ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday promised to gather “a sea of people” in front of the parliament building in Islamabad one day ahead of the no-trust voting against him at the National Assembly while addressing a public rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Dir region.
The opposition submitted a no-confidence motion against Khan earlier this week while hoping to bring down his administration and take the country toward fresh general elections.
The prime minister held meetings with his coalition partners soon after the development, though his senior cabinet members maintained the government still had the majority in the house.
Addressing the gathering on Friday, the prime minister bitterly criticized top opposition leaders while saying they had plundered the country and stashed all their wealth abroad.
“The whole nation will witness a sea of people on D-Chowk [facing the parliament building] one day ahead of the no-confidence session,” he told a roaring crowd of his party followers.
While the no-trust motion has been initiated against the prime minister, the National Assembly session to process it has not been announced yet.
Referring to the heads of three opposition parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — that filed the no-confidence motion, he said: “The reason why I am asking people to come out ahead of the no-trust voting is to show these three stooges that this nation is still alive.”
Khan added the people of Pakistan were capable of distinguishing between good and evil.
He even went on to say that he was praying to God for the opposition to bring the no-trust motion against him.
“Now I can make all three wickets fall with a single bowl,” the prime minister, a former cricket great, said amid a huge round of applause.
Responding to his speech, president of the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance Maulana Fazlur Rehman asked the election commission how the prime minister could hold such public rallies when a no-confidence motion had been filed against him.
“He used to say ideal things [ahead of the last general elections],” he told a news conference in Islamabad. “Now his narrative is not going to work since he has been tried and exposed.”
Rehman also criticized the prime minister for using “coarse language” against him and other opposition leaders, saying a man like Khan did not deserve to be the prime minister of the country.
PM Khan promises ‘sea of people’ in front of parliament a day before no-trust vote
https://arab.news/4dt4f
PM Khan promises ‘sea of people’ in front of parliament a day before no-trust vote
- The prime minister calls heads of opposition parties ‘three stooges’ who plundered the nation
- Head of the PDM opposition alliance tells Khan he has been ‘tried and exposed’ after the last elections
Pakistan set to auction loss-making national airline in live broadcast tomorrow
- This is Pakistan’s third attempt at PIA privatization, following a failed 2024 auction that got only one bid
- Islamabad plans to retain PIA name and branding, expand fleet and route network under the new business plan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to broadcast live the auction of its loss-making national airline tomorrow, Pakistani state media reported on Monday, a move authorities say is aimed at ensuring transparency.
Pakistan will privatize 75 percent of the carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), while retaining its name and branding, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Office.
The decision marks Islamabad’s most aggressive push in decades to reform the debt-ridden airline, which has accumulated more than $2.5 billion in losses and become a major burden on the national budget.
Pakistan prequalified in July four consortiums for the sale, but Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd. withdrew later. Lucky Cement and Arif Habib Corporation lead two other consortiums, while private airline Airblue is the third contender.
“The government plans a full divestment of the airline, beginning with the auction of a 75 percent stake on Tuesday, with the remaining 25 percent to be offered later at a 12 percent premium,” Pakistan TV Digital reported quoted Privatization Commission Chairman Muhammad Ali as saying.
Once regarded as one of Asia’s premier carriers, PIA has struggled with chronic mismanagement, political interference, overstaffing, mounting debt and operational issues that led to a 2020 ban on flights to the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States (US) after a pilot licensing scandal. Privatizing the airline is also a key requirement under Pakistan’s $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program agreed last year.
This is Pakistan’s third attempt at PIA privatization, following a failed 2024 auction that received only one bid of $35 million that was far below the government’s nearly $300 million asking price, according to Privatization Commission records.
The government is targeting $302 million in privatization proceeds this year, though Ali said restoring PIA operations remains a priority over maximizing short-term revenue. Islamabad plans to expand PIA fleet and route network under the new business plan.
Ali last month said the government had aimed to finalize the airline’s sale by October 2025 but the target was missed due to delays in restructuring and valuation.
The PIA sale is seen as a key test of Pakistan’s broader economic reform agenda as the government seeks to cut losses from state-owned enterprises and revive investor confidence.
Islamabad has launched a five-year privatization plan covering 24 state entities between 2024 and 2029, including the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, three banks, power distribution companies, and the Postal Life Insurance Company, according to the Privatization Commission.
