| Aleem Khan joins Tareen group | Laments sidelining of party loyalists | Expresses reservations regarding PM’s policies | Claims support of dozens of PTI MPs | PML-N contacts Tareen group | PM tasks Ismail, Khattak to woo disgruntled PTI leaders | Imran Ismial reaches Lahore, meets Aleem Khan
From Abid Usman
LAHORE: PTI leader Abdul Aleem Khan, a former Punjab minister and a close aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan, announced on Monday that he would be joining the group of lawmakers led by estranged party leader Jahangir Khan Tareen.
His announcement came after members of the group converged at Tareen’s Lahore residence as the opposition charged ahead with its plans to table a no-confidence motion against the government. Provincial ministers Nauman Langrial, Ajmal Cheema as well as MPAs Khurram Leghari, Abdul Hai Dasti, Lala Tahir Randhawa, Salman Naeem, Aslam Bharwana, Saeed Nawani, Zawar Hussain, Bilal Warraich, Amin Chaudry, Qasim Langah were also among the participants.
In his media talk, Khan stated that Tareen — who is currently in London seeking medical treatment — had played a massive part in the PTI’s rise to power. He said that Tareen was currently not in the best of health, adding that the group had held a meeting at his residence to send the message that he had not been “forgotten”.
He reiterated that Tareen had played a crucial role in the history of the party, and lamented the fact that he was later sidelined. “Many people [within the party] do not understand why this happened. All those people who worked for Naya Pakistan alongside the prime minister, why were they ignored? There is no answer for this,” he said.
“Other people surround the leader when governments are formed,” he said, adding that “committed and loyal” workers were pushed to the side.
He said that he would not have been disheartened if the party’s popularity had been growing, but said that there were growing concerns among party workers and loyalists about the government’s performance in Punjab.
“All of us who were part of the tehreek and were sincere. Let us all come together on one platform,” he said. He also stated that he had met more than 40 MPAs during the last four days, all of whom had expressed concerns over Punjab’s governance.
“We will try to unite all the groups within PTI,” he said, adding that they felt “sad” when they saw their struggle going in vain. The ex-minister said that the group would work until the end to strengthen the PTI, calling on all groups within the party to come together.
Khan made no mention of the no-confidence motion against the prime minister, but was unable to escape questions from reporters who asked him whether the group was with the government or against it.
“If a no-trust motion is moved, we will make a decision together,” he said.
Earlier, Punjab chief minister’s former adviser, Awn Chaudry, who was also among the attendees, was hounded by reporters as he made his way inside Tareen’s residence.
Speaking to reporters camped outside, Chaudry asked them to “let some of the suspense remain”, adding that whatever will happen will be for the best.
“Are you with the opposition or with the government?” asked one journalist.
“Whatever will happen will be for the best,” he reiterated with a smile. He added that the members of the group would welcome Aleem Khan, saying that he was their “brother”.
“Is (Punjab chief minister Usman) Buzdar going or staying?” asked another reporter.
“Have some patience. Watch and see what will happen,” he said, moving inside.
However, the government was not perturbed by the sudden political activity in Lahore.
Speaking to the media in Islamabad before the meeting ended, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry asserted that Tareen and Khan were still an integral part of the ruling PTI.
“They are a part of our party,” he said, adding that internal politics within a party was a common occurrence.
“They are doing their politics and have relations with several of our MPAs […] Aleem Khan and Tareen have close relations with PM Imran,” he said, reiterating that internal party politics was common.
PML-N contacts Tareen group: The meeting of the Tareen group comes as the Pakistan Demo¬cratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of opposition parties, is in the process of finalising a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, claiming to have the support of enough lawmakers in the parliament to make the ouster a success.
Last month, the PML-N had confirmed the party was in touch with the disgruntled group to seek its support to oust the government. At the same time, the group had also met at the residence of PML-Q leaders, who are a key ally of the PTI government in Punjab and centre.
Speaking to reporters at the time, Tareen said the purported no-confidence motion had not been tabled yet and it was not clear whether it would be at all.
To a question about any contacts with the opposition, he said the group had gathered after a long time and it was yet to be seen how it should play its role in the current political scenario.
He further maintained political leaders stayed in touch with each other, adding the group would hold more huddles to discuss their future strategy.
Tareen said they also talked about inflation during the meeting, but nothing specific about the no-confidence motion. “It is premature to discuss this issue,” he had said, urging the premier to provide relief to the masses.
Subsequently, it was reported that PM Imran reached out to Tareen in what appeared to be a bid to ensure he hadn’t lost his old friend to the opposition.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Imran Khan, while reiterating that opposition parties were more than welcome to test the water with their no-confidence motion against his government, on Monday directed Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak to bring disgruntled members back into the party’s fold.
Sources said that the prime minister, who chaired the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) core committee meeting, assured the party that there was nothing to be worried about as “there is no threat to the democratic government”.
Surprisingly, the no-confidence motion has put everything on the back burner, including the weekly federal cabinet meeting. Noticeably, the premier has lately been so busy in turning the tables on the opposition that he has once again postponed the federal cabinet’s meeting – making it the third consecutive Tuesday without having to hear what the cabinet has to collectively say in these testing times.
While dispelling the impression that the opposition parties were on the verge of making their no-trust move successful, the premier repeated in the core committee meeting that he has confidence in the party’s lawmakers. The ‘homework’ was complete to defeat the opposition parties’ move and the “agenda of thieves [opposition parties] would be made unsuccessful”.
Chiding the opposition parties in the meeting, sources said, the premier was of the view that those running away from their cases would not be able to bring “revolution” and added that they, however, were free to table the no-confidence motion against him.
The statement comes on the heels of his warning to the opposition to fear his wrath when their move against his government fails.
The directions to the Sindh governor and the defence minister for contacting disgruntled members have come after it emerged that PML-N has made a contact with PTI leader Aleem Khan who was scheduled to visit estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen’s residence ahead of the opposition parties’ no-confidence motion against PM Imran.
The souring of ties between the PTI leadership and the disgruntled members have reached the point where it has been said that Aleem Khan has been busy meeting over two dozen members for the past few weeks and would be discussing options and strategies regarding Punjab and the Centre in the meeting with the Tareen group tonight.
The government has been walking a tightrope for the past several weeks and with mounting pressure from the opposition parties, PM Imran was recently forced to significantly slash petrol, diesel, and electricity prices.
In addition, the promise of making South Punjab a separate province has resurfaced and the premier has announced to soon submit a constitutional amendment in the National Assembly.
The failure of his ex-accountability czar to conclude or even bring corruption cases against the opposition leadership to conclusion has severely jolted the ruling party’s mantra of accountability and recovery of “looted money” from ex-rulers standing trial in corruption cases.
Meeting after meeting are taking place for the past few weeks in both government and opposition camps to envisage defeating the other side.
The flurry of activity in both camps has increased the political temperature in the power corridors, which has further increased by PPP’s long march which is about to enter the federal capital.
Meanwhile, PPP’s leader Khursheed Shah, who had recently hinted that the no-trust motion would be submitted in the assembly when the PPP long march enters Islamabad, met JUI-F and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday to discuss modalities of the motion.
Just like the government, the statement issued after the Shah-Fazl meeting stated that “homework is complete [and] the motion would soon be presented”. The statement also demanded PM Imran to resign and “have mercy on the nation and the country”.
