Lahore: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday blamed national and international forces for his Pakistan Peoples Party defeat in the May 11 polls while the party's losing candidates held former premiers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf responsible for the debacle. In a meeting with PPP ticket-holders of Punjab province at his private residence here, Zardari claimed some "international forces" did not want the party to come to power again.
"These forces were not happy with the (outgoing) PPP government's agreements with the countries in the region," he said. PPP leaders believe that the US was not happy over the previous government's agreements for a gas pipeline and the management of Gwadar Port with Iran and China, respectively. Zardari said the mandate of the PPP had been "stolen" but it would play an effective role at the centre as an opposition party. He said he would actively participate in politics after completing his tenure as President in September.
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01:05 AM, May 21, 2013
Islamabad: President Asif Zardari has said that he should have quit his position and led the Pakistan People's Party's campaign in order to ensure a better performance in the just concluded general election. Zardari made the remarks while interacting with a delegation of the South Asian Free Media Association at his private residence in Lahore last night. The PPP, which led the government at the centre for the past five...
11:29 AM, May 20, 2013
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif, who lost their appeal at the Court of Abritration for Sport against spot-fixing bans, were the first players with team-mate Mohammad Amir to be punished by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Players implicated in corruption cases: Life bans May 2000: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik banned for life by a judicial inquiry conducted by judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum. Malik was...
10:49 AM, May 16, 2013
Islamabad: Returning to England for the Champions Trophy will be "very sensitive" for the Pakistan's players following the spot-fixing scandal three years ago, team manager Naveed Akram Cheema said Monday, urging his squad to just focus on the eight-team competition. Cheema took over as manager in 2010, soon after three Pakistan players were charged of spot-fixing in a Test match during Pakistan's last tour of England. Later fast bowlers Mohammad...
02:27 PM, May 14, 2013
Washington: Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, has resigned from her post. Congratulating the new parliament on its election, Ambassador Rehman has sent in her resignation to the Prime Minister, saying that it is time a new envoy come in as quickly as possible so that there is no gap in the relationship, an Embassy spokesman said. A political appointee of the previous government and a close aide of...
09:30 AM, May 14, 2013
Lahore: Former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday resigned from the post of vice-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, accepting responsibility for its resounding defeat in the general election. "I am tendering the resignation on the basis of the election results," Gilani told a news conference in his hometown of Multan. "The PPP did not want to contest the May 11 elections but President Asif Ali Zardari did not let...
11:13 PM, May 13, 2013
Islamabad: China's new Premier Li Keqiang will arrive in Islamabad next week to meet Pakistan's new leadership to give "further impetus" to the strategic ties between the two 'all-weather' allies. Li's two-day visit from May 22-23 comes at the invitation of President Asif Ali Zardari. It will be Li's first visit to Pakistan after becoming premier and comes at a time when the country has held its landmark general elections....
03:44 PM, May 13, 2013
Nawaz Sharif's party, the PML-N, is currently leading in the historic May 11 elections. ...
11:38 PM, May 11, 2013
CNN-IBN's Suhasini Haidar chats with experts from Pakistan on the historic 2013 elections. ...
11:11 PM, May 11, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari cast his vote through postal ballot, a media report said on Saturday. Zardari and his two daughters had cast their votes through postal ballots, but his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari couldn't cast his vote as he was not permitted the postal ballot facility, reported Geo News. Saturday's polls follow the bloodiest election campaign in recent Pakistani history. It will also mark a democratic change...
01:21 PM, May 11, 2013
Elections in the subcontinent are always a riot of colours, but perhaps no election has quite the mix of tragedy and power that Pakistani elections ...
08:23 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will take up Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt's review petition on Friday. Dutt had sought a review of the March 21 judgement upholding his conviction and five years jail in 1993 Bombay serial blasts case. A bench of P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan, which had delivered March 21 verdict, will take up the review plea in chamber. It will also consider similar pleas made by other...
08:46 AM, May 10, 2013
Washington: On the eve of historic elections in Pakistan, a dismal public mood prevails in the country with majority of the people for the first time considering the threat from the Taliban on par with that from arch rival India, a poll by a US think tank showed on Tuesday. The country's public mood is exceedingly grim. Roughly nine-in-ten Pakistanis believe the country is on the wrong track, and about...
12:28 AM, May 08, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left on a foreign trip and will not be present in the country when it goes to polls on May 11, according to a media report on Friday. Bilawal, 24, will not address any rallies or meetings ahead of the general elections due to threats to his life, sources in the PPP were quoted as saying in the report on...
11:17 AM, May 04, 2013
Kolkata: Angry protestors in Kolkata on Thursday burnt effigies of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, while torch rallies were held as a mark of respect to Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh who died after a brutal assault in a Pakistan jail. In central Kolkata, Congress workers held a rally outside the Tea Board office, demanding the perpetrators of the barbaric attack on Sarabjit be brought to justice. "Why did Sarabjit Singh...
04:38 AM, May 03, 2013
Islamabad: The first general elections in Pakistan that will usher in a smooth democratic transfer of power in 66 years is likely to go down to the wire with no party expected to get a majority. With less than two weeks to go for the landmark election to choose the 342-member National Assembly, two-time former premier Nawaz Sharif appears to have an edge over others and his group may emerge...
01:03 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has agreed to undergo rehabilitation while serving his ban for spot-fixing because he wants to resume his cricketing career once the suspension ends. The 28-year-old was banned for 10 years, with five of those suspended, by an International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal in 2011 after being found guilty of arranging deliberate no-balls to be delivered in a 2010 Lord's test against England. Butt and...
11:58 AM, Apr 24, 2013
Karachi: Salman Butt, who on Wednesday lost his appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a spot-fixing ban, was once touted as a prospect to lead Pakistan for years to come. The stylish opener was handed the captaincy after Shahid Afridi quit following a one-sided defeat against Australia at Lords in July 2010 and took little time in changing the fortunes of the embattled team. Pakistan defeated Australia...
01:02 AM, Apr 18, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday raked up the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in his address to the joint session of the legislature of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). He also threatened that Pakistan will continue to highlight the Kashmir "cause" at international forums. "The hanging of Afzal Guru through the abuse of judicial process has further aggravated and angered the people of Kashmir," he said....
08:52 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Dubai: The International Cricket Council on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport to dismiss the appeals by disgraced Pakistani players Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif against the bans imposed on them in 2011 by the ICC on spot-fixing charges. ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said the CAS decision "vindicated" the world body's bans on the two Pakistani players. "The ICC notes and welcomes the decisions...
07:16 PM, Apr 17, 2013
