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PPP sought lifetime immunity for president, abolition of NAB in 27th Amendment
- Final draft awaits parliamentary body’s review outcome.
- PPP calls for restoring original Article 248 protections.
- PMLN agrees NAB should eventually be abolished.
ISLAMABAD: During the recent discussions between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, the PPP had come up with the demand for lifetime immunity for the president and abolition of the National Accountability Bureau.
Article 248 of the Constitution provides the president with immunity from criminal proceedings during the term of office, stipulating that “no criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or a governor in any court during his term of office.”
The PPP, however, had sought to extend this protection beyond the term, proposing lifetime immunity. It means if parliament approves it, no criminal proceeding, old or new, can continue against the president even after he leaves the office and during his lifetime.
The party had also demanded the abolition of NAB, an issue that was part of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between the PPP and PML-N in 2006.
The CoD had pledged to replace NAB with an independent accountability commission that would function transparently under parliamentary oversight.
The final draft of the amendment is expected to be shaped after the parliamentary body concludes its review and presents its report to the Senate and National Assembly.
PPP’s senior leader Murtaza Wahab, who was part of the party’s team that held discussions with the PML-N on the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, told The News that the PPP had sought to restore the original protection under Article 248 to the president, governors, prime minister, chief minister and ministers, which Iftikhar Chaudhry unconstitutionally removed.
He said the PPP also wanted the remaining unimplemented points of the CoD — including the abolition of the NAB — to be incorporated in the amendment.
Wahab explained that issues on which consensus was achieved between the ruling parties have been included in the draft 27th Amendment, while other proposals, such as the abolition of NAB, for which an agreement could not be reached yet, remain under discussion and have not been discarded.
He added that even the PML-N shares the view that NAB should eventually be abolished, in line with the commitment made by both parties under the Charter of Democracy.
Originally published in The News
The French government has announced the appointment of Christophe Leribault, president of Versailles, as the new director of the Louvre Museum.
The 62-year-old replaced Laurence des Cars after she resigned amid mounting crises.
Leribault took over the world’s most visited museum at a time when it had been hit by multiple crises following an audacious jewel heist in October, exposing glaring security vulnerabilities.
Thieves dramatically stole the crown jewels valued at $102 million within eight minutes.
Following the heist, a cascade of problems emerged. Earlier, staff went on strike due to worsening working conditions and wage problems, due to which the museum had to shut for days.
After that, a water leakage occurred, which damaged book collections. Additionally, a prosecutor found a ticket-fraud scheme that allegedly siphoned more than €10 million over a decade.
With the repeated structural issues, one of the galleries of the museum has been closed.
Leribault has extensive institutional knowledge. Previously, he served as a deputy director of the Louvre’s graphic arts department from 2006 to 2012 and has led the Musée d’Orsay, the Petit Palais, and the Musée National Eugène Delacroix.
During his time at Versailles, he tackled similar challenges as the Louvre, including vast collections, ageing buildings, and central cultural significance.
- Trump has been clear Iran can’t have nuclear weapon, says Vance.
- US, Iran will hold third round of talks in Geneva on Thursday.
- Iran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump still preferred a diplomatic solution with Iran and that he hoped Iranians took that seriously in their negotiations on Thursday.
Vance told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” programme that Trump has been clear Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. He said that Trump wants to achieve that goal diplomatically, but has other tools at his disposal.
The US and Iranian delegations will hold a third round of talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme in Geneva on Thursday.
His comments came as the United States announced fresh sanctions targeting Iran, pressing on with what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign.
As US forces mass in the Middle East, Trump claimed in his speech to Congress on Tuesday that Iran was seeking to develop missiles that can strike the United States.
Trump also accused Tehran of having “sinister nuclear ambitions” and working to rebuild a nuclear programme that was targeted by US strikes last year.
Vance told Fox News that while Trump was going to try to “accomplish it diplomatically,” the US president also had the “right” to use military action.
“The president has a number of other tools at his disposal to ensure this doesn’t happen. He’s shown a willingness to use them and I hope the Iranians take it seriously in the negotiations tomorrow because that’s certainly what the president prefers.”
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier struck an upbeat tone, saying there was a “favorable outlook” for the negotiations as his Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team left for Switzerland.
Iran also rejected Trump’s claims about its missile programme as “big lies.”
But while Trump said he preferred a diplomatic solution, he also set out what appeared to be the justifications for possible military action in the first State of the Union address of his second term.
It was the same forum in which then-president George W Bush laid out the case for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Trump claimed in his address that Tehran had “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America”.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
The provincial administration in Punjab has imposed an immediate and complete ban on outdoor drone flying across the province, citing risks to public safety and security.
In a notification issued on Wednesday, the Punjab Home Department said that unregulated use of drones posed potential risks to the maintenance of public order, adding that such activities may cause obstruction to official duties, create law and order concerns, and disturb the atmosphere of the province.
“It is essential to ensure security of the people and installations/buildings against any potential threat or untoward activity, in the larger interest of public safety, security, peace and tranquility and to avoid any untoward incident” read the notification.
The department stated that there were “sufficient grounds” to invoke Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, to impose a ban on outdoor drone flying to prevent disturbance of public peace, safety of lives and property across Punjab.
“This ban shall not apply on use of small drones for coverage of indoor activities such as in halls or marquees,” the provincial administration added.
The Punjab Home Department, however, said that the safe usage of such drones in a limited and confined indoor area (for events/functions) will be the responsibility of the organiser.
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies will be exempt from the ban, set to remain in force for a period of 30 days from the date of issuance or until withdrawn earlier.
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