Zulfi Bukhari, Shahzad Akbar, Hafeez Shaikh among candidates recommended for PTI Senate ticket

As the Senate elections loom near, the PTI is currently finalising the list of candidates who it thinks should be given the ticket to contest the polls.

The ruling party's parliamentary board has finalised the names of the candidates and sent its recommendations to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The parliamentary board has suggested that Shahzad Akbar, Zulfi Bokhari, Sania Nishtar, Abdul Razzak Dawood, Babar Awan, Saifullah Niazi, Dr Zarqa and Nilofar Bakhtiar be awarded the tickets for the Senate elections.

From Khyber Pakhtukhwa, the party has decided to nominate Shibli Faraz again. The names of advisor to the prime minister on Finance, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Kamil Ali Agha from the coalition parties have been recommended, said sources.

PM Imran Khan will approve the names of the board within a few days, said sources.

Article 92 of the constitution puts a cap on the number of Senators who can be appointed as ministers. The article reads: “Federal Ministers and Ministers of State who are members of the Senate shall not at any time exceed one-fourth of the number of Federal Ministers.”

Thus, there cannot be more than seven Senators in the cabinet.

As of now, three Senators have been appointed ministers – Dr. Mohammad Farogh Naseem, Syed Shibli Faraz and Azam Khan Swati. The government can only name four more Senators as ministers, as per the Constitution.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced to release the schedule for the Senate election on February 11.

It has started distributing nomination papers to prospective candidates.

Nomination papers for the two seats of the Federal Capital Territory can be taken from the ECP Secretariat at the Constitutional Avenue in Islamabad, while nomination papers for provincial seats are available at the offices of the concerned provincial election commissioner.

ECP has advised all political parties and candidates to attach party tickets while submitting nomination papers.

Independent candidates, however, cannot attach party tickets.

Candidates have been asked to set up a special account for this purpose at any branch of any scheduled bank for their election expenses and mention the account number on their nomination papers.

The limit of election expenses for a candidate is fixed at Rs 1.5 million.

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Qureshi tears into opposition for not allowing NA debate on Senate polls bill

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi strongly criticised the opposition in Thursday's sitting of the National Assembly for not allowing discussion on the 26th constitutional amendment bill seeking open balloting in the Senate elections to progress forward.

The government had presented the bill in the lower house yesterday amidst a ruckus created by the opposition which termed the tabling of the bill a show of the government's "mala fide intent". The bill has been tabled at a time when Senate elections are only weeks away and the Supreme Court is hearing a presidential reference seeking open vote for the upper house in order to prevent horse-trading and trade of votes during the Senate polls.

Today's sitting of the National Assembly session was again rife with shouting and sloganeering with opposition not allowing the lower house to follow its plan for the day, briefly staging a walkout as well.

Several opposition lawmakers were also carrying placards with "chor" (thief) written on them while some had slogans urging the speaker to allow opposition lawmakers to speak.

Qureshi, during his speech which was marred by loud sloganeering and desk thumping by opposition members, bashed the opposing parties for "defiling the sanctity of the Parliament". He condemned the opposition's behaviour and warned that the government has shown "a lot of patience and respect" but "if you think we will let you bulldoze it (the bill), that will not happen".

He admonished opposition members for being "two-faced" and stated that "this house cannot function" if their behaviour and refusal to listen to the government continued.

"If they don't want to listen then a one-sided debate cannot take place."

Opposition used to 'selling conscience'

Addressing the bill, the foreign minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan had "promised the introduction of reforms" and the government wanted to "move forward with transparent reforms", adding this was the reason the government had a moved a bill for amendments in Articles 59, 63 and 226 of the Constitution.

Qureshi said the bill was brought to uncover the motives of candidates who came to the Senate on the back of "horse trading" and had no "vision or support from any political party" and to root out and "defeat corrupt practices".

He questioned how can members of the Senate who "can be bought and sold" be relied upon to defend the nation's interests.

The minister admitted the government didn't have the two-third majority it needed but despite that it moved the bill because the "flagbearers of the Charter of Democracy" have been asking for free and fair elections.

"People can see the difference in their statements and actions," the PTI leader said, pointing at the opposition benches where members were chanting against the government.

Referring to the PPP, he said he has "heard that they want to bring a former prime minister in Senate". He added that the PPP has "also decided they want to make someone Senate chairman".

Qureshi stated that since PPP did not have a majority in Punjab, the only way they could try achieve their goal was through horse-trading.

The foreign minister reaffirmed that the bill was not being brought out of political convenience to manufacture a "result [in the Senate polls] of our liking" and was in line with the PTI's stance of "transparent politics".

He pointed out how the PTI had taken action against its members "who sold their conscience" after the results of the 2018 Senate elections and hailed it as a "first in Pakistan's and [this] Parliament's history".

The foreign minister asked why the opposition parties, who insisted on the introduction of election reforms to ensure free and fair elections and agreed that "there should be open balloting", had moved away from their stance today.

"The nation can now see how they've changed colours like a chameleon," he declared. "They don't want [this bill to pass] because they are used to buying and selling [their] conscience."

Qureshi alleged that the opposition wanted to uphold "corrupt practices" and "fill up their treasury boxes".

"People can see that the opposition is in a pinch, history will witness that they are still part of corrupt practices, we are trying to build a wall in front of corrupt practices but they are still trying to stop that.

"Today the nation has to decide, the elected representatives of the people have to decide if they want to stand by the group of thieves."

'Millionaires club'

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry also assailed the opposition for its stance against the proposed amendment, saying "PPP and PML-N don't want this bill to pass because they want to keep the Senate a millionaires club".

He pointed out that the aforementioned parties had still not taken action against their members who had voted in support of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in the no-confidence motion against him in August 2019, despite saying that they would.

"How will they take action against MNAs and senators when [the] PPP [and] PML-N leadership knows that they themselves are bought and sold every day?" he said, adding that the opposition's resistance to the bill shows that it "can't take a stand against lota-cracy".

The minister further went on to say that the PPP had "went against" Benazir Bhutto because the Charter of Democracy, which was signed by the slain leader, stated that Senate elections should be transparent.

Chaudhry also accused PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif of starting the "Changa Manga politics" — a reference to a Punjab forest often cited as a place for lodging political turncoats.

The minister further said that the PML-N had taken $10 million from Osama bin Laden to move a no-confidence motion against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"They even ate up that money," Chaudhry added.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar also echoed Qureshi and Chaudhry's sentiments about the reasons for bringing the bill. He said the people of Pakistan and the people sitting in Parliament had admitted that senators who come through horse trading are a "stain on Pakistan's democracy".

The session was later prorogued.

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Zulfi Bukhari, Shahzad Akbar, Hafeez Shaikh among candidates recommended for PTI Senate ticket

As the Senate elections loom near, the PTI is currently finalising the list of candidates who it thinks should be given the ticket to contest the polls.

The ruling party's parliamentary board has finalised the names of the candidates and sent its recommendations to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The parliamentary board has suggested that Shahzad Akbar, Zulfi Bokhari, Sania Nishtar, Abdul Razzak Dawood, Babar Awan, Saifullah Niazi, Dr Zarqa and Nilofar Bakhtiar be awarded the tickets for the Senate elections.

From Khyber Pakhtukhwa, the party has decided to nominate Shibli Faraz again. The names of advisor to the prime minister on Finance, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Kamil Ali Agha from the coalition parties have been recommended, said sources.

PM Imran Khan will approve the names of the board within a few days, said sources.

Article 92 of the constitution puts a cap on the number of Senators who can be appointed as ministers. The article reads: “Federal Ministers and Ministers of State who are members of the Senate shall not at any time exceed one-fourth of the number of Federal Ministers.”

Thus, there cannot be more than seven Senators in the cabinet.

As of now, three Senators have been appointed ministers – Dr. Mohammad Farogh Naseem, Syed Shibli Faraz and Azam Khan Swati. The government can only name four more Senators as ministers, as per the Constitution.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced to release the schedule for the Senate election on February 11.

It has started distributing nomination papers to prospective candidates.

Nomination papers for the two seats of the Federal Capital Territory can be taken from the ECP Secretariat at the Constitutional Avenue in Islamabad, while nomination papers for provincial seats are available at the offices of the concerned provincial election commissioner.

ECP has advised all political parties and candidates to attach party tickets while submitting nomination papers.

Independent candidates, however, cannot attach party tickets.

Candidates have been asked to set up a special account for this purpose at any branch of any scheduled bank for their election expenses and mention the account number on their nomination papers.

The limit of election expenses for a candidate is fixed at Rs 1.5 million.

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Israel once again demolishes Bedouin village in Palestine

For the second time in three months, Israel has begun razing a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank in what a rights group called an attempt to displace an entire Palestinian community from the area.

Israeli authorities said the village of Khirbet Humsah, in the northern West Bank’s Jordan Valley, had been constructed illegally on a military firing range, and that residents had rejected their offer to move to a nearby area.

Khirbet Humsah’s 130 inhabitants have vowed to stay, with some sleeping on mattresses and plastic tarps strewn on the rocky soil. Tented homes and animal shelters in the village were last razed in November, though residents returned soon after.

“We will not move from here, we will stay here. If they demolish, we will rebuild,” said one of the residents, Ibrahim Abu Awad. He and other Bedouin in the village said they feared Israeli settlers would seize the vacated land.

The Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the demolition at Khirbet Humsah was “unusually broad”, accusing Israel of seeking “to forcibly transfer Palestinian communities in order to take over their land”.

Some 440,000 Israeli settlers live among more than 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state.

Israeli forces began dismantling tents and livestock pens in Khirbet Humsah on Monday, residents and B’Tselem said. On Wednesday, Israeli troops accompanied by bulldozers also knocked down several steel and wooden structures in the village, Reuters TV footage showed.

The dismantled tents had housed 74 Palestinians, including 41 minors, B’Tselem said in a statement.

COGAT, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians, said it had explained to residents “the dangers involved in staying within the firing range” and offered them space outside of it.

“Despite the offer, the residents refused to independently move the tent areas that had been set up illegally and without the required permits and approvals,” COGAT said.

Palestinians and rights group say such permits are nearly impossible to obtain from Israel.

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World faces 4,000 coronavirus variants as UK explores mixed vaccine doses

The world faces around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, prompting a race to improve vaccines, Britain said on Thursday, as researchers began to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots in a world first.

Thousands of variants have been documented as the virus mutates, including the so-called British, South African, and Brazilian variants which appear to spread more swiftly than others.

British Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was very unlikely that the current vaccines would not work against the new variants.

"Its very unlikely that the current vaccine won't be effective on the variants whether in Kent or other variants especially when it comes to severe illness and hospitalisation," Zahawi told Sky News.

"All manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and others, are looking at how they can improve their vaccine to make sure that we are ready for any variant - there are about 4,000 variants around the world of COVID now."

While thousands of variants have arisen as the virus mutates on replication, only a very small minority are likely to be important and to change the virus in an appreciable way, according to the British Medical Journal.

The so-called British variant, known as VUI-202012/01, has mutations including a change in the spike protein that viruses use to bind to the human ACE2 receptor - meaning that it is probably easier to catch.

"We have the largest genome sequencing industry - we have about 50% of the world's genome sequencing industry - and we are keeping a library of all the variants so that we are ready to respond - whether in the autumn or beyond - to any challenge that the virus may present and produce the next vaccine," Zahawi said.

Vaccine Race

The novel coronavirus - known as SARS-CoV-2 - has killed 2.268 million people worldwide since it emerged in China in late 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Israel is currently far ahead of the rest of the world on vaccinations per head of population, followed by the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, the United States and then Spain, Italy and Germany.

Britain on Thursday launched a trial to assess the immune responses generated if doses of the vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca are combined in a two-shot schedule. Initial data on immune responses is expected to be generated around June.

The trial will examine the immune responses of an initial dose of Pfizer vaccine followed by a booster of AstraZeneca's, as well as vice versa, with intervals of four and 12 weeks.

The trial will be the first of its kind to combine a mRNA shot - the one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech - and a adenovirus viral vector vaccine of the type developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca's shot is separately being trialled in combination with another viral vector vaccine, Russia's Sputnik V.

The British researchers behind the trial said data on vaccinating people with the two different types of vaccines could help understanding of whether shots can be rolled out with greater flexibility around the world, and might even increase immune responses.

Matthew Snape, an Oxford vaccinologist who is leading the trial, said mixing different shots had proven effective in Ebola vaccine schedules, and though the new trial mixed vaccine technologies, it could also work.

"Ultimately, it all comes down to the same target - cells making the spike protein - just using different platforms," he told reporters.

"For that reason, we do anticipate that we'll generate a good immune response with these combinations."

Public Health England's head of immunisation Mary Ramsay said there was a lot of precedent for such work, as vaccines against Hepatitis A and B were interchangeable from two different manufacturers, and similar work has been undertaken for human papillomavirus (HPV).

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Second Test against South Africa delayed by rain

Heavy rain delayed the resumption of play in the post-tea session on the opening day of the second Test between Pakistan and South Africa on Thursday.

As players walked off the field at the tea break, it began to pour, with rain lashing the Rawalpindi stadium as groundsmen placed the covers on the pitch and adjoining area.

Play was due to resume at 3pm but persistent rain kept players in the dressing rooms.

Pakistan were 145-3 at the tea break with skipper Babar Azam and Fawad Alam on crease.

Babar hit an attractive 77 not out and Fawad a solid 42 to lift Pakistan to 145-3 at tea from a precarious 22-3 after the home team won the toss and batted on a flat, brownish Rawalpindi Stadium pitch.

Spinner Keshav Maharaj (2-51) and pacer Anrich Nortje (1-30) had left Pakistan struggling on 63-3 at lunch but Babar and Fawad added 123 for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand to steady the innings.

Babar, who managed just seven and 30 in the first Test, returned to his stylish best, having punched 12 boundaries in his 16th Test half-century.

Fawad, who scored a fighting hundred in the first Test, was steady with five hits to the fence.

Earlier, Pakistan, who won the toss and batted, reached 21 without loss before throwing away three wickets for one run in the space of 23 balls.

Maharaj, brought into the attack in just the ninth over, had opener Imran Butt caught behind for 15 and then trapped senior batsman Azhar Ali leg-before for nought in his next over.

Nortje then produced a sharp rising delivery to Abid Ali, (six) whose fended push was caught smartly at short-leg by Aiden Markram.

Pakistan lead the two-match series 1-0 after winning the first Test in Karachi by seven wickets.

Pakistan retained the playing XI which won the first Test by seven wickets inside four days at Karachi last week.

Babar, captaining Pakistan in his first Test series, said the wicket looked dry as the home team chases its first Test series victory against South Africa in 18 years. Pakistan last beat the Proteas at home in 2003.

"The wicket looks dry and we will try to put them under pressure by putting runs on board," Babar said at the toss. "We don't want to relax after taking the lead and will push for 2-0."

South Africa brought in fast bowling all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, who played two home Test matches against Sri Lanka. Mulder replaced Lungi Ngidi in the only change Proteas made from the first Test playing XI.

Quinton de Kock, who will step down from Test captaincy after the series, will be hoping his team would have learnt from the mistakes in the first Test.

The Proteas brought in two allrounders George Linde and Mulder to strengthen their batting lineup against the spin threat of Nauman and Shah.

Teams

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Rizwan, Nauman Ali, Yasir Shah, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (captain), Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder. Umpires: Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza, Pakistan.

TV umpire: Asif Yaqoob, Pakistan

Match referee: Mohammad Javed Malik, Pakistan.

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Qureshi tears into opposition for not allowing NA debate on Senate polls bill

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi strongly criticised the opposition in Thursday's sitting of the National Assembly for not allowing discussion on the 26th constitutional amendment bill seeking open balloting in the Senate elections to progress forward.

The government had presented the bill in the lower house yesterday amidst a ruckus created by the opposition which termed the tabling of the bill a show of the government's "mala fide intent". The bill has been tabled at a time when Senate elections are only weeks away and the Supreme Court is hearing a presidential reference seeking open vote for the upper house in order to prevent horse-trading and trade of votes during the Senate polls.

Today's sitting of the National Assembly session was again rife with shouting and sloganeering with opposition not allowing the lower house to follow its plan for the day, briefly staging a walkout as well.

Several opposition lawmakers were also carrying placards with "chor" (thief) written on them while some had slogans urging the speaker to allow opposition lawmakers to speak.

Qureshi, during his speech which was marred by loud sloganeering and desk thumping by opposition members, bashed the opposing parties for "defiling the sanctity of the Parliament". He condemned the opposition's behaviour and warned that the government has shown "a lot of patience and respect" but "if you think we will let you bulldoze it (the bill), that will not happen".

He admonished opposition members for being "two-faced" and stated that "this house cannot function" if their behaviour and refusal to listen to the government continued.

"If they don't want to listen then a one-sided debate cannot take place."

Opposition used to 'selling conscience'

Addressing the bill, the foreign minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan had "promised the introduction of reforms" and the government wanted to "move forward with transparent reforms", adding this was the reason the government had a moved a bill for amendments in Articles 59, 63 and 226 of the Constitution.

Qureshi said the bill was brought to uncover the motives of candidates who came to the Senate on the back of "horse trading" and had no "vision or support from any political party" and to root out and "defeat corrupt practices".

He questioned how can members of the Senate who "can be bought and sold" be relied upon to defend the nation's interests.

The minister admitted the government didn't have the two-third majority it needed but despite that it moved the bill because the "flagbearers of the Charter of Democracy" have been asking for free and fair elections.

"People can see the difference in their statements and actions," the PTI leader said, pointing at the opposition benches where members were chanting against the government.

Referring to the PPP, he said he has "heard that they want to bring a former prime minister in Senate". He added that the PPP has "also decided they want to make someone Senate chairman".

Qureshi stated that since PPP did not have a majority in Punjab, the only way they could try achieve their goal was through horse-trading.

The foreign minister reaffirmed that the bill was not being brought out of political convenience to manufacture a "result [in the Senate polls] of our liking" and was in line with the PTI's stance of "transparent politics".

He pointed out how the PTI had taken action against its members "who sold their conscience" after the results of the 2018 Senate elections and hailed it as a "first in Pakistan's and [this] Parliament's history".

The foreign minister asked why the opposition parties, who insisted on the introduction of election reforms to ensure free and fair elections and agreed that "there should be open balloting", had moved away from their stance today.

"The nation can now see how they've changed colours like a chameleon," he declared. "They don't want [this bill to pass] because they are used to buying and selling [their] conscience."

Qureshi alleged that the opposition wanted to uphold "corrupt practices" and "fill up their treasury boxes".

"People can see that the opposition is in a pinch, history will witness that they are still part of corrupt practices, we are trying to build a wall in front of corrupt practices but they are still trying to stop that.

"Today the nation has to decide, the elected representatives of the people have to decide if they want to stand by the group of thieves."

'Millionaires club'

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry also assailed the opposition for its stance against the proposed amendment, saying "PPP and PML-N don't want this bill to pass because they want to keep the Senate a millionaires club".

He pointed out that the aforementioned parties had still not taken action against their members who had voted in support of Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in the no-confidence motion against him in August 2019, despite saying that they would.

"How will they take action against MNAs and senators when [the] PPP [and] PML-N leadership knows that they themselves are bought and sold every day?" he said, adding that the opposition's resistance to the bill shows that it "can't take a stand against lota-cracy".

The minister further went on to say that the PPP had "went against" Benazir Bhutto because the Charter of Democracy, which was signed by the slain leader, stated that Senate elections should be transparent.

Chaudhry also accused PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif of starting the "Changa Manga politics" — a reference to a Punjab forest often cited as a place for lodging political turncoats.

The minister further said that the PML-N had taken $10 million from Osama bin Laden to move a no-confidence motion against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"They even ate up that money," Chaudhry added.

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar also echoed Qureshi and Chaudhry's sentiments about the reasons for bringing the bill. He said the people of Pakistan and the people sitting in Parliament had admitted that senators who come through horse trading are a "stain on Pakistan's democracy".

The session was later prorogued.

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