowed to find ways to “influence” Pakistan to advance US interests.
“I don’t want to suggest that a country is like a child, but in the way that when you deal with another person we think of all these dimensions on which we try to influence them, we have to influence Pakistan,” he told voters here.
The former Massachusetts governor said he would “find how we can get those (Pakistani) institutions that are with us and will work towards modernity and peace and prosperity” to counter those that will not.
“In a place like Pakistan, you have the elected government, but then you also have the military – and the military in some respects has more power than the elected government,” said Romney, the frontrunner for his party’s nomination.
Speaking in a question-and-answer session in New Hampshire, which holds its nominating primary on January 10, he also cited Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, as well as “radicals and extremists” and local chiefs, “all of whom are pulling in different directions.”
Romney, who had been asked how he would tackle often strained relations with Pakistan, prefaced his answer by saying “it would be nice if in dealing with another nation it was as simple as turning on and off a faucet – a very simple, rudimentary experience.”
But instead it’s more like dealing with an adolescent – I don’t mean to compare any nation to an adolescent, but just the fact that there’s no easy answer for how you bring a child to adolescence,” he said.
“You have to push and pull and find ways of influence and to change behavior. Each nation will typically act in their best interests.
Sometimes we forget that, we think that every nation should act in our best interest,” he said.
“That’s not the way they think. And so we have to understand what their concerns are and what their interests are,” he said.