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PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday called for a “political reset”, wherein all political parties must unite for the sake of the country, and urged the prime minister to take measures to build trust with allies and the opposition.

The PPP scion was addressing an event to mark the completion of one million houses for flood affectees under the Sindh Flood Resilience Project (SFRP), which he said “made history” by being the largest house-building programme in the world.

“The Sindh government has built one million houses, and when this project is completed, we would have built two million houses,” Bilawal said.

Referring to the ongoing oil and energy crisis due to the US-Iran war, he said that Pakistan and the world were facing an “economic catastrophe” and stressed that “Pakistan’s politics will definitely have to be reset” to combat it.

“But via this reset, political parties will have to work together instead of fighting,” he added.

Emphasising that the public did not want to witness further fighting, the Bhutto scion reiterated, “We need a political reset.”

He invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to first “restore trust of his allies”, then of opposition parties, “instead of picking new fights with them”.

The former foreign minister contended that the ongoing economic crisis was one of the worst in the world’s history, and therefore, support of all Pakistanis, including those in the opposition, was needed to face it.

“Unless we face this crisis together, we would not be able to save our people from this difficulty.”

As he highlighted the efforts of his PPP’s provincial government, Bilawal particularly thanked the premier for the Centre’s support in the flood rehabilitation projects.

Without naming PTI founder Imran Khan, the PPP chairman said that a predecessor of Shehbaz “did not give us a single penny” to help the flood-hit people of Sindh.

“He even said ‘Sindh is not ours’, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has at least not made us feel this,” Bilawal said.

He attributed SFRP’s success to Sindh’s efforts, international support and “cooperation of the Centre”.

The PPP chairman said that some politicians believed that the country would make progress if it was reset and run according to the wishes of the rich and business class; however, he believed that it should be run according to the will of the poor and homeless.

“During the days of the flooding, our enemies were saying that we (PPP) were only making this much effort to make money,” he said, referring to the initiative to build homes for those affected by the 2022 floods.

He also suggested that the Sindh chief minister write to international corruption monitors and invite them to investigate the housing initiative, declaring that “there is no corruption in this scheme”.

“As we are facing a financial crisis, the people of Sindh who are enduring historic poverty, inflation and unemployment are receiving financial security,” the PPP chairman said. “This is the responsibility of every government, party and Pakistan’s people.”

“I can tell the people of Sindh that every project, whether it is a historic housing project or free hospital care, aims to lift the financial burden off the people’s shoulders,” he added.

The European Investment Bank’s international development arm, EIB Global, is providing a €100m loan to the government for the initiative, which aims to rebuild around 2.1m rural homes damaged by devastating floods in 2022.

The project has a total cost of almost $2 billion and covers 40 per cent of rural households in Sindh.

The provincial government has also sought financial assistance of $350m from the World Bank for the project for the fiscal year 2026-2027.

Source: dawn

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Vice Emir Liaqat Baloch said on Tuesday that the government and the party had agreed on the “basic outlines” of a proposed agreement as the two sides held their 10th round of negotiations on petroleum levy relief.

After a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month, both sides agreed to form a bipartisan committee to expand the government’s ongoing fuel relief scheme in response to JI’s demands for the abolition of the petroleum levy. The JI also warned of resuming its postponed march to Islamabad by mid-November if no relief was announced.

Speaking to the media after the talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Baloch said a final decision was expected after a possible meeting between PM Shehbaz and JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, according to a statement issued by the party.

Baloch said the proposed meeting would involve detailed discussions before the agreement was finalised. He was accompanied by members of the JI negotiating committee, the statement added.

Baloch described Tuesday’s meeting as the “most important” round of negotiations yet, after previously held nine sessions and reiterated that securing relief remained the “central objective”.

According to the statement, the discussions focused on two key aspects — providing relief to consumers and reaching an agreement on measures to achieve that objective.

The JI added that the government had acknowledged the difficulties resulting from the regional conflict and that both sides agreed to expand and continue the existing relief package.

It was the government’s responsibility to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ensure the continuation of relief measures, the statement quoted Baloch as saying.

The Fund has called for phasing out the fuel support scheme promptly, citing high cost and broad targeting.

During the meeting, the JI proposed extending the relief scheme to vehicles with engines of up to 1,000cc and the agriculture sector, including tractors. As per the statement, Baloch said the government also acknowledged that the demand for abolition of the petroleum levy was justified and could result in substantial relief for the public.

In Tuesday’s talks, the JI demanded “immediate and visible reductions” in petroleum prices, along with the abolition of the levy. The party also proposed a mechanism for phasing out the levy, the statement said.

The government promised to present a future course of action on the levy’s abolition while explaining its financial constraints, Baloch was quoted as saying.

Criticising the government’s economic priorities, Baloch said it was unwilling to curb lavish expenditure and non-development funds; meanwhile, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had failed to meet its tax collection targets, the statement added.

He said the government was placing the burden of its “financial shortcomings onto ordinary citizens instead of reducing its own expenditure and improving revenue collection”.

As per the party statement, the negotiation process had reached “stage of final decisions”.

“The two sides had also worked on drafting the proposed agreement during Tuesday’s meeting,” the statement quoted Baloch as saying, adding that the party’s future course of action will depend on the government’s response, based on which it will decide whether to proceed with its proposed long march.

According to the JI statement, the party’s protest had helped prevent further increase in petroleum prices.

“The burden should not be placed on the people. The rulers must reduce their own expenditures and provide relief to consumers gradually,” Baloch was quoted as saying.

The JI would not continue negotiations indefinitely, the statement read, adding that “the party would walk away the day it felt talks no longer served any purpose.”

The talks so far

The JI has been demanding for over two months that the Centre abolish petroleum levies, as fuel prices have skyrocketed due to conflicts in the Middle East since March.

The Centre and JI agreed to form committees in early September — when the latter had planned a nationwide strike — to recommend measures to reduce the levy.

On Sept 20, the party launched a protest march towards Islamabad, warning that if the government failed to abolish the petroleum levy, the protest could turn into one to oust the government.

On Sept 22, the JI emir said his party, whose convoy had reached Multan, was postponing its long march at the request of PM Shehbaz, who had assured the other side of a meeting to discuss the matter.

When PM Shehbaz and Rehman finally met about a month later, they agreed to form a joint committee to recommend proposals for expanding the fuel relief scheme and for a phased reduction in the petroleum levy for the next budget.

On Nov 3, the two sides held “candid discussions” on practical measures to provide relief to low-income citizens from petroleum prices.

Speaking to media after the talks, Baloch said that JI had presented six proposals to the government to provide relief to the people.

“These included abolishing the petroleum levy, introducing a relief package, reducing public transport costs and extending relief to owners of vehicles above 800cc and the agricultural sector,” he said, noting that four key points were discussed.

Both sides agreed to continue their consultations over the coming days to formulate a way forward on energy pricing and public relief.

Source: dawn

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday denounced a push to impeach him as a “farce” and defended his record leading multiple military operations that have sparked allegations of misconduct against the Pentagon chief.

Under pressure after President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for the Republican Party’s sweeping losses in midterm elections, Hegseth now faces a congressional effort to remove him from office.

“It’s a farce and it’s a stunt and everybody knows it,” a defiant Hegseth told journalists of the impeachment proceedings launched by Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican, the previous day.

“What one disgruntled and defeated congressman is attempting is not oversight, and it’s not accountability. It’s a political spectacle,” Hegseth said.

Massie, a fierce critic of Trump, is leaving office after losing a primary contest to a candidate backed by the president.

Trump has backed Hegseth so far, and on Tuesday wrote on social media that the Pentagon chief “gets an ‘A’ plus, plus, plus for his defence” against the impeachment efforts.

Hegseth on Tuesday defended military interventions in Yemen, Iran and Venezuela as well as strikes targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

‘Would do it again’

“I stand behind every one of these operations. I was proud to execute them, and I would do it again tomorrow,” he said, equating the effort to remove him with an attack on US troops.

“These resolutions tell every one of them that their service was a crime. Their service was not a crime. These are heroes,” said Hegseth.

Several of the articles of impeachment relate to the Iran war, accusing Hegseth of violating the War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional consultation on US military interventions.

Hegseth is a staunch defender of the widely unpopular war against Iran, which he has described as a “courageous and historic effort”.

The 2025 conflict with Yemen’s Houthis also features in Massie’s articles of impeachment, which charge Hegseth with starting the operation without congressional approval and in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States.

Massie also branded strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific as “extrajudicial killings” and said Hegseth “chilled independent legal review within the Department of Defence.”

He also accused Hegseth of suppressing free speech by trying to punish Democratic Senator Mark Kelly over a video in which he and other lawmakers urged military and intelligence personnel to refuse illegal orders.

“Using the powers of his office, Secretary Hegseth retaliated against and sought to intimidate United States Senator Mark Kelly for his statement,” one of the articles of impeachment said.

Source: dawn