Thursday, December 1, 2016
Bilawal swears to shake Sharifs kingdom
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday said his party would take to the streets from December 27.
He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would not accept his four-point demands regarding Panama bill, accountability of PM, removal of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and appointment of a foreign minister. He said that the dictatorship of ‘Takht-e-Raiwind’ will be abolished. He was addressing workers on the party’s 49th foundation day at Bilawal House. His sisters Bakhtawar and Aseefa were also present.
Bilawal reached Lahore from Dubai overnight to take part in the party’s foundation day celebrations, which started from today (Wednesday). Punjab PPP senior leaders and workers led by Qamar Zaman Kaira gave him a warm reception.
Bilawal announced that he would not give his political rivals a chance to rig next general election. He hoped that he would come to power.
He said that he had worked to introduce a progressive but practical agenda.
He said that judiciary and other institutions are silent on the biggest corruption scandal of the world, the Panama leaks, in which the Sharifs are involved.
He said on one hand the judiciary sent PPP’s premier Yousaf Raza Gilani home for not writing a letter to the Swiss government, but on the other hand it is giving immunity to Nawaz Sharif despite his involvement in Panamagate case.
He also said, “Judiciary and other power institutions are silent against rulers but all laws are being practiced on us as… justice was not being given to Asia Bibi or Mukhtaran Mai.”
He praised Lahore for giving honour to the Bhuttos in the past and now to him. He also said he loved Lahore as it has more progressive people.
He said that district-level organisation of the party was underway and every possible step would be taken to bring democratic reforms.
The PPP chairman said slain PPP chairwoman Benazir Bhutto never led a sit-in at any chowk or cursed political rivals, or attacked a national institution which is what PPP believed in.
A fresh charter and an agenda would be introduced which would be a progressive platform for the people of the country, he added.
Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had founded the party in November 30, 1967.
Several rallies were conducted across the country by the party enthusiasts.
Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Khursheed Shah, Leader of the Opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, former information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira and Senator Sherry Rehman were among those prominent participants.
Earlier, several party leaders including Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nisar Khoro, Hamayun Khan, FATA PPP leader Akhundzada Chatan, Javed Mehmood and Ali Madad Jatak addressed the gathering.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/punjab/01-Dec-16/bilawal-swears-to-shake-sharifs-kingdom
Donald Trump’s Call With Pakistan Was a Hypocritical Mess
Jeff Nesbit
His private words don't align with his public message
We finally have our first glimpse of what a Donald Trump foreign policy doctrine might eventually look like. Pakistan’s government released a readout Wednesday of a phone call with Pakistan’s prime minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. It offers the first inside glimpse into Trump’s private talks with world leaders since his election victory.
Let’s start with the obvious. Roughly 96% of the total population of Pakistan is Muslim. In the phone call, President-elect Trump said that “Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people,” according to the readout. Yet Trump, in December 2015, called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”—which would, of course, presumably cover almost all Pakistanis. These two things don’t add up. But that’s all right because this is just a get-to-know-you phone call between two world leaders.
Trump later modulated his “total ban” on Muslims to include only “extreme vetting” of any Muslim trying to enter the U.S. from “terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur.” Trump promised that this would start on day one of his presidency because he can do this without any congressional oversight.
Pakistan is the country where Navy Seals—on orders from their commander-in-chief, President Obama—killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attack. This, by definition, puts Pakistan into Trump’s “terror-prone regions” category. So even the best and the brightest Pakistanis would, at a minimum, be subject to “extreme vetting” under the emerging Trump foreign policy doctrine.
Meanwhile, lurking in the background is this: Pakistan has more than 1.5 million refugees in its country, according to a recent study from Oxfam. It has the fourth highest number of refugees in the world, after Jordan, Turkey and the Occupied Palestinian Authority. Hundreds of thousands are refugees in Pakistan who have fled from the Afghanistan conflict.
In his phone call, Trump told Pakistan’s prime minister that he had a “very good reputation,” He reportedly added: “You are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way.” But, under the rules of engagement under the emerging Trump doctrine, Pakistan’s leader isn’t welcome in the U.S., along with any of the 1.5 million refugees in that country.
The Trump organization does business in Turkey. It might also wish to do business in Pakistan. This sort of global reach is one of the serious business conflicts of interest that Trump aides are trying to sort out between now and Dec. 15 when the president-elect has said that he’ll announce his plan to completely exit his business as he enters the White House.
Trump invited Pakistan’s prime minister to call him anytime before he is inaugurated on Jan. 20. “Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities,” Trump said, according to the readout. “I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems.”
What isn’t apparent here, though, is whether Trump was referring to business interests when he alluded to “tremendous opportunities”—or something else entirely that might be negotiated without anyone from Pakistan ever being allowed to set foot in the U.S.
According to the readout, when Pakistan’s prime minister invited the president-elect to visit his country, “Mr. Trump said that he would love to come to a fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people. Please convey to the Pakistani people that they are amazing and all Pakistanis I have known are exceptional people, said Mr. Donald Trump.”
What should be obvious here is that Trump’s words, in a private phone call, don’t align much with what he’s said in his public campaign rallies. So we’re left with this question: which one is the real doctrine? Is it the one that flatters a “fantastic people” who are “some of the most intelligent” in the world? Or is it the one that requires every one of these very same people to undergo “extreme vetting” before they can set foot in the U.S.?
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