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N news saturday, 1 June, 2013
MAiden sessions of PunjAb, bAlochistAn AsseMblies todAy LAHORE ONlINE
The first session of the newly elected Punjab Assembly will be held today (Saturday) in Lahore. During the session‚ newly elected members of the assembly will take oath. Outgoing speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan will administer oath to members. Balochistan Assembly will also hold its inaugural session in Quetta on Saturday. Likewise, outgoing speaker Syed Matiullah Agha will administer oath to all those elected. The Balochistan legislature has 65 seats however 62 members will take oath. Moreover‚ it is expected that the speaker will announce schedule for filing of nomination papers for the post of speaker and deputy speaker during the session.
11 nA, 10 PA, one senAte seAt to fAll vAcAnt After new oAth ISLAMABAD INP
Eleven seats of the National Assembly, seven of the Punjab, two of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each of Balochistan Assembly and Senate would become vacant as the process of taking oath by the newly-elected members is finalised today (Saturday). According to details, Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Javed Hashmi, Mahmud Achakzai and other politicians have won more than one seat that would fall vacant after the members take oaths. Nawaz Sharif won NA-68 and NA-120 and he will be vacating the NA-120 seat. Khan, chief of PTI, won three seats and would be leaving two seats. Maulana Fazlur Rehman also won from three NA constituencies and will be vacating two seats. Javed Hashmi, Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Pir Sadruddin Rashdi would also be vacating additional seats. Punjab chief minister-designate Shahbaz Sharif would be leaving one national and two provincial assembly seats, while his son Hamza Shahbaz would be leaving the Punjab Assembly seat of PP-142. Others who would be leaving more than one seats are Akram Khan Durrani, Amir Haider Hoti, Pervez Khattak, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Asif, Khusro Bakhtiar, Makhdoom Syed Mustafa Mahmood, Mir Jam Kamal, Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani and Senator Sardar Zulfikar Khosa, who would retain his Senate seat and leave the Punjab Assembly seat.
landmark 14th nA session today MORE THAN 100 FIRST TIMERS TO BEGIN THEIR PARLIAMENTARY CAREERS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ISLAMABAD TAYYAB HUSSAIN
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N a landmark session of the 14th National Assembly (NA), over 100 young, dynamic and new politicians are going to start their parliamentary career today (Saturday) in a session which would witness a strong and crowded treasury and a weak, meek and divided opposition. Tight security arrangements have been put in place to thwart any terrorist bid. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the single largest
party in the NA after the May 11 elections and has secured 144 out of the 272 seats following induction of 18 independent MNAs. Factoring in the 32 reserved seats for women and the five seats for minorities, the ruling party’s strength in the Lower House of Parliament has reached over 180 seats. And with the addition of its allies in the Centre, the PML-N government may touch a magical figure of 192 in NA. The PML-N's strength in the Lower House would increase further since several parties have merged into it such as National People's Party, People’s Muslim League, while the PML-F, PkMAP and National Party are expected to enter into an alliance with PML-N. Besides PML-N, Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged a new force in the country's parliamentary history with the strength of 35 NA members. Though Khan is likely to miss today's session, the party in all probability will
catch media's attention as 32 out of the 35 legislators are completely new faces in the House. Other than Imran Khan, Javed Hashmi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, all PTI members are first timers. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has emerged as the second largest party with 40 members and most of its senior leaders won polls from Sindh. The session would begin at 10am and more than 330 members are likely to take oath and sign their rolls. The House will be adjourned for June 2, Sunday, when the nomination papers for the election of speaker and deputy speaker would be submitted while their election would be held on Monday through secret ballot. On Tuesday, nomination papers would be accepted for the election of prime minister. On June 5, the new prime minister (PM) will be elected and would take oath the same evening. The PML-N has formally nominated its chief Nawaz Sharif for the office of PM
President repeats call for reconciliation, unity
PM election: PPP to field AMin fAhiM AgAinst nAwAz ISLAMABAD ONlINE
KARACHI ONlINE
President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said all parties would have to work jointly to overcome the challenges the country was facing. He was talking to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and other MPAs at the presidential office at Bilawal House. Sources said the CM briefed the president about the political situation, government formation in Sindh, law and order in Karachi and priorities of new PPP government in Sindh. The president said that democracy had been strengthening in the country due to the reconciliation policy of Benazir Bhutto and an elected assembly had completed its five-year term for the first time in the history of Pakistan. Zardari said the government had fulfilled the promise of holding the polls and transfer of power would also be completed according to the constitution. Talking about Karachi, Zardari said Karachi was the economic hub of Pakistan and progress of the country was linked to peace there. He directed the CM to take concrete steps under a well-thought strategy for restoration of peace in Karachi.
after the party moved towards a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly. The PTI has nominated Javed Hashmi for the slot of PM. NA Secretariat on this occasion has made special arrangements for facilitation of elected members by establishing special facilitation desks in the Parliament House, Parliament Lodges, Government Hostel and Benazir International Airport, Islamabad. Facilitation desks have started functioning since 29th May, 2013 and will continue till the conclusion of the session. The desks established at the Parliament House are collecting bio-data and other information from MNAs besides preparing special identity cards for their family members and friends to facilitate their presence in the landmark session. Elaborate security arrangements have almost been finalised for holding the inaugural session. The outgoing speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza would administer oath to new members.
Zardari deCides to go pubLiC on reasons for ppp defeat LAHORE: As the country’s new National Assembly is set to take oath of their office today (Saturday), President Asif Zardari has decided to go public over the causes, he believes, led to the defeat of his Pakistan People’s Party in the general election on May 11, sources told Pakistan Today on Friday. Sources said that this would be the first time after the elections that President Zardari would share his concerns over the humiliating defeat of his party, particularly in Punjab province. They said that Zardari had invited a select group of journalists and TV anchors to whom he would “tell his side of the story” today. In closed door meetings with PPP leaders, President Zardari had held national and international institutions responsible for the PPP’s defeat in the general elections. “It was a hostile judiciary coupled with international conspiracies that led to defeat of the party,” he had alleged. He said “security concerns, issues like load shedding and legal constraints on him let us down”. “But it was less of our defeat and more of a victory for a special mindset,” he emphasised. Zardari said some forces did not like the increasing presence of Pakistan in the region. “In fact it was a combination of local and international factors that caused our defeat.” Following rigging allegations by various parties in the aftermath of May 11 polls, Zardari also claimed that his party was defeated through planned rigging. STAFF REPORT
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will field senior leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif in the election for the new prime minister on June 5, rejecting a request to facilitate a unanimous vote. Former federal minister Fahim heads the PPP Parliamentarians, the name under which the party is registered with the Election Commission. He will be PPP’s candidate for the election to be held in the National Assembly on June 5. However, the PPP’s move will not affect Nawaz Sharif, as the PML-N has a majority in the 342-member Lower House of parliament. PML-N leaders said Nawaz’s election for an unprecedented third term as premier would be mere formality. The PPP had earlier indicated that it might vote for Nawaz in order to continue its policy of reconciliation with other political parties. When the PPP emerged the single largest party in the 2008 polls, its prime ministerial candidate, Yousuf Raza Gilani, was elected unopposed in the National Assembly. However, most PPP leaders were of the view that their party would be further marginalised if it went soft on the PML-N in the Centre. They believe Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was a potential threat to the PPP and may deprive it of its role as opposition in the Centre if the PPP continued its reconciliation policy and became a “friendly opposition”.
Zardari’s days in Presidency in danger ISLAMABAD AGENCIES
The country’s new National Assembly will be sworn in today (Saturday), completing the country’s first ever democratic transition of power but for President Asif Ali Zardari the political future looks bleak. Pakistan’s 65-year history has been punctuated by three periods of military rule and Zardari was credited with steering the country to its democratic milestone by holding together the fractious coalition government led by his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for its full five-year term. But the PPP was routed at the polls, blamed by voters for five
years of apathy and drift which saw crippling power shortages worsen and militancy continue almost unabated. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) romped to victory and will command 177 of the 342 seats in the new assembly, giving it significant leverage to oust Zardari from the president’s house when his term expires in September. The president is chosen by an electoral college comprising the national assembly, senate and four provincial assemblies. In the run-up to the May 11 election there had been suggestions the PML-N would allow Zardari, the widower of PPP icon Benazir Bhutto, to stay on in return for
his party’s cooperation in the Lower House. But analyst Imtiaz Gul said that while the PML-N was unlikely to seek an immediate confrontation with Zardari, his days in the top job were numbered. Veteran PML-N leader Sartaj Aziz has been tipped as a possible replacement. “Based on past experiences, PML-N is likely to let Zardari complete his term rather than gunning for him or forcing him out of his office prematurely,” Gul said. But he added, “Zardari’s future as president has become bleak following routing of his party in the election”. Sharif will be sworn in as prime minister for an unprecedented third term on Wednesday. During his two previous administrations he earned a reputation
for hotheadedness and pugnacity. But the problems facing his new government are enormous – a failing economy, endless power cuts and rampant militancy – and analysts say the 63-year-old is likely to seek a more conciliatory path. “With ample challenges and limited resources at their disposal, the government will have to play cool with the opposition by avoiding any confrontation and focusing more on the economy,” said political commentator Hasan Askari. Another key question is how Sharif will handle the Pakistani Taliban. He had mooted the idea of talks with the militants but on Thursday they withdrew their offer of dialogue after their number two was killed in a US drone strike.