According to the latest figures by the National Institute of Health (NIH) 148 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
A five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umer Atta Bandial will resume the hearing of the case in federal capital.
During the hearing on Tuesday, PPP counsel Senator Raza Rabbani said that this is a civilian coup. A stance was created through an alleged cable which is based on malafide intent, the Senator said, adding that the no-confidence motion against the prime minister was tabled on March 28 but the NA session was adjourned.
He maintained that NA Deputy Speaker Suri gave the ruling without putting the documents before the parliament on Sunday. He argued that Rule 28 says the deputy speaker cannot give a ruling even if he has the authority.
"Deputy Speaker’s ruling is illegal and no-trust motion cannot be rejected without voting on it," Rabbani said. He further stated that the deputy speaker’s ruling doesn’t have constitutional security under Article 69.
Rabbani concluded saying that they want that the arguments completed and the court issues a brief order today.
After Rabbani, PML-N’s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan presented his arguments.
As per the rules, the counsel pointed out, a debate on the no-trust move was supposed to be conducted on March 31. "But a debate was not held," he said, adding that voting was also not conducted on April 3.
He noted that according to the no-confidence motion, the prime minister had lost the confidence of the majority of the National Assembly. "Shehbaz Sharif had submitted the motion as per the rules of business," he said, adding that the NA session was adjourned till April 3 without conducting any proceedings, he said.
Here, the CJP asked how the session was adjourned and inquired if anyone had shown up from the speaker’s side. The court then summoned the record of the speaker and of the NA session held on April 3.
The PML-N’s counsel also said that the deputy speaker did not give the opposition a chance to speak during the session held on April 3 and gave the floor to the former information minister.
While the Ukraine war continues to cast a shadow across trading floors, Fed monetary policy is at the top of the agenda this week as investors fret over how quickly officials will withdraw their vast pandemic-era financial support.
After last month’s 0.25 percentage point hike in interest rates, the focus is now on its plans for May’s meeting, with expectations growing that it will announce a 0.50 point lift followed by several more before the end of the year.
Fed governor Lael Brainard, who is considered a dove, on Tuesday spooked traders by saying bringing inflation down from 40-year highs was of "paramount importance" and that the bank was "prepared to take stronger action" if warranted.
Brainard, who is awaiting congressional confirmation for the position of Fed vice chair, also said bank policymakers were ready to start reducing its vast bond holdings, which have helped keep borrowing costs down.
"The market might have been looking for... Brainard to at least give more balanced remarks -- instead, they were at the hawkish end of the spectrum from someone like Brainard," said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
Minutes from the Fed’s March meeting will be released later in the day and will be pored over for insights into officials’ thinking in light of the war and recent data suggesting the world’s top economy remains resilient for now.
All three main indexes on Wall Street ended in the red, with the Nasdaq off more than two percent owing to tech firms being more susceptible to higher rates.
And the selling seeped through to Asia, where Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei dropped on their return from a break.
Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Manila, Jakarta and Wellington also retreated.
"Liquidity remains poor, and no one seems willing to take the other side as air pockets are becoming easier to find these days," Innes added.
The European Union’s decision not to include Russian oil in a fresh round of sanctions saw both main contracts drop Tuesday and extend losses in early Asian business.
In a statement carried Tuesday by North Korea’s state media, Kim Yo Jong called South Korea Defense Minister Suh Wook’s recent comments about preemptive strikes a “fantastic daydream” and the “hysteria of a lunatic.”
She stressed that North Korea doesn’t want another war on the Korean Peninsula but warned it would retaliate with its nuclear forces if the South opts for preemptive strikes or other attacks, which would leave the South’s military “little short of total destruction and ruin.”
North Korea has repeatedly stated it would preemptively use its nuclear weapons when threatened by rivals as it accelerated its development of nuclear bombs and missiles, which Kim Jong Un sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.
In another statement directed toward Suh on Sunday, Kim Yo Jong called him a “scum-like guy” and warning that the South may face a “serious threat” because of his comments.
Her statements come amid tensions over North Korea’s accelerating weapons tests this year, including its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 on March 24, as her brother revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at pressuring Washington to accept the North as a nuclear power and remove crippling sanctions.
Some experts say the North may up the ante in the coming months, possibly test-flying missiles over Japan or resuming nuclear explosive tests, as it tries to get a response from the Biden administration, which is distracted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an intensifying rivalry with China.
The renewed tensions have been a major setback for outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a dovish liberal who had staked his presidential term on his ambitions for inter-Korean rapprochement.
During a visit to the country’s strategic missile command last week, Suh said South Korea has the ability and readiness to launch precision strikes on North Korea if it detects the North intends to fire missiles at South Korea.
According to the publication, a senior ECP official said that preparations for the general elections would require around six months, citing recent delimitation of constituencies and bringing district and constituency-wise electoral rolls in conformity as major hurdles in early elections.
He was quoted as saying that “delimitation is a time-consuming exercise where the law provides for one month’s time just to invite objections, another one month was required to address the same.”
The publication reported that the senior ECP official said a “minimum of three months would be required to complete the exercise, followed by another gigantic task of updating voters’ lists.”
Moreover, some other challenges include:
Procurement of election material
Arrangement for ballot papers
Appointment and training of polling staff
According to the law, a ballot paper with a watermark is to be used which is not available in the country and would have to be imported.
The official disclosed that the ECP had proposed to “amend the law to provide for ballot papers with a security feature, instead of the watermark.”
He further said that inviting bids and scrutinising financial and technical quotations would also require some time.
Shedding light on the issue regarding the procurement of election material, he said for around 100,000 polling stations, nearly two million stamp pads would be required.
“This is just one example, other material in huge quantities, including scissors and ballpoints, will also have to be procured,” he said.
Commenting on the legal challenges of holding a general election within three months, the ECP official said that under Section 14 of the Elections Act, the ECP was to announce an election plan four prior to the polls. He said the law requiring the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and giving overseas Pakistanis voting rights also held the field and had to be repealed.
The official said the commission had already announced the schedule for local government (LG) elections in Balochistan, setting May 29 as the polling day, while the process was also underway to hold LG polls in Punjab, Sindh and Islamabad.
“We will have to drop the plan for LG polls if general elections are to be conducted,” he noted.
In a statement, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia had noted that President Dr Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on April 3 on the prime minister's advice as well as the events preceding it.
"Immediately after the announcement of the working visit of Imran Khan to Moscow on February 23-24 this year, the Americans and their Western associates began to exert rude pressure on the prime minister, demanding an ultimatum to cancel the trip," she said.
"When he nevertheless came to us, [Lu] called the Pakistani ambassador in Washington and demanded that the visit be immediately interrupted, which was also rejected," she stated.
"According to the Pakistani media, on March 7 this year, in a conversation with Pakistani Ambassador Asad Majid, a high-ranking American official (presumably the same Donald Lu) sharply condemned the balanced reaction of the Pakistani leadership to the events in Ukraine and made it clear that partnerships with the United States are possible only if Imran Khan is removed from power," Zakharova said.
The Russian official said that further development of the situation left no doubt that the US "decided to punish the 'disobedient' Imran Khan", noting how lawmakers from within the PTI switched sides to the opposition while the no-confidence vote was submitted to Parliament.
"This is another attempt of shameless US interference in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes. The above facts eloquently testify to this," Zakharova said.
"The [Pakistan] prime minister himself has repeatedly stated that the conspiracy against him was inspired and financed from abroad. We hope that Pakistani voters will be informed about these circumstances when they come to the elections, which should be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly," she said.
The statement from Russia's foreign ministry comes after PM Imran named US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu as the official who made "threatening remarks" about his regime in a letter, which the premier had brandished during a public rally in Islamabad last month.
Last month, the National Security Committee, which includes all services chiefs, had decided to issue a "strong demarche" over the letter, terming it "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan".
Imran has alleged that the no-confidence motion against him is part of the "foreign conspiracy" to oust him from power.
On April 3, NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri had thrown out the no-trust motion against Imran, declaring that “circumstances show there is a nexus between the no-confidence motion, foreign intervention and the activities of the state’s representatives deputed to Pakistan”.
Imran had visited Moscow in February on a two-day trip which focused primarily on energy cooperation. However, his visit raised eyebrows as it coincided with Russia's military onslaught of Ukraine.
At the time, the government said it had consulted all concerned quarters before going ahead with the trip, which had been scheduled months in advance.
During his trip, Imran had conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he regretted the situation developing between Russia and Ukraine, adding that Islamabad had hoped that military conflict could be averted through a diplomatic solution.
He had stressed that conflict was not in anyone’s interest and that developing countries were always hardest hit economically in case of conflict. “He underlined Pakistan’s belief that disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy," said a communiqué issued after a meeting between the two leaders.
According to the publication, a senior ECP official said that preparations for the general elections would require around six months, citing recent delimitation of constituencies and bringing district and constituency-wise electoral rolls in conformity as major hurdles in early elections.
He was quoted as saying that “delimitation is a time-consuming exercise where the law provides for one month’s time just to invite objections, another one month was required to address the same.”
The publication reported that the senior ECP official said a “minimum of three months would be required to complete the exercise, followed by another gigantic task of updating voters’ lists.”
Moreover, some other challenges include:
Procurement of election material
Arrangement for ballot papers
Appointment and training of polling staff
According to the law, a ballot paper with a watermark is to be used which is not available in the country and would have to be imported.
The official disclosed that the ECP had proposed to “amend the law to provide for ballot papers with a security feature, instead of the watermark.”
He further said that inviting bids and scrutinising financial and technical quotations would also require some time.
Shedding light on the issue regarding the procurement of election material, he said for around 100,000 polling stations, nearly two million stamp pads would be required.
“This is just one example, other material in huge quantities, including scissors and ballpoints, will also have to be procured,” he said.
Commenting on the legal challenges of holding a general election within three months, the ECP official said that under Section 14 of the Elections Act, the ECP was to announce an election plan four prior to the polls. He said the law requiring the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and giving overseas Pakistanis voting rights also held the field and had to be repealed.
The official said the commission had already announced the schedule for local government (LG) elections in Balochistan, setting May 29 as the polling day, while the process was also underway to hold LG polls in Punjab, Sindh and Islamabad.
“We will have to drop the plan for LG polls if general elections are to be conducted,” he noted.
A District and Sessions court of Islamabad dismissed the post arrest bail petition of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill on Tuesday. Additional Dist...
