Lahore: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has attained a majority in Pakistan's National Assembly after 18 independent candidates joined the party, placing it in a position to form government at the centre without striking an alliance with any other party. Several independent candidates belonging to influential political families of Punjab and Sindh provinces are among those who have joined the PML-N, which emerged the single largest party in the May 11 general elections.
They include the Legharis of Dera Ghazi Khan, the family of former President Farooq Leghari, and the Sherazi brothers of Thatha district of Sindh. Earlier, the Legharis were with the PML-Q and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf while the Sharazis were with the Pakistan People's Party.
The Hiraj family of Punjab's Khanewal district has also joined the PML-N after ditching the PML-Q. Maverick lawmaker Jamshad Dasti, who won polls to a parliamentary seat in Muzaffarghar district as an independent candidate after saying goodbye to the PPP, has also joined hands with the PML-N.
Dasti also defeated the father of former Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in another parliamentary constituency. To win a simple majority in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament, a party or coalition needs 137 of the 272 directly elected seats....
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07:31 PM, May 19, 2013
Karachi: Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has held the chief of Mutthaida Qaumi Movement (MQM) directly responsible for the killing of a senior leader of his party in the city. "I hold Altaf Hussain directly responsible for the murder as he had openly threatened Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf workers and leaders through public broadcasts," Imran said in a statement from his hospital bed late Saturday night. The statement came hours after the...
08:55 AM, May 19, 2013
Karachi: A senior leader of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party was shot dead in Karachi on Saturday, police said. Zahra Shahid Hussain, the vice-president of the party's chapter in Sindh, was shot by two unidentified men outside her home in Defence Phase IV late on Saturday night. She died while being taken to a nearby hospital. Hussain was a member of the party's central executive committee. The motive for the...
12:51 AM, May 19, 2013
Islamabad: The PML-N and two nationalist parties have agreed to form a coalition government in Balochistan but differences remain on the issue of choosing a Chief Minister for the insurgency-hit province in southwest Pakistan. The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), which represents the Pashtuns living in northern parts of Balochistan, emerged the single largest party in the May 11 polls by bagging 10 of the 51 directly elected seats in...
03:45 PM, May 18, 2013
Nawaz Sharif's PML-N bagged 125 of the 272 directly elected seats in Pakistan's National Assembly but fell short of a majority and is poised to form a government with support of independents and smaller parties. ...
11:47 AM, May 18, 2013
Karachi: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Friday announced that it would boycott the re-polling at 43 polling stations of the National Assembly constituency 250. MQM's senior leader Reza Haroon told a press conference that the decision to boycott the re-polling was taken by the party high command as it was clear that efforts were made to snatch the party's mandate in Karachi. Earlier in the day, the Election Commission...
12:25 AM, May 18, 2013
Islamabad: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who will travel to Islamabad next week to hold talks with President Asif Ali Zardari and caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, will also meet PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who is set to form Pakistan's new government. Li will meet Sharif on May 23. Sharif, whose PML-N emerged the single largest party in Parliament in the May 11 general election, is expected to arrive...
08:19 PM, May 17, 2013
Islamabad: Two blasts ripped through as many mosques in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan on Friday, killing 15 people and injuring 25 others, security officials said. The blasts occurred during Friday prayers in the mosques at Bazdara area of Malakand district, an erstwhile stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. Fifteen people were killed, officials of the Levies militia told the media. The mosques were damaged by the blasts. Local...
04:22 PM, May 17, 2013
Lahore: Imran Khan on Wednesday promised to cooperate with Nawaz Sharif to tackle key challenges like terrorism despite "serious political differences" with the PML-N chief who is set to become Pakistan's next Prime Minister. "We have serious political differences but we decided that we will work together to solve the country's problems, including terrorism," the cricketer-turned-politician said in a video message aired at a news conference by his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf...
10:10 PM, May 15, 2013
Islamabad: Infighting has broken out in Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf over choosing a Chief Minister for the crucial Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, with two top leaders jockeying for the position. Pervez Khattak, the secretary general of the party, and Asad Qaisar, the president of the party's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter, are in the race for the post of Chief Minister. Khan's party has emerged the single largest force in the provincial assembly and is...
11:47 AM, May 15, 2013
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf continues to demand recounting in 25 constituencies, alleging massive rigging. ...
09:53 AM, May 15, 2013
Washington: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday called PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, set to become Pakistan's next Prime Minister, to congratulate him on his election victory and pledge to further strengthen friendly ties with Islamabad. "Today, the President spoke by phone with Nawaz Sharif, president of Pakistan Muslim League's (Nawaz) to congratulate him on his party's success in the May 11 parliamentary election," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney....
12:26 AM, May 15, 2013
Lahore: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, set to become Pakistan's next Prime Minister, on Tuesday reached out to his rival Imran Khan and suggested that the two of them should play a "friendly match". Sharif visited the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief at Shaukat Khanum Hospital, where he is recuperating after fracturing his spine in a fall at a campaign meeting days before the May 11 general elections. Sharif inquired about Imran's health...
10:54 PM, May 14, 2013
New Delhi: There is no invitation for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Pakistan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, who will be forming the next government there. "There is no specific proposal on the table, of a specific request for a specific occasion," Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs told reporters when asked if there was an invite for the Prime Minister...
09:10 PM, May 14, 2013
Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has emerged as the single largest party in Pakistan's landmark General Elections with 123 of the 272 Parliamentary seats but fell short of a majority and would form a government with support of independents and smaller parties. The PML-N's two closest rivals the Pakistan People's Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf lagged far behind with 32 and 27 seats, respectively. Earlier, trends from the counting of...
08:50 PM, May 14, 2013
Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif's emphatic victory at the hustings in Pakistan will provide him sufficient room to shape his party's own agenda, the global rating agency Moody's said but warned the new government will inherit the effects of overall policy inertia. The rating agency also said any flare up in relations with India could impact Pakistan's credit fundamentals. "(Nawaz Sharif's) PML-N's near majority should provide it with sufficient political room to...
01:52 PM, May 14, 2013
Beijing: Pakistan may improve its ties with India and fine tune its anti-terror strategy under the new government headed by PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, Chinese analysts have said. Under Sharif, the relationship between Pakistan and India might also improve, Wang Dehua, head of the South and Central Asian Studies Institute at the Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies told state-run Global Times said. "In 1999, Sharif managed to invite then...
12:44 PM, May 14, 2013
Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has emerged the single largest party in Pakistan's landmark general elections by bagging 122 of the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls on May 11, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday. The PML-N's two closest rivals the Pakistan People's Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf lagged far behind with 31 and 26 seats, respectively. Earlier, trends emerging from the counting of votes had shown...
12:36 PM, May 14, 2013
Washington: Nawaz Sharif's decision to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a "positive sign", the United States has said and expressed its willingness to work with the new government in Pakistan. "We have seen those comments. I don't want to analyze it too much, but to say that it is a positive step and we look forward to working with the new government as it's formed," State Department spokesperson Jen...
11:00 AM, May 14, 2013
Washington: Even as there is a sense of positivity over Indo-Pak ties after the outcome of Pakistan polls, a former Pakistani diplomat believes a regime change is unlikely to bring any substantial shift in Islamabad's approach. Former Pakistan Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani noted this while giving an analysis of the post-election scenario in Pakistan. "We will have a kind of a hug-hug, embrace-embrace, but no substantial changed attitude...
09:21 AM, May 14, 2013
