Shahbaz Asks ISI To Show Proof Of Treason, Russia Says US Punishing Imran Khan | Top Points

The Pakistan Supreme Court issued directives seeking the record of National Assembly proceedings which were conducted after the no-confidence motion was tabled against Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan.

The court sought the record as it resumed its hearing on the legality of the ruling by deputy speaker Qasim Suri on the no-confidence resolution, news agency the Dawn reported. A five-judge bench is presiding over the proceedings. The bench is headed by Pakistan chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, justices Ijazul Ahsan, Mohammad Ali Mazhar, Munib Akhtar and Jamal Khan Mandokhail.

Here are the latest developments from Islamabad:

1. The Pakistan election commission dismissed reports that it will be unable to hold elections within three months and said that no announcements related to the elections were made. “It is necessary to clarify that the Election Commission of Pakistan has not issued any statement regarding the election,” the nation’s election commission tweeted.
2. Russia weighed in on the constitutional crisis Islamabad currently faces by supporting Imran Khan’s narrative and saying that the US should be held accountable for its ‘shameless interference’ in Pakistan’s domestic affairs. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the US and its western allies ‘began to exert rude pressure on’ Imran Khan after his visit to Moscow when he met Russian president Vladimir Putin.
3. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif said that he has not received any letter from Pakistan president Dr Arif Alvi regarding the appointment of an interim prime minister. He said that the president, like the prime minister Imran Khan, also violated the constitution.
4. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that there is need for electoral reforms if fresh polls will be held, according to news agency the Express Tribune. He claimed that Imran Khan rose to power by rigging the poll results in 2018 and said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will do the same this time as well.
5. Shehbaz Sharif also demanded that the chief of army staff and director general for Inter-Services Intelligence bring forth the accusations of treason levelled against the opposition. Similar demands were made by cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
6. Pakistan military officials familiar with developments told news agency the Express Tribune that there was ‘evidence to suggest the United States had threatened or was involved in the conspiracy to seek the ouster of the PTI government’.
7. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme with Pakistan has hit the brakes following the collapse of the Imran Khan-led PTI government. Speaking to news agency the Dawn, Esther Perez Ruiz, IMF’s resident representative in Islamabad, said that the UN agency will engage with the new government once it is formed. The $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) helped Pakistan weather severe currency and fiscal crisis.

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