Mamnoon visits three provincial capitals

 

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has returned after making whirlwind visits to three provincial capitals, Quetta, Karachi and Lahore. The president was fully satisfied with his interaction with his respective interlocutors.
He undertook his maiden visit to Quetta where he was received by provincial Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai, and Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch.The president later held meetings with leaders of various parliamentary groups of the provincial assembly and discussed their grievances.

Governor of Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and Chief Minister of the province Shahbaz Sharif had a meeting with the president at breakfast on Sunday.They had useful discussions with President Mamnoon regarding important national issues. Well-placed sources told The News that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah failed in according due protocol to the president of the country as he spent two days in Karachi where he had an interactive meeting with top businessmen.

The provincial government didn’t organise any meeting of the president with the provincial governor and surprisingly, the chief minister or any provincial minister also didn’t turn up to call on the president during his stay in that city.The sources in the Presidency confirmed that no meeting between the president and the chief minister of Sindh took place in Karachi but they declined to offer any comment about it.

It is for the first time that the Sindh government has shown such an attitude toward the head of the state who has no complaint about it since he is satisfied about his meetings with important people in Karachi who play a prominent role in improving the economy of the country. The president stayed away from the capital for about a week for the first time since assuming office.

Grassroots outreach: PTI council meeting to unveil provincial agenda

File photo of PTI chief Imran Khan. PHOTO: QAZI USMAN 

LAHORE:  “Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will hold its provincial council meeting on March 2. PTI chairman Imran Khan will preside over the meeting,” said Dr Yasmin Rashid, the party’s general secretary, on Thursday.

She said the PTI was the first party to hold intra-party elections. She said the party leadership wanted to continue the practice. PTI Punjab president Ejaz Chudhary said 600 office bearers would attend the meeting. He said members of the parliament would also be present. He said representatives of some think tanks and newspapers columnists had also been invited.  He said the programme would contain a review on the performance of the PTI in the Punjab and its achievements so far. Information Secretary Andleeb Abbas said the provincial council would also act as an information and communication cell between the general public and the PTI office-bearers.