Shahid Khaqan Abbasi elected Pakistan PM by National Assembly

Agencies
August 1, 2017

Islamabad, Aug 1: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a die-hard supporter of Nawaz Sharif, was today elected Prime Minister by Pakistan's National Assembly and put up a strong defence of the ousted leader saying that he may have been disqualified by the Supreme Court but remains the "people's premier".

Abbasi, 58, was elected after getting 221 votes in the House of 342, defeating his three rivals emphatically.

Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 47 votes, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, an Awami Muslim League leader who was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's candidate, got 33 votes, while Jamaat-e-Islami's Sahibzada Tariqullah managed just four votes.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Abbasi as interim Prime Minister until Sharif's brother Shehbaz is elected as a National Assembly member.

"Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been declared as elected as Prime minister of Islamabad Republic of Pakistan," National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced amid sloganeering.

He then asked Abbasi to take the seat of the prime minister and address the House.

Abbasi, while addressing Parliament after the voting, said that his election was a victory for democracy.

He heavily criticised the Supreme Court judgement which disqualified Sharif.

"Sharif has been sent home but he is still people's premier," he said.

"Justice demands that 1,000 guilty are set free than one innocent is convicted," Abbasi said.
He also hailed his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party for standing united after Sharif was disqualified.

Abbasi also promised that there would be no power shortage in the country after December.
After the voting and counting process, many of the PML-N National Assembly members entered the House with posters of Sharif. The National Assembly Speaker objected to this and asked them to put away the placards and posters.

Abbasi will be sworn-in in later at a special ceremony at the President's House, where President Mamnoon Hussain will administer the oath to him.

He is a true loyalist of Sharif and stood with him when his government was toppled in 1999 by Musharraf. Abbasi was imprisoned after the coup and was kept in jail for two years.

The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified 67-year-old Prime Minister Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing him to resign.

Abbasi will remain premier till Shehbaz is elected to the House to take over as prime minister and lead the government till next year when the general election will take place.

Pakistan has seen such arrangements in the past too.

During former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf's time, politician Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was appointed as an interim prime minister until Shaukat Aziz, who was nominated by Musharraf, got elected by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q).

Earlier in the day, the opposition parties' meeting failed to result in agreement over a joint candidate.
Hours before the scheduled National Assembly session, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced to withdraw its candidate Kishwar Zehra in favour of Abbasi. The MQM's 24 MPs backed Abbasi.

Major political parties fielded their respective candidates for the premier's post.

The National Assembly's second biggest party in terms of numbers, the PPP, nominated Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah and Qamar. However, at the eleventh hour Shah withdrew from the election leaving Qamar as the sole PPP candidate.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf fielded Rashid as its nominee. Jamaat-e-Islami fielded Tariqullah as their candidate for the new prime minister.

The PML-N party holds 188 seats in the 342-member Parliament.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says its fighters have killed at least 20 Israeli soldiers in northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip in just two days, in retaliation for the occupying regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

In a statement on Monday evening, Hamas said that fighters of its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, “killed at least five occupation soldiers” in northern parts of the coastal territory earlier in the day.

It added that Hamas fighters also killed 15 Israeli soldiers in the war-ravaged region on Sunday.

The resistance movement’s “qualitative operation … confirms once again the failure of the criminal Zionist entity to suppress and eradicate the Palestinian resistance, which continues to direct qualitative strikes against its terrorist soldiers,” Hamas further said on its Telegram channel.

Palestinians have increased their resistance operations in the face of intensified Israeli aggression in northern Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 over the past weeks.

“Our valiant resistance is waging a war of attrition with the criminal enemy, inflicting daily losses on its soldiers and vehicles, and all of [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bets and dreams of achieving any of his goals are failing,” the Gaza-based resistance movement added.

Hamas also vowed that Israel’s ongoing crimes and aggression against Gaza would be met with increased resistance and painful strikes, which will continue until the aggression against Palestinians ends and the regime fully withdraws from the blockaded territory.

As the war in Gaza enters its 14th month, the Health Ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed at least 43,603 Palestinians and wounded 102,929 others.

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News Network
November 11,2024

Mangaluru: Six youths including teenagers have been arrested by the Bantwal Rural Police in connection with a brutal assault on 21-year-old Aboobakar (name changed to hide identity), an incident that was widely shared on social media after footage revealed the victim tied to a pole and violently beaten.

The arrested individuals, all from Kanchinadkapadavu, Sajipanadu village in Ullal Taluk, have been identified as Mohammad Sapwan (25), Mohammad Rizwan (25), Irfan (27), Anis Ahmad (19), Nasir (27), and Shakeer (18). According to police reports, the assault took place on November 7 in Kanchinadkapadavu.

The sequence of events began when Aboobakar was reportedly called to a residence in Kanchinadkapadavu by a female relative. Upon his arrival, he was confronted by the accused, who questioned his presence, tied him to a pole with ropes, and attacked him while he was shirtless. 

Aboobakar managed to file a police complaint the following day, detailing the assault. As his injuries worsened, he was admitted to a private hospital in Mangaluru.

While in the hospital, Aboobakar alleged that his attackers intended to kill him during the assault. This statement led to additional charges of attempted murder being filed. 

Police officials stated that the suspects were subsequently apprehended, charged with group assault and attempted murder, and placed in judicial custody. The investigation is ongoing, and further details are awaited.

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News Network
November 22,2024

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Bengaluru, Nov 22: For the second day running, the Karnataka BJP on Friday staged a statewide protest condemning the government’s alleged move to notify land of farmers as Waqf property.

The BJP staged a protest before the offices of Deputy Commissioners at district headquarters.

The BJP leaders are vehemently demanding that the state government cancel a 1974 Gazette notification in this regard.

The agitators are also demanding scrapping of the Waqf Board and the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister for Waqf and Housing Zameer Ahmad Khan.

The BJP MLAs, MLCs, MPs gathered in the premises of Freedom Park and staged a protest under the leadership of Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka and slammed the state government.

MLA T.S. Srivatsa led the protest in Mysuru and hundreds of party workers and farmers staged the protest under the leadership of former MP Pratap Simha in Kodagu.

Former MP Sumalatha Ambareesh led the agitation in Mandya.

This was the first time that Sumalatha took part in the party’s programme after the Lok Sabha elections.

State President B.Y. Vijayendra claimed, “The Congress government in Karnataka is issuing notices to farmers claiming the ownership of their lands to the Waqf Board and pushing them on the streets overnight.”

In the first week of December, three teams formed by the BJP will travel across the state and record the grievances of farmers.

“The state government is attempting to snatch away the lands belonging to temples as well,” Vijayendra alleged and added that the teams would comprise all senior leaders of the BJP.

Meanwhile, the police have taken Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik into custody while staging a protest march to the office of Zameer Ahmad Khan in Bengaluru.

Muthalik along with Hindutva activists was planning to lay siege to Zameer’s office over the Waqf row.

The police stopped Muthalik and requested him to submit the memorandum by reaching the minister’s office in a vehicle. However, Muthalik refused to go with the police and continued his footmarch. The police took him into custody following arguments.

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