PML-N submits privilege motion against Altaf Hussain

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday submitted a privilege motion against the statements issued by Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain.

At least 87 PML-N members signed the privilege motion which was submitted in the National Assembly Secretariat.

The motion says that the statement issued by Altaf Hussain is against the spirit of democracy and the sanctity of the parliament. The motion will be forwarded to the national assembly’s standing committee on privilege.

President Zardari slams MQM chief’s pro-martial law statement

Reacting to MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s support to martial law to weed out corrupt politicians and feudal lords, President Asif Ali Zardari said no one in his right mind will want to take this responsibility and that only democracy can carry this yoke.

In an interview to Western journalists,  Zardari denied that the country’s worst humanitarian disaster would impair the military’s fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants, conducted under US pressure in the northwest.

The president called on Washington to make more efforts to win over hearts and minds from entrenched anti-Americanism, such as by reducing tariffs on cotton exports.

Zardari denied that the country’s worst humanitarian disaster would impair the military’s fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Musharraf expected to return in September

LAHORE: Former president Pervez Musharraf is expected to announce his election manifesto in September on his return to the country.

This was announced by All Pakistan Muslim League Chief Coordinator Chaudhry Shahbaz during a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday.

He said the former president will face all charges against him, adding that the government is even free to probe Nawab Akbar Bugti’s assassination and the Lal Mosque carnage.

Shahbaz also disclosed the merger of the All Pakistan Muslim League and PML-Q in the days ahead.

Musharraf’s political party launched

KARACHI: With self-exiled retired General Pervez Musharraf as its chief, the All-Pakistan Muslim League was launched by his close aides here on Tuesday.

Equating the present situation with that of 1906 when the All-India Muslim League was launched, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, a central leader of the new party, said that as the AIML overcame hurdles on its way to success, “God willing, ours would also become a popular political party and play its role in Pakistan’s progress.”

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club with retired Major-General Rashid Qureshi, another central leader of the party, Mr Saif said the party was against hereditary politics and would carry out its politics in a democratic manner to serve the people.

Nawaz closes door for fake degree holders

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has advised all parliamentarians who have become members of the parliament by filing fake degrees to resign voluntarily and save themselves from disgrace.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, he said that his party had been following a principled stance that those who had made it into the assemblies through cheating had no right to represent the people. Nawaz said that clear instructions had been issued to the Muslim League Parliamentary Board that no candidate who had a fake degree would be issued a party ticket.

He said that the PML-N had followed this policy by not issuing a party ticket to one such candidate in Burewala, though he enjoyed public support in his constituency. He said his party accepted the loss of a NA seat but only in pursuit of a principle. Nawaz said no compromise will be made on this rule and no one will be allowed to make a mockery of democracy.

Plea to install machines to detect politicians’ lies

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday postponed till June 23 the hearing of a petition seeking installation of lie detectors throughout the country to expose politicians’ lies.

The adjournment was requested by counsel for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, whose permanent disqualification is also demanded in the petition.

The petitioner wants all Pakistani politicians to bring back assets they own in foreign countries.

The court had earlier directed the federal government to prepare a feasibility report and allocate special funds for purchasing ‘lie detectors’ for quick investigation and resolution of cases.

Nisar lashes out at budget, calls for farm tax

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader Nisar Ali Khan proposed agriculture tax on behalf of the PML-N as he opened a general debate on the budget in the National Assembly on Tuesday, to be told by a minister that the provinces were free to levy it.

Chaudhry Nisar lambasted the federal budget for 2010-11 as visionless and accused the government of doing little to deal with the country’s major problems such as the price-hike, energy shortages and poverty, climaxing his tirade with a token opposition walkout over perceived failures, including an alleged disregard of Supreme Court rulings and a delay in bringing a new accountability law.

But despite his strong criticism of what he called the “worst record” in the economic field in over two years of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s government, he found “freshness” in soft-spoken Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh’s presentation of the

Opposition, MQM embarrass government in budget debate

ISLAMABAD: The government faced embarrassment in both chambers of parliament on Tuesday as not only the opposition but also its staunchest ally, the MQM, launched a blistering attack on the new budget and staged separate walkouts.

The opposition in the National Assembly called for addressing ‘structural imbalances’ in Pakistan’s economy and bringing agriculture under the tax net before it staged a walkout that was also joined by one of the government’s key allies to protest price hike and ‘visionless’ budget.

At the opening day of debate on budget in both the houses of parliament, the government suffered multiple setbacks when its economic policies came under fire from both sides of the political spectrum.