Friday May 26, 2023
PTI leaders angry with the party are also expected to join Tareen.
Political families from South Punjab are likely to join the new party.
Many prominent political leaders are also in touch with Tareen.
LAHORE: After staying out of the limelight, estranged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen has decided to launch a new political party at the national level,” sources privy to the development told Geo News on Friday.
PTI leaders angry with the party are also expected to join the new arrangement, sources said. Apart from them, many political families from Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzzafargarh, Lodhran and Multan are expected to join Tareen.
Sources claimed that many "important leaders" from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have also contacted the former PTI leader.
Sources said that Tareen will be the chief patron of the party.
Tareen was PTI's general secretary before he was expelled from politics in 2017 after the Supreme Court disqualified him for "dishonesty" on a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi.
Abbasi approached the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Tareen.
However, despite the disqualification, Tareen remained part of the PTI and was instrumental in urging independent legislators to join the Imran Khan-led party after the 2018 elections. His efforts proved critical as they helped Khan secure the premiership in 2018.
But after coming to power, Tareen and PTI leader Aleem Khan's relationship with PTI soured.
In May 2022, the former prime minister revealed the reason for his differences with the two leaders, saying that both sought "illegal benefits" from him.
During the podcast, Khan claimed that differences with the two estranged leaders developed when he refused to accede to their demands.
"Aleem Khan expected me to legalize his 300-acre land near Ravi," Khan said, adding, "I have parted ways with him since then."
Talking about Tareen, Khan said, “Tareen stood with those who are the biggest dacoits in the country. When I ordered an inquiry into the matter [the sugar scandal], differences developed with Tareen."
After being sidelined, both Aleem and Tareen remained silent but came into the limelight after the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) moved a no-confidence vote against Imran Khan in April last year. The move eventually led to Khan being ousted from the prime minister's seat.
However, during the no-confidence motion, a group of dissident PTI emerged to support Tareen. Among them is the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz.
Interestingly, rumors of Tareen starting a new party have been doing the rounds since last year.
In January this year, it was reported that Aleem and Tareen, along with other PTI dissidents, were planning to form a new party.
In March this year, it was announced that a splinter group named "Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Nazriyati (PTIN) or Haqeeqi Tehreek-e-Insaaf (HTI)" would be formed to contest the upcoming elections.
Members of the Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) group presented the proposal during an Iftar dinner attended by several members of dissident groups and PTI leaders including Raj Riaz and Awn Chaudhry.
Moreover, since the crackdown on PTI following the May 9 protests that took place after the arrest of Imran Khan, many leaders have parted ways with the party.
A faction called PTI Haqiqi was formed a day earlier by Rao Yasir, who earlier served as the president of PTI Multan district youth wing.
