PMD’s internal rifts exposed in Jati Umrah meeting: Firdous

Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday claimed that internal differences within the ranks of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) exposed in today’s Jati Umrah meeting.

Talking to journalists, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that PMD’s leadership could not agree on a common agenda despite holding a six-hour-long session today.

She maintained that PMD’s narrative had died in Jati Umrah. The special assistant said that the opposition parties had formed the alliance to protect their personal interests. PDM has nothing to do with national and public issues, Firdous added.

Earlier today, divisions had emerged within the ranks of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as top leaders of the opposition alliance discuss the future course of action against the incumbent government.

According to sources having knowledge of the discussion during the PDM meeting, the differences had emerged over issues pertaining to resignations from assemblies and participation in the Senate elections and by-polls.

The meeting had been attended by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto via video link while the other PDM leaders attended the meeting at Jati Umra in person.a

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Shares at PSX rally on first day of new year

On the first day of the new year, the stock market kicked off with a bang as the benchmark KSE-100 index rose nearly 1,119 points during intraday trading.

The index — which had opened the year at 43,55 — had risen 918 points to 44,673 at around 11:30am.

After the break for Friday prayers, shares continued an upward trajectory, reaching the day's high of 44,875 – up 1,119 points or 2.5 per cent – by 2:38pm.

But late in the afternoon, the index shed almost half of these gain, closing at 44,435, down 679.42 points — or 1.55 per cent — for the day.

Deputy Head of Research at AKD Securities, Ali Asghar Poonwala, while talking to Dawn.com, said the reason behind the new-year rally was an expectation that liquidity will improve in the power supply chain.

"It's mostly from the market grapevine indicating improved liquidity in the power chain, with clearances made in November and December resting higher than usual.

"This fueled a bullish sentiment in an otherwise neglected independent power producers (IPPs) and the state oil marketing company PSO (Pakistan State Oil) which remained marred by circular debt related dues."

He added that a possible hike in the base consumer tariff by the government — a core requirement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — will improve liquidity further.

On Thursday, the benchmark KSE-100 index gained 60.62 points to close 2020 at 43,755, which was about the same as closing at the 30-month high of 43,767 points seen on Dec 17. On an annualised basis, the index provided a return of 7pc in calendar year 2020.

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Babar Azam’s inclusion in playing XI for second Test remains doubtful

Pakistani captain Babar Azam’s inclusion in the playing XI for the second Test against kiwis remains up in the air as the team’s think-tank has yet to take the final decision.

Azam was ruled out of New Zealand T20Is after suffering a fracture in his right thumb during a practice session last month.

Amid fears of risk involved in his inclusion at this stage, the decision-makers are keeping their fingers crossed considering the fact Pakistan has an important home series against South Africa coming up shortly.

“We have not yet decided whether or not Babar will be playing in the second Test. We would be making a final decision in a day or two. Babar is feeling much better now but still, there are some doubts about his 100% fitness. But when it comes to deciding on a batsman of Babar’s stature, sometimes we get ready to take small risks,” a source within the team revealed.

The source added that the situation will become much clearer once the team begins training today (Friday) in Christchurch. “Training in the next couple of days will give us a better picture of Babar’s fitness.”

“Babar will undergo a fitness test on Saturday. Though he bowled and batted during the training session, however, the final decision is yet to be taken the” the source said.

Commenting on who would be dropped down the order if the team management decides to include captain Babar in the playing lineup, the source said: “I think it is too early to say anything about batting order. After taking the decision in this regard, we would be making up our mind about batting order.”

Azam, however, has started practice and was seen going through his paces, the final verdict regarding his inclusion in the playing XI is yet to be taken. Pakistan are already trailing in the two-match Test series.

Haris Sohail would likely be missing from the lineup if Babar is included in the team. The tour’s selection committee will have to choose Haris or Abid.

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PMD’s internal rifts exposed in Jati Umrah meeting: Firdous

Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday claimed that internal differences within the ranks of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) exposed in today’s Jati Umrah meeting.

Talking to journalists, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that PMD’s leadership could not agree on a common agenda despite holding a six-hour-long session today.

She maintained that PMD’s narrative had died in Jati Umrah. The special assistant said that the opposition parties had formed the alliance to protect their personal interests. PDM has nothing to do with national and public issues, Firdous added.

Earlier today, divisions had emerged within the ranks of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as top leaders of the opposition alliance discuss the future course of action against the incumbent government.

According to sources having knowledge of the discussion during the PDM meeting, the differences had emerged over issues pertaining to resignations from assemblies and participation in the Senate elections and by-polls.

The meeting had been attended by PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto via video link while the other PDM leaders attended the meeting at Jati Umra in person.a

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PM Imran Khan says remarks on unpreparedness taken out of context

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that his remarks that he was not prepared to take charge of the government were taken out of context as he meant that no one could understand regarding the internal working of the institutions while sitting outside.

The prime minister in an interview with a local television negated the impression that he wasn’t ready and said that he cited an example of the US president, who is briefed by the national institutions two months ahead of assuming his powers.

“Now when Joe Biden will take charge as US President, he will have complete knowledge of the systems in place,” he said adding he talked about that sort of a briefing, which was quoted out of context.

The prime minister said that half of the tax revenue of the country is spent on repaying the debts and when they assumed power, the country’s fiscal deficit had reached US$20 billion. “During the first 60 years, Pakistan’s debt stood at US$6 billion which jumped to US$30 billion during the next 10 years,” he said.

Imran Khan rejected any differences with coalition partners in the federal government and said that he enjoys a good relationship with MQM-P, PML-Q and GDA.

He lamented that the entire politics of the opposition parties revolve around the bid to get an NRO, however, he would not comprise on the matter.

“If I’ll join hands with them then who will make them accountable for their wrongdoings,” he said.

The prime minister said that the opposition had given deadlines for overturning their government multiple times. “Even when COVID-19 hit the country, Shehbaz Sharif came back from London to put pressure on the government,” Imran Khan said adding that their attempts against him have failed in the past and will face the same fate in the future.

I am the prime minister of a common man, not the elite class, he said adding that it was due to the trust reposed on him by masses that the country has witnessed a record surge in remittances and exports.

To a question regarding frequent changes in his team, Imran Khan said that he reshuffles his team frequently to find a suitable man for a position and further warned that action would be taken against any of his ministers if an allegation of corruption is proved against them.

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CM Usman Buzdar removes Lahore CCPO Umar Sheikh

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has finally removed Lahore’s top cop Umar Sheikh from his post.

CM Buzdar approved the removal of Sheikh from the post of Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) and appointed Ghulam Mehmood Dogar in his place.

According to a notification, Sheikh has been transferred with immediate effect. He has been posted as the DIG/Deputy Commandant Punjab Constabulary, Farooqabad.

Sheikh's replacement Ghulam Mehmood Dogar is also a BS-20 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan.

Before being tasked with the assignment, Dogar was posted as the DIG of Technical Procurement at the Central Police Office of Punjab.

Umar Sheikh had been in the headlines ever since he took the charge of Lahore CCPO last year.

The police officer had immediately landed in hot waters when he got involved in a dispute with former Inspector General of Punjab Police Shoaib Dastagir.

Following the dispute, Dastagir was removed from his post and Inam Ghani was brought in as the new police chief of Pakistan's largest province.

Sheikh later landed in another controversy over his victim-blaming remarks in the motorway gang rape case.

In both the cases, the former Lahore CCPO had apologised for his remarks.

During his tenure as the CCPO, he also picked fights with other officials of his department. In one of the conflicts, Sheikh had ordered the registration of a case against a senior police officer for misbehaving with him.

Before that a foreign-educated cop had also resigned from his post because he was abused by Sheik in a meeting.

The controversial cop had also recommended that the police should start carrying out court-martial of police officers similar to the armed forces to prevent frequent misconducts that could not be addressed through the existing rules of the Police Department.

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PDM is stronger than before, rumours about conflict within alliance are false: Fazl

The leaders of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Friday addressed a press conference and said that the 11-party alliance is stronger than before, adding that rumours about conflicts within the party are false.

Speaking on behalf of the alliance, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman reiterated that the government only has one month to resign, after which PDM members will join heads and start planning the long march.

"We will decide whether to hold long march towards Rawalpindi or Islamabad," he said, adding that the alliance will announce the date and venue soon.

Speaking about the by-polls and Senate elections, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said PDM parties will participate in by-polls, adding that participating in the Senate elections will be taken by the alliance later.

Answering a question, the PDM chief said that many of the decisions taken during the meeting prior to the conference are confidential, therefore, the alliance is not under any obligations to share everything with media.

Prior to the press briefing, the PDM held a meeting at Jati Umra in Lahore to make final decisions regarding the future course of action of their anti-government campaign.

I have received resignations of PML-N assembly members: Maryam

Adding to the topic of resignations, PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz Sharif said that her party members have already submitted their resignations to her.

PPP has not said anything about resignations: Shibli Faraz

Speaking to Geo News in response to PDM's statements, Federal Information Minister Shibli Faraz said that the "expression on PDM members' faces showed that they did not make any significant decisions during their meeting."

Shibli Faraz added that the main stakeholder in the assemblies is the PPP, which has still not issued any statements about their resignations.

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