ISLAMABAD: Following their second defeat from the hotly-contested seat, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has once again challenged the results of the Oct 11 by-elections held in NA-122 Lahore asking the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), once again, to decide whether National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was, in fact, the rightful winner.
ISLAMABAD: The gap between male and female voters has widened from 10.97 million in May 2013 to 11.65m in Sept 2015, with the Islamabad Capital Territory being the only part of the country having around 46 per cent women voters.
A meeting between Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and Hizbullah leader's political assistant Hajj Hussein Khalil has reportedly took place late on Wednesday where talks tackled the latest developments at the presidential level, reports said.
Despite the latest settlement that saw the possible nomination of Marada leader MP Suleiman Franjieh for the top state post, Hizbullah continues to support its sole candidate MP Michel Aoun, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.
Persons imprisoned over deliberate criminal activity will now be able to be candidates in elections, according to the latest ruling of Turkey’s Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court annulled several items of Article 53 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) that deprived prisoners of the right to candidacy, vote and other political activities, stating in its ruling that the items in question violate the constitution, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkey’s new government under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has set the adoption of the presidential system in line with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s desires as one its top priorities, together with the approval of a new constitution and improvements on democratization.
ISLAMABAD: In a significant development on Tuesday, the two main opposition parties — PPP and PTI — decided to sit on opposition benches in the National Assembly and give a tough time to the government.
A PTI delegation headed by Shah Mehmood Qureshi called on Leader of the Opposition Syed Khurshid Shah at the latter’s Parliament House chamber to discuss various options for playing the role of combined opposition.
The two sides, the sources said, had agreed to play an effective role in the parliament and to raise issues jointly from a single platform.
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed on Tuesday the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) authorities to file comments on a petition challenging the delimitation of union councils (UCs) in Korangi district.
A division bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, directed the authorities to file their comments by November 26. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had challenged the delimitation of certain UCs in Korangi.
Political parties in Karachi seem to have taken the election commission’s nomenclature for the local government setup in the literal sense and have largely ignored the female population when allotting tickets for the posts of chairman, vice-chairman and general councillors in the upcoming polls.
The capital’s Deputy Commissioner Mushtaq Ahmed has said the administration is all set v ensure free, fair and transparent local bodies elections in the city.
He was presiding over a meeting of district election commission, attended by officials and representatives of political parties. Ahmed directed all district officials to ensure strict implementation of code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, saying said strict legal action would be taken against anyone found violating the code.
ISLAMABAD: The top election authority has decided to deploy troops at 62 ‘highly sensitive’ buildings in Islamabad for local government polls scheduled for November 30.
The decision was taken on Tuesday during a meeting of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) held to review arrangements for the elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan presided over the meeting, where the interior secretary, Punjab police chief and Islamabad chief election commissioner among other officials were also present.
JEDDAH — So far 120 out of 1,019 women candidates running for municipal councils have withdrawn their candidatures, Al-Hayat Arabic daily quoted National Committee for the Municipal Elections spokesman Jidai Al-Qahtani as saying on Tuesday.
He said the total number of candidates was 7,380, but 384 candidates have withdrawn.
Fifty of the candidates who withdrew were from Riyadh. The last day for withdrawal in Riyadh was on Thursday. All remaining candidates must go through to the fourth phase and campaign for their election.
U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Lebanese leaders to exert urgent efforts to put an end to the ongoing presidential vacuum, in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the occasion of Lebanon's Independence Day.
“For the sake of Lebanon's stability and security, now is the time for Lebanese leaders to act in the national interest and elect a president,” said Obama in the letter that was distributed by the U.S. embassy on Tuesday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has approved a cabinet list drafted by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, one week after commissioning the premier to form a new cabinet in the wake of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) victory in the Nov. 1 elections.
Erdoğan asked Davutoğlu, who is also the head of the AKP, to form a new government on Nov. 17.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced Turkey's new cabinet on Nov. 24 after the list was approved by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Former Finance Minister Mehmet Şişmek has become the deputy prime minister in charge of economy, while Ali Babacan was not included in the cabinet.
Berat Albayrak, President Erdoğan’s son-in-law became the country's new energy minister.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has challenged a judgment of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench, which set aside the delimitation of union councils of villages — such as Kotli Sattian and Murree — in the district Rawalpindi.
The appeal was instituted before the Supreme Court by ECP. On Oct 8, the court had declared the new delimitation of union councils null and void. These included areas such as Darnoin, Dheer Gran and Korina Kalan in Tehsil Kotli Sattian; Seribari, Dhall and Ghora Gali in Tehsil Murree, Hayyal Sharif and Banda Nagial etc.
KABUL (Pajhwok): Some Mesharano Jirga members on Tuesday said the government was not willing to hold parliamentary and district council elections, stressing increased pressure on the regime to conduct the ballots.
Senator Gul Ahmad Azami said they had recently a meeting with the president, in which they found the government unwillingness to conduct the elections visible.
He said if more pressure was not exerted on the government, the elections to the lower house might not take place in next two years.
The Knesset late Monday approved the second and third readings of a bill which effectively postpones a previous law mandating ultra-Orthodox conscription into the IDF.
The new law was voted in by a count of 49 in favor and 36 opposed.
Likud MKs Sharren Haskel and Yoav Kisch did not take part in the vote.
MK Merav Ben-Ari (Kulanu) also skipped the vote, but made sure to find an opposition MK to offset her absence.
Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun noted that Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh has the needed characteristics to become president, adding that he is willing to back his bid for the presidency, reported As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.
His visitors told the daily that the lawmaker is “willing to give his blessing to Franjieh's candidacy if he garners the necessary votes at parliament.”
Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun noted that Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh has the needed characteristics to become president, adding that he is willing to back his bid for the presidency, reported As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.
His visitors told the daily that the lawmaker is “willing to give his blessing to Franjieh's candidacy if he garners the necessary votes at parliament.”
