World
politics
Trump lands in Washington for inauguration celebration amid record cold
WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump has arrived in Washington Saturday evening for an inauguration celebration, taking place amidst record-breaking cold temperatures.
Trump was on board an Air Force plane sent by outgoing President Joe Biden to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, where the Republican had worked on his transition to power after winning the Nov. 5 election over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. His wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared are accompanying him on the plane.
After arriving at Dulles airport in suburban Virginia, Trump traveled to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, on the outskirts of Washington.
Elvis Presley impersonator Leo Days serenaded the incoming president and first lady ahead of a reception for about 500 guests and fireworks display. An aide posted a video on social media showing the singer crooning as the Trumps watched.
The 78-year-old Trump is due to hold a rally with supporters inside the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington on Sunday, the eve of his inauguration, as well as a post-inauguration event Monday afternoon.
A blast of frigid weather forecast for Monday prompted Trump to move the inaugural ceremonies from the iconic west front of the US Capitol building to indoors in the Capitol Rotunda, and the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capital One Arena.
Trump will be sworn in at 12 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) and then delivers his inaugural address, a speech that typically sets the tone for the president’s new four-year term, from the rotunda inside the US Capitol.
It will be the first time since Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in January 1985 that the big event has been moved indoors.
China’s population falls for a third consecutive year
National Bureau of Statistics says total number of people in China dropped by 1.39m to 1.408b in 2024
China’s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the trend will accelerate in the coming years.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the total number of people in China dropped by 1.39 million to 1.408 billion in 2024, compared to 1.409 billion in 2023.
Friday’s data reinforces concerns that the world’s second largest economy will struggle as the number of workers and consumers declines. Rising costs from elderly care and retirement benefits are also likely to create additional strains for already indebted local governments.
China’s total number of births was 9.54 million versus 9.02 million in 2023, the statistics bureau said. The birth rate rose to 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2024 versus 6.39 per 1,000 people in 2023.
The number of deaths was 10.93 million in 2024 from 11.1 million in 2023.
China’s birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy China implemented from 1980 to 2015 as well as rapid urbanisation.
As in neighbouring Japan and South Korea, large numbers of Chinese people have moved from rural farms to cities, where having children is more expensive.
The high cost of childcare and education as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family.
Gender discrimination and traditional expectations for women to take care of the home exacerbate the issue, demographers say.
“Much of China’s population decline is rooted in entrenched structural reasons: Without fundamental structural transformations – from enhancing the social safety net to eliminating gender discrimination – the trend of population decline cannot be reversed,” said Yun Zhou, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan.
A 12.4% rise in marriages in 2023 – many delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic – accounted for the rebound in births in 2024, demographers said, but the number is expected to fall again in 2025.
Marriages are a leading indicator for birth rates in China, where many single women cannot access child-raising benefits.
Authorities unveiled a series of measures in 2024 to boost China’s birth rate.
In December they urged colleges and universities to integrate marriage and “love education” into their curriculums to emphasise positive views on marriage, love, fertility and family.
In November, the state council, or cabinet rallied local governments to direct resources towards fixing China’s population crisis and spread respect for childbearing and marriages “at the right age”.
The number of Chinese women of reproductive age, defined by the United Nations as 15-to-49, is set to drop by more than two-thirds to under 100 million by the end of the century.
The retirement-age population, meanwhile, those aged 60 and over, is expected to increase to more than 400 million by 2035 from around 280 million people currently.
The state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences has said the pension system will run out of funds by 2035.
About 22% of China’s population, or 310.31 million people, were aged 60 or over in 2024, against 296.97 million in 2023, the data showed.
Urbanisation also gathered pace with the number of people living in cities up by 10.83 million to 943.3 million. The rural population, meanwhile, declined to 464.78 million.
Farewell address: Biden cautions Americans against Trump’s ‘dangerous’ influence
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden has called on Americans to stay alert against what he described as a “dangerous” oligarchy forming under Donald Trump.
In a televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday, the 82-year-old, set to leave office next week after one term, cautioned against the unchecked power of a wealthy “tech industrial complex.”
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy,” the 82-year-old Democrat said.
“That’s a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people.”
Biden also lashed out at social media firms, with X owner and the world’s richest man Elon Musk set to play a key role in Trump’s incoming administration and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg courting the Republican.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power,” said Biden.
Biden also warned of the dangers of AI, saying that America must take the “lead” over China on the transformative technology, and said that “powerful forces” threatened his climate achievements.
Signing off Trump returns for a second term on January 20, Biden told Americans: “Now it’s your turn to stand guard.”
Biden’s speech took a dark turn after he began by touting his legacy on the economy, healthcare, climate and tackling the gun violence that plagues the United States.
America’s oldest ever president has spent much of his final months in office trying to burnish his reputation before he is replaced by the bitter political rival he defeated in the 2020 election — a result Trump still disputes.
Biden’s efforts got a boost earlier Wednesday when Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal Biden said he’d ordered his administration to cooperate with Trump’s team to reach an accord.
But his legacy was badly damaged by his decision to run for a second term despite his age.
The Democrat was forced to drop out of the race last June after a disastrous debate against Trump, 78, who went on to a commanding victory over Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris.
Polls show Biden remains an unpopular president. A CNN poll published Wednesday showed him with a 36 percent approval rating, remaining at the lowest of his term.
That puts him above Trump, who left office with a 34 percent approval rating, according to the American Presidency Project. The lowest in recent times was Richard Nixon with 24 percent while the highest was Bill Clinton with 66 percent, followed by Barack Obama with 59 percent.
In a letter previewing his remarks Biden took an implicit swipe at Trump earlier Wednesday, saying that he “ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake.”
“And, that’s still the case,” Biden said in the letter.
Biden added in the letter that “I have given my heart and my soul to our nation” and that it had been the “privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years.”
The White House also released a dossier of more than 100-pages setting out his achievements from the economy to healthcare and climate change.
In a farewell interview in the Washington Post published Wednesday, outgoing First Lady Jill Biden took a dig at the Democratic Party for pressing Biden to drop out.
“Let’s just say I was disappointed with how it unfolded,” she said.
Emotions ran high at the White House ahead of his speech.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre — part of a team that brought back regular media briefings after Trump ended them during his first term — fought back tears on her last appearance at the famous podium as she described the “honor of a lifetime.”
Saudi Arabia prepares for Hajj amid rising heat concerns
Saudi Arabia braces for the annual Hajj pilgrimage as experts stress the urgency of mitigating extreme heat risks, which last year claimed over 1,300 lives.
Temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) in the holy city of Makkah last June as 1.8 million worshippers took part in the annual rites, one of the five pillars of Islam.
Saudi officials said 83% of the 1,301 recorded fatalities did not have official Hajj permits and were, therefore, unable to access amenities meant to make the Hajj more bearable, including air-conditioned tents.
It was a high-profile example of the havoc wrought by heat in 2024, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Friday was the hottest year ever recorded.
The vast majority of Hajj pilgrims come from abroad, and diplomats involved in their countries’ responses to last year’s crisis told AFP at the time that most deaths were heat-related.
While Riyadh has not detailed preparations for this year’s pilgrimage — still five months away — authorities will no doubt want to avoid a repeat, said Abderrezak Bouchama of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah International Medical Research Center.
“I think they will above all reduce the risk of illegal pilgrims,” said Bouchama, who has worked with the Saudi government for more than three decades on reducing heat deaths.
“I think they’ve learnt their lesson, so we have to see what kind of measures they have taken for that.”
Other steps to make heat less perilous, such as introducing wearable sensors to quickly detect heat stress, are long-term projects that likely won’t be rolled out by June, Bouchama added.
The Hajj takes place over five to six days, mostly outdoors.
It has experienced several unfortunate incidents over the years, including a tragic stampede during the “stoning the devil” ritual in Mina in 2015, which resulted in the loss of up to 2,300 lives.
Responses in the past have “typically focused on infrastructure improvements and crowd control measures”, said Karim Elgendy, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank.
“Based on this pattern, we would expect authorities to approach the 2025 Hajj with enhanced heat mitigation infrastructure and potentially stricter capacity controls.”
Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota system and distributed to individuals by lottery.
But even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs spur many to attempt the Hajj without a permit, though they risk arrest and deportation if caught.
The introduction of a general tourism visa in 2019 has made it easier for all foreigners, including permit-less pilgrims, to enter the country.
Sealing off entry points to Makkah is “very difficult”, meaning Saudi authorities should expect irregular pilgrims again this year, said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.
Saudi authorities “need to make arrangements not just for registered numbers but also for additional numbers”, particularly cooling and emergency health facilities, he said.
Yet, Elgendy stressed last year’s deaths were the product of “an unprecedented perfect storm of environmental conditions”, not just a strain on resources caused by unregistered pilgrims.
On top of high temperatures, “the summer solstice timing meant pilgrims faced maximum sun exposure during outdoor rituals”, he said.
The Hajj’s timing is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar and will move forward about 11 days in the Gregorian calendar, meaning this year it will again fall during the scorching Saudi summer.
Los Angeles fire evacuees told no return for at least a week
Los Angeles – Tens of thousands of people ordered to flee their homes as wildfires tore through Los Angeles were told the other day they would not be allowed back for at least a week, with fears over electrocution, landslides and exposure to toxic materials.
Frustration is mounting among evacuees, who are angry over rules that restrict them from returning to their homes, even if the structures survived the deadly blazes.
“There was a group chat where everyone was complaining, getting mad, saying, why do they keep on locking us out of our homes?” Ronnen Miz told a local wire service.
With 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) burned in two ferocious fires, the situation is just too dangerous, officials said.
Electricity, gas and sewage lines are wrecked, there is toxic waste everywhere, and a growing threat of hazardous mudslides or landslips, a news conference heard.
Authorities were pursuing heat-mitigation measures at holy sites long before last year’s deaths.
Near the Kaaba, the black cubic structure in the Grand Mosque in Makkah towards which all Muslims pray, air-conditioned spaces allow pilgrims to cool off, and a climate-controlled pathway connects the hills of Safa and Marwa inside the mosque compound.
Since 2023, roads used by the faithful have been covered in a white cooling material that Saudi officials say reduces the temperature of the asphalt by 20%.
Volunteers also distribute water and umbrellas and offer advice to pilgrims on avoiding hyperthermia, while misting systems and air-conditioned shopping malls provide temporary relief between prayers.
“Air conditioning is the only effective measure to protect against extreme heat,” said Bouchama, calling for mobile cooling units to be deployed among pilgrims.
“Drinking water helps to rehydrate, but it is not enough. You have to get out of the heat.”
Even if such steps aren’t in place by this year’s Hajj in June, they are still worth pursuing, he said.
While the pilgrimage will eventually shift to the cooler winter season, relief will be temporary.
A 2019 study published by the journal Geophysical Research Letters said because of climate change and the timing of the Hajj, heat stress for pilgrims will exceed the “extreme danger threshold” from 2047 to 2052, and 2079 to 2086.
Economy (world)
PAKISTAN
Politics
Al-Qadir Trust case: Tarar says govt committed to recover stolen money for public welfare
Addressing a joint press conference alongside religious scholars, Tarar criticised the former ruling party for resorting to religious sentiments after failing to present a legal defence in the £190 million corruption case, which he described as an “open-and-shut” matter with no ambiguities or legal loopholes.
The minister challenged the PTI to clarify whether the £190 million recovered by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) was handed over to Pakistan and questioned if the money was returned to the same individual from whom it was confiscated.
He alleged that during PTI’s tenure, Shahzad Akbar, then head of the Asset Recovery Unit, confirmed to the NCA in 2020 that the funds had been recovered and transferred to Pakistan.
However, Tarar claimed the funds were returned to the original offender following cabinet approval in a sealed envelope.
Terming it the largest robbery in the country’s history, Tarar pointed out that PTI’s founder and other accused were convicted in the case.
He questioned the source of wealth used by the PTI leader and his wife to purchase a luxury home worth Rs 250 million and a 200-kanal property in Lahore.
He also alleged that PTI leadership demanded five-carat diamond rings and misused public funds.
The minister stressed that the recovered money was meant for Pakistan’s welfare, including education, health, and infrastructure projects, but was instead returned illegally to the offender.
Regarding the Al-Qadir Trust case, Tarar alleged that PTI gave the trust a religious facade while using it for personal gain.
He highlighted that constructing a mosque or religious institution with “stolen money “is impermissible.
He stated that the corruption and scandals of the former prime minister had made global headlines, yet the PTI “continues to exploit religion for political gain”.
Tarar demanded that religion should not be used as a tool in politics, asserting that politics does not hold the sanctity that religion does.
He urged the Khan-founded party to refrain from using religion in politics for its vested interests.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui seeks presidential pardon ahead of power transition in US
Hours before the power transition in the United States (US), Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist currently serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, has sought presidential pardon, terming her jail term as “a blatant miscarriage of justice”.
Siddiqui, who has been languishing in US prison for over 14 years, hoped she would be freed after “new evidence” emerged which may suggest her innocence, Sky News reported.
She has maintained her innocence and hopes “the tide could now be turning”.
“I hope I am not forgotten, and I hope that one day soon I will be released,” she told the British news channel through her lawyer.
“I am… a victim of injustice, pure and simple. Every day is torture… it is not easy. One day, Inshallah (God-willing), I will be released from this torment.”
In a 76,500-word dossier, her counsel Clive Stafford Smith urged outgoing US President Joe Biden to issue a pardon for her client.
Her lawyer claims a catalogue of intelligence errors led to her initially becoming a suspect, citing witness testimonies that were unavailable at the time of her trial.
He alleges that, while Siddiqui was visiting Pakistan in 2003, she was abducted with her three children and handed to the CIA, which took her to Bagram air base in Afghanistan.
At the time of her trial in 2010, the judge stated: “There is no credible evidence in the record that the US officials and/or agencies detained Siddiqui” before her 2008 arrest, adding there is “no evidence in the record to substantiate these allegations or to establish them as fact”.
Her lawyer was of the view that the US intelligence “got the wrong end of the stick in the beginning” as agencies thought Siddiqui was a nuclear physicist working on a radioactive bomb “when she really did her PhD in education”.
FIA uncovers human smuggling gang involving woman, three sons
ISLAMABAD: In a groundbreaking investigation following the Mauritanian boat tragedy, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has uncovered a human trafficking network in Gujarat involving a woman named Ghulam Fatima and her three sons.
The FIA officials have arrested Fatima and completed her interrogation, revealing a novel trafficking route passing through Senegal, a departure from the previously used paths through the UAE, Egypt, and Libya, on Saturday.
The tragic boat incident occurred as those deceived were promised entry into Spain from Mauritania but were instead left to perish at sea after conflicts with local smugglers over additional payments. This new pathway exploited Senegal’s relatively easy visa process, charging hopeful migrants between Rs2.5 to Rs4 million each.
As law enforcement agency pursued leads, they discovered Fatima’s son, Hassan, residing in Italy, while another son, Khawar, had led a group to Senegal in August 2024. This group was subsequently smuggled into Mauritania and fell victim to the deadly scheme. The bodies of those deceived washed ashore in Morocco’s Dakhla region.
Farhan, another son of Fatima, allegedly assisted in the local operations to send individuals illegally abroad, mysteriously disappeared from home following news of the boat tragedy on January 2, 2025. Authorities have confiscated a luxury vehicle recently purchased by the family, suspecting it was acquired through the proceeds of trafficking.
Fatima admitted to handling substantial sums directly from migrants and managing financial transactions through her sons’ accounts.
Analysis of data from her mobile phone has proven invaluable to the investigation. Her arrest, kept confidential to maintain investigative secrecy, occurred in the village of Jhoda. Following the inquiry, Fatima was placed under judicial custody.
The FIA, under the leadership of Gujranwala’s Director Qamar and Gujarat’s Deputy Director Bilal Tariq, filed three separate cases. One in Gujranwala and two in Gujrat respectively.
Simultaneously, Pakistani embassy officials led by the mission head Rabia Kasuri in Morocco are working on identifying survivors and addressing legal complexities for the repatriation of bodies. In light of the Prime Minister’s directives, a high-level four-member committee, including officials from the FIA and IB, is set to reach Morocco shortly to expedite the investigation.
This intricate case spans multiple countries—including Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco—and challenges the authorities to dismantle a complex underworld network of human traffickers.
British MPs call for immediate release of Imran Khan, other ‘political prisoners’
LONDON: A large group of British parliamentarians called for the immediate release of former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan as well as other political prisoners facing charges on several counts, including the May 9 and November 26 violence and chaos caused in the country at an event at the Portcullis House on Thursday.
The event was organised by a newly formed Friends of Democratic Pakistan-UK (FODP), set up by Safina Faisal, who said she took the initiative to highlight the issues, including the “killing of peaceful protestors, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests targeting political workers, women, and journalists. Military trials of civilians and the erosion of democracy demand urgent attention”.
The event was chaired by James Frith MP (Labour Party) and addressed by former minister in the Khan’s cabinet Zulfi Bukhari, former accountability chief Shehzad Akbar, Lord Daniel Hannan and some activists who alleged violations of their rights for standing up for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The MPs who attended the event included Andrew Pakes (Labour), Naz Shah (Labour), Jeremy Corbyn (Independent), Paul Waugh (Labour), James Asser (Labour), Kate Deardon (Labour), Jas Athwal (Labour), Gurinder Josan (Labour), Margaret Mullaine (Labour), Warinder Juss (Labour), Adnan Hussain (Independent), Preet Kaur (Labour), Ayoub Khan (Independent) and Iqbal Mohamed (Independent).
Azhar Mashwani and Khan’s nephew Sher Shah also attended the event; however, they didn’t address the gathering.
Friends of Democratic Pakistan’s Faisal called for the accountability of the establishment figures from different institutions over alleged violations of international law.
PTI founder’s former adviser and cabinet minister Bukhari claimed that hundreds died during a PTI protest in Islamabad in November.
He said that a UN Working Group report has categorically said that Khan’s detention is illegal and he has been facing inhumane conditions in prison.
“Since April 2022, torture has been used as a weapon to break down our party. Hundreds of our workers, lawmakers and leaders are in jail and have been tortured,” he said.
“Azam Swati and Shehbaz Gill are two examples. They were tortured in daylight because they were close to Khan and stood by him. Intimate videos have been used against our politicians to blackmail them and break them down,” Bukhari added.
Bukhari claimed that Khan remains mostly in solitary confinement and rarely gets the chance to meet his lawyers and family, “His wife was put in prison. She may not have been given poison but was given inadequate food to create massive health issues for her. Things were made so difficult for her at home that she went to the court to petition to be jailed with Imran Khan. His house was completely sealed down to torture her”.
While Akbar in his address stated that Pakistan’s democracy has “always been compromised”.
“Transnational repression should concern the UK MPs as this concerns British citizens. I am a victim of that repression. After I moved to the UK, my brother was kidnapped and released only after intervention by my UK MP. Many overseas Pakistanis saw their family members abducted,” he said.
“This is about the erosion and eradication of a whole democratic system. Rigging was done both before and after to steal the people’s mandate. The purpose was to bring new amendments to change the nature and structure of the judiciary. Judges have been kidnapped and blackmailed,” he said.
“This was all done to get the system to surrender to the decision-makers. Military courts were not possible without the 26th Amendment and what’s happening now is for all to see. The power is in the hands of the s=executive, and free judiciary is over in today’s Pakistan,” the former minister concluded.
Lord Hannan said Khan’s PTI won the elections of 2023 “massively” but every effort was made to thwart the party from forming government in the centre.
“Pakistanis have been effectively living under martial law. The killings in Islamabad have been at a different scale. You cannot be indifferent to the agony of democracy in a friendly country. We must raise our voice as there are 1.5 million Pakistanis who are directly affected by what’s happening in Pakistan,” Hannan said.
He said the sanctions don’t work against the states but can work if they are targeted and against the specific, named individuals involved in human rights violations.
At the end of the session, the forum called for the “restoration of judicial independence” and release of all political prisoners, targeted sanctions on the officials responsible for human rights abuses, an independent international investigation into the suppression of peaceful protests and the Pakistan government’s role in it, investigate and raise concerns about the transnational repression, bring about the immediate publication of the Commonwealth election observation report, and ensure transparency and fairness of trials.
This hearing follows a similar session held last summer, where UK parliamentarians discussed the detention of former prime minister Khan, whose arrest triggered widespread protests.
A heated argument broke out outside the venue between a group of journalists and the organisers of the event.
The journalists, who protested, were not allowed entry into the event and were told their names were not approved for coverage.
Govt-PTI talks on edge
Kh Asif says if PTI negotiating with establishment then they should not hold talks with democratic forces. Siddiqui says parallel talks at multiple levels not feasible. Mahmood Achakzai opposes PTI talks with govt. Asad Qaiser says PML-N leaders using different tactics to sabotage talks. Govt to spend amount recovered from Al-Qadir Trust case on public welfare: Tarar.
ISLAMABAD/SWABI/ LAHORE – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders on Saturday lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for holding parallel talks at multiple levels. They warned that if the PTI is negotiating with the establishment then they should not hold talks simultaneously with democratic forces.
On the other hand, the party of former PM Imran Khan insists that the negotiations with the government will continue despite the fresh court verdict against the PTI founder.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said that 190 million pound Al-Qadir Trust case is a glaring example of corruption and misuse of power. Talking to a private news channel, he pointed out that the case revolves around serious questions of accountability and transparency.
“The documentary evidence clearly shows the misuse of authority,” he said while adding that the core issue is why such a large sum of money ended up in the account of a prominent property tycoon. Referring to the PTI dialogue committee, he noted their claim that the outcome of the case would not impact ongoing political negotiations. “Now, it’s a matter of watching how their negotiating committee proceeds,” he added. On the topic of PTI’s talks with the establishment, he criticised them by saying that they were trying to walk two paths at the same time. “If they are negotiating with the establishment, they should not simultaneously hold talks with democratic forces,” he remarked. Replying to a query regarding the Kurram situation, the defense minister voiced support for efforts to restore peace in the district.
PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui, who is also the spokesperson for the government’s negotiation committee, called on PTI to decide whether it wants to pursue ‘backdoor’ or ‘front door’ negotiations, stressing that parallel talks at multiple levels are not feasible.
In an interview, Siddiqui suggested that PTI notify its negotiation committee that talks with the government are no longer necessary, as it is satisfied with the discussions happening elsewhere. Siddiqui pointed out that although leaders from all political parties participated in a meeting addressing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s security issues, the interim chairman of PTI described it as a “personal meeting and negotiation,” a view that was also endorsed by PTI’s founder.
Reacting to the PTI founder’s tweet calling the government dishonest and criticising the negotiation team, Senator Siddiqui questioned why PTI would choose to negotiate with a government it considers dishonest.
He further recalled that the PTI founder had previously formed a negotiation committee with the same individuals, urging the speaker to request the prime minister to establish a government negotiation committee. Siddiqui remarked, “If we are dishonest, why did you choose to negotiate with us?” He also referenced Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar’s alignment with the PTI founder’s position, especially regarding the call for a single law for both the rich and the poor, frequently citing the example of the State of Medina. According to this principle, his appeal should be addressed in due course.
During the committee meeting, PTI’s charter of demands was perceived as a charge sheet against the government. Senator Siddiqui clarified that both committees had previously agreed that any court ruling would not hinder the negotiation process. He also mentioned that the government committee would provide a written response to PTI within seven working days, specifically by January 28.
PTI leader and former speaker of national assembly Asad Qaiser said Saturday while addressing a gathering here that the negotiations with the government will continue as per directives of Pakistan PTI founder Imran Khan.
In his address to the party workers, he said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter, Maryam Nawaz and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif have used different tactics to sabotage the parleys with the government. Asad Qaiser said that they were trying to continue talks with the government in the best interest of the country as Pakistan faced isolation and economic backwardness. “The country faces several complex issues,” he remarked. He said that the life in the strategically important merged districts has been completely paralysed, people are very fed up with the poor law and order situation and now they are revolting, looking at these complicated scenarios, we initiated talks with government while striving for peace and prosperity of the country.
The PTI leader said that if they were not interested in negotiate, then first they could say that the present regime assumed power as a result of fake mandate, we can pretend that return our mandate, however they were not looking for pretends but want to work together for our beloved country.
Meanwhile, PTI ally and president of opposition alliance Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan, Mahmood Achakzai, opposed the talks currently being held with the government.
In an interview on a private TV talk show, Achakzai said that no common citizen considered the government to be legitimate and questioned how talks could be held with an illegitimate entity.
“If any talks are held with an illegitimate, illegal and unelected government then they will be on how to make it legitimate.” He said negotiations were always held for a purpose and questioned if there was any for the current talks.
Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Saturday asked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to refrain from using religion in politics for its vested interests.
Addressing a press conference alongside religious scholars on Saturday, he criticised the PTI for resorting to religious sentiments after failing to present a legal defence in the £190 million case, which he described as an “open-and-shut” matter with no ambiguities or legal loopholes.
The minister challenged the PTI to clarify whether the £190 million recovered by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) was handed over to Pakistan and questioned if the money was returned to the same individual from whom it was confiscated.
Calling the case one of Pakistan’s most significant legal verdicts, Tarar accused the PTI of using religion to conceal corruption. He alleged that during PTI’s tenure, Shahzad Akbar, head of the Asset Recovery Unit, confirmed to the NCA in 2020 that the funds had been recovered and transferred to Pakistan. However, Tarar claimed the funds were returned to the original offender following cabinet approval in a sealed envelope. Terming it the largest robbery in Pakistan’s history, Tarar pointed out that PTI’s founder and other accused were convicted in the case. He questioned the source of wealth used by the PTI leader and his wife to purchase a luxury home worth Rs 250 million and a 200-kanal property in Lahore. He also alleged that PTI leadership demanded five-carat diamond rings and misused public funds.
The minister stressed that the recovered money was meant for Pakistan’s welfare, including education, health, and infrastructure projects, but was instead returned illegally to the offender. He criticized PTI’s actions at sacred sites, such as Masjid-e-Nabwi, where political protests disrespected the sanctity of the mosque. Regarding the Al-Qadir Trust case, Tarar alleged that PTI gave the trust a religious facade while using it for personal gain. He highlighted that constructing a mosque or religious institution with stolen money is impermissible.
He stated that the corruption and scandals of the former prime minister had made global headlines, yet the PTI continues to exploit religion for political gain. Tarar demanded that religion should not be used as a tool in politics, asserting that politics does not hold the sanctity that religion does.
Concluding his remarks, Tarar assured that the government is committed to recovering stolen national wealth for public welfare. Religious scholars present at the event echoed his views, urging political leaders not to use religion as a cover for corruption.