[🇵🇰] Pakistan General Elections -- 2024

[ghazi]

Shehbaz vows to steer Pakistan out of current crisis​

Updated Mar 03, 14:19
In his maiden speech as the 24th prime minister, Shehbaz thanked the PML-N's allies and his brother, three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, for putting their trust in him to lead the country.

PTI-backed lawmakers chanted slogans of 'chor' as Shehbaz spoke as the newly elected Leader of the House.

“When my quaid was elected the prime minister thrice, the development that followed in the country is an example of its own. And it is not wrong to say that Nawaz Sharif is the one who built Pakistan," said the newly-elected premier.

Paying tribute to his allies and the PPP, he said the nation will always remember the sacrifices of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Shebaz, hinting at PTI, said his elder brother has never even thought of harming the country and regretted how the PML-N was treated during the tenure of the PTI government. “They put the entire opposition behind bars, they didn’t care about women or children and used language that cannot be said out loud."

The new prime minister also vowed to steer Pakistan out of its current crisis. "If we come together and decide to change the fate of Pakistan. God willing, we will defeat these challenges and take Pakistan to its rightful position.”

He added that the job was difficult but not insurmountable

 

[ghazi]

12 candidates vie for three vacant Balochistan Senate seats​

Updated Mar 03, 21:05
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced that as many as 12 candidates have submitted their nomination papers for the three vacant Senate seats from Balochistan.

This follows the completion of the submission of nomination papers to the Returning Officer, Muhammad Farid Afridi.

The Senate seats fell vacant following the resignations of Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti, Prince Ahmad Umar Ahmadzai, and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari.

With the deadline for nominations closed, the stage is set for a keenly contested election scheduled for March 14, 2024, within the premises of the Balochistan Assembly.

Muhammad Farid Afridi, who serves as the Provincial Election Commissioner of Balochistan, will oversee the electoral process as the returning officer for the Senate elections.

Candidates had the opportunity to submit their nomination papers on March 2 and 3, between 08:30am and 04:30pm. The deadline for the scrutiny of nomination papers has been set for March 5, while appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nominations can be lodged until March 7.

The tribunal responsible for resolving appeals is mandated to conclude its proceedings by March 9, after which a revised list of candidates will be published. March 10 has been designated as the final date for the withdrawal of nomination papers.

Come March 14, 2024, voters will cast their ballots from 9am to 4pm without interruption, deciding the fate of the three coveted Senate seats in Balochistan.

 

[ghazi]

Profile: Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s new prime minister​

The parliament on Sunday elected Shehbaz Sharif as the country’s new prime minister for a second term.

Shehbaz, the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and president of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) grabbed 201 votes in the lower house, or the National Assembly, defeating his rival Omer Ayub Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The 72-year-old cancer survivor previously served as premier from April 2022 to Aug. 2023 following a successful parliamentary no-confidence vote against Khan.

Born on Sept. 23, 1951, to a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri family in Lahore, the capital of Punjab, Shehbaz is known as a "tough administrator" who, according to some analysts, knows the "art to govern."

His administrative skills were widely recognised during his three stints as chief minister of the country’s largest and richest province Punjab i.e. from 1997 to 1999, 2008 to 2013, and 2013 to 2018.

Read detailed story here.

 

[ghazi]

World seems ready to work with Shehbaz govt despite controversial polls​

Despite questions over the legitimacy of the February 8 elections, the world seems to be ready to work with the new government as messages of felicitations started pouring in the moment Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister.

 

[ghazi]

ہسٹری میں فکشن پسند ہے ، شاعری میں شیکسپیئر اور اب جغرافیہ میں انگریزیاللہ رحم کرے
، بچیوں کی وڈیوز نا بنالی ہوں کچرا رانی نے
​

 

[ghazi]

 

[ghazi]

Zain Qureshi terms ECP decision on reserved seats ‘constitutionally and legally incorrect’​

PTI leader Zain Qureshi has termed the electoral watchdog’s decision to distribute the reserved seats meant for Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) amongst other parties as “constitutionally and legally wrong”.

Speaking on Geo News programme, Zain cited that the Constitution trumped the Election Act. “You have accepted the existence of SIC in the National Assembly. If you have accepted us in the NA, you have to give us reserved seats,” he asserted.

The PTI leader added that the ECP decision would be challenged in court.

 

[ghazi]

PTI-backed independents wouldn’t have to go through ECP if they had joined PkMAP: Tarar​

PML-N leader Ataullah Tarar has said that if PTI-backed independents joined Mehmood Khan Achakzai’s Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), they wouldn’t have to go through the Election Commission of Pakistan’s scrutiny for reserved seats.

“If they joined PkMAP […] who already has representation in the house, they wouldn’t have to go through the ECP,” he said while speaking on a Geo News programme.

“The Constitution states that reserved seats will be allotted to contesting political parties. According to my knowledge, SIC didn’t win any National Assembly seats,” he said.

Tarar said the SIC didn’t have any representation in the house. “How can a party be given reserved seats like this?” he asked.

 

[ghazi]

‘Defected’ govt imposed on the nation, claims JI’s Sirajul Haq​

Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq has claimed that after a “defected” government has been imposed on the people of Pakistan.

“The ones with Forms-47 are forming governments while those with Forms-45 are protesting in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan,” he said, adding that the JI would continue its struggle on the streets.

 

[ghazi]