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LAHORE (Reuters) – Dozens of disaffected leaders who left the party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have joined forces and are set to launch a new army-backed party to contest general elections likely to be held in October.
A sugar baron and Khan’s old friend Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) leads the group of leaders who left Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the aftermath of the attacks on military installations last month.
More than 100 PTI members and legislators on Wednesday joined forces with their new president Tareen who is likely to launch the “Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party” (IPP) which includes more than 120 former PTI leaders and legislators.
This new party is being labeled “the king’s party” by Khan and political analysts because it has the full support of the military establishment. In the upcoming elections, it is said that the king’s party will emerge strong and have a share of power.
“It is not inappropriate to say that the IPP (King’s Party) will be the ‘new PTI minus Imran Khan’ in the next general election which is likely to be held in October 2023,” former PTI leader Firdaus Ashiq Awan told the Press Trust. India on Thursday.
She said Khan is responsible for what he and his party are facing today.
“His anti-military narrative caused the May 9 incidents. Instead of targeting his political rivals, he targeted the establishment and now he is paying the price,” she said. She said that most of the main leaders and ex-PTI lawmakers have joined the JKT group and no one will stay with Khan.
Awan said: “We will under the new program of politics against the main parties – the Muslim League for National Liberation and the Pakistan People’s Party – where the Equity and Reconciliation Movement is now a thing of the past.”
More than 130 former leaders and lawmakers left the movement because Khan said they were “under military pressure” to remove him from politics.
Interestingly, some of them announced a “temporary break” from politics as they quit PTI in the aftermath of the May 9 unrest. However, their break lasted only two weeks before they officially entered the new political camp.
Every day since the attacks on more than 20 military installations and government buildings including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, the leaders of the PAM have been leaving Khan.
It is believed that only a handful of PTI leaders may be left supporting Khan in the ongoing effort to break PTI.
“Almost all PTI defectors have gathered on one platform – JKT group. Now this group is launching a new party – Istehkaam-i-Pakistan (IPP) – and all those who left Mr. Khan will be part of this party,” said the Prime Minister. Special Assistant Awn Chaudhry, who is a key leader of the JKT Group.
He said that Tarin will make an official announcement about the party soon.
He said the group of Democrats, which includes about 35 former PTI lawmakers, has also joined the JKT group. “Now we will do politics on the new programme,” Chowdhury said.
Prominent to join the JKT are former Senior Vice President of PTI Fawad Chowdhury, founding member Amir Kayani, former Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, former Federal Ministers Ali Zaidi and Firdous Ashiq Awan and Faizul Hasan Chauhan.
Real estate and media tycoon Alim Khan is lobbying for the IPP’s president position while Tareen may call himself the party’s new “boss” until he gets relief from the court over his lifetime disqualification from holding public office.
Khan’s arrest by paramilitary personnel from the Islamabad Supreme Court building on May 9 sparked unrest in Pakistan, resulting in numerous deaths and the destruction of dozens of military and private facilities by angry PEM protesters.
The ousted prime minister is under pressure to keep his party intact as dozens of senior leaders deserted the party after the crackdown launched to arrest those involved in attacks on military facilities on May 9.
Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted from power in April last year after losing a vote of no confidence in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led plot targeting him for his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia. China and Afghanistan.
A sugar baron and Khan’s old friend Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) leads the group of leaders who left Khan Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the aftermath of the attacks on military installations last month.
More than 100 PTI members and legislators on Wednesday joined forces with their new president Tareen who is likely to launch the “Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party” (IPP) which includes more than 120 former PTI leaders and legislators.
This new party is being labeled “the king’s party” by Khan and political analysts because it has the full support of the military establishment. In the upcoming elections, it is said that the king’s party will emerge strong and have a share of power.
“It is not inappropriate to say that the IPP (King’s Party) will be the ‘new PTI minus Imran Khan’ in the next general election which is likely to be held in October 2023,” former PTI leader Firdaus Ashiq Awan told the Press Trust. India on Thursday.
She said Khan is responsible for what he and his party are facing today.
“His anti-military narrative caused the May 9 incidents. Instead of targeting his political rivals, he targeted the establishment and now he is paying the price,” she said. She said that most of the main leaders and ex-PTI lawmakers have joined the JKT group and no one will stay with Khan.
Awan said: “We will under the new program of politics against the main parties – the Muslim League for National Liberation and the Pakistan People’s Party – where the Equity and Reconciliation Movement is now a thing of the past.”
More than 130 former leaders and lawmakers left the movement because Khan said they were “under military pressure” to remove him from politics.
Interestingly, some of them announced a “temporary break” from politics as they quit PTI in the aftermath of the May 9 unrest. However, their break lasted only two weeks before they officially entered the new political camp.
Every day since the attacks on more than 20 military installations and government buildings including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, the leaders of the PAM have been leaving Khan.
It is believed that only a handful of PTI leaders may be left supporting Khan in the ongoing effort to break PTI.
“Almost all PTI defectors have gathered on one platform – JKT group. Now this group is launching a new party – Istehkaam-i-Pakistan (IPP) – and all those who left Mr. Khan will be part of this party,” said the Prime Minister. Special Assistant Awn Chaudhry, who is a key leader of the JKT Group.
He said that Tarin will make an official announcement about the party soon.
He said the group of Democrats, which includes about 35 former PTI lawmakers, has also joined the JKT group. “Now we will do politics on the new programme,” Chowdhury said.
Prominent to join the JKT are former Senior Vice President of PTI Fawad Chowdhury, founding member Amir Kayani, former Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, former Federal Ministers Ali Zaidi and Firdous Ashiq Awan and Faizul Hasan Chauhan.
Real estate and media tycoon Alim Khan is lobbying for the IPP’s president position while Tareen may call himself the party’s new “boss” until he gets relief from the court over his lifetime disqualification from holding public office.
Khan’s arrest by paramilitary personnel from the Islamabad Supreme Court building on May 9 sparked unrest in Pakistan, resulting in numerous deaths and the destruction of dozens of military and private facilities by angry PEM protesters.
The ousted prime minister is under pressure to keep his party intact as dozens of senior leaders deserted the party after the crackdown launched to arrest those involved in attacks on military facilities on May 9.
Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted from power in April last year after losing a vote of no confidence in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led plot targeting him for his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia. China and Afghanistan.
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