Zaman urged all citizens of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to trust the leadership of Nawaz and Pir Sabir Shah and vote for them for a safe and prosperous future. PHOTO: PPI
PESHAWAR:
Former squash champion Qamar Zaman has quit the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and formally joined Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), calling his former party hypocritical and labeling it a “party of old faces with no vision”.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, Zaman said he joined the PTI to serve the nation through politics, but soon realised the party was lacking vision to change the fate of the country – especially since old faces were joining the party.
“Imran Khan has a good plan to serve the nation, but the people who joined his party are [only] trying to reach the corridors of power.” Zaman also alleged a large amount of money was spent, rather needlessly, in intra-party elections in the province.
The former squash champion said he had not discussed his reservations with any one and had not applied for a ticket to contest the polls. However, by joining the PML-N, Zaman intends to work towards the promotion of sports.
“Mian Nawaz Sharif is the only politician in the country whose track record shows he can cope with the current scenario and put the country on the path of development and prosperity,” said Zaman. “He made tremendous headway during his tenure – the construction of the motorway, Gwadar Port and the Coastal Highway.”
Zaman urged all citizens of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to trust the leadership of Nawaz and Pir Sabir Shah and vote for them for a safe and prosperous future.
At the conference, PML-N Provincial Joint Secretary Zubair Elahi said Zaman will be honored and given the status which he deserves in the party.
Qamar Zaman joined the PTI on November 17, 2011 and at that point reflected full confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan.
One of the leading players of squash in the 1970s and 1980s, Zaman’s biggest triumph was winning the British Open in 1975.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2013.
COMMENTS (21)
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@Fasi:
Ohhhh man....did I just taste a sour grape there ;) Any how, don't people find it amusing that when all of a sudden an office bearer decides to leave PTI; he is immediately labelled as garbage and the troll association and SKMH paid social media activists of PTI go to great lengths at extracting the maximum amount of anomalies against their very own ex-revolutionaries who were once heralded for submitting themselves to the cult of Imran Khan and his phony and plagiarized brand of CHANGE.
Allah bless all Pakistanis who measure someone's performance by reference to number of roads he has constructed. These people are the direct result of poor education policies which are implemented purposefully by them. Had these people got proper education, they would have obviously known that a leader is now meant to construct roads and bridges.
I have personally had a chance to witness his role in the Squash academy of Peshawar. There are two families that rule the squash world in pakistan and would not let anyone else take over, one is The Zamans, the other is Jehansher Khan's, both of these only allow their nephews etc to come on the national level however, there are a lot better kids from poor families that can prove to be another world champion from Pakistan if only they were given a chance. If you go to the PAF squash complex in Peshawar, these two familes have courts reserved under their names all the time even when they are not playing and the poor kids wait outside for their chance. They end up being trainers for Egypt and Singapore instead of coming on to the national level, AND this why today you will see the top players coming from Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore etc and not Pakistan. If there is any Pakistani player playing these days, he will somehow be related to these families or would come from a strong background. SO MR ZAMAN PEOPLE LIKE YOU CAN STAY AWAY FROM PTI
One of those who denied a ticket? OR one of those who joined PTI only for a ticket?
Its sad that in Pakistan we measure any leader's performance on the basis of how many roads, bridges, under passes and bus terminals he built. These are responsibilities of any local government or provincial government to provide any way. Question is what have you done in the last 5 years which directly impacted peoples lives. For example, was anything done in the fields of Education, Health, Employment,Taxes, Economy, Law and Order and Foreign Policy? Nothing. These are the areas where these previous governments did nothing. They failed miserably and had no plans to bring any change. Now its Imran Khan's turn who has a vision for the country to provide justice and equality in all spheres of life with long term decisions and bring the country out of the clutches of failed bureacracy and foreign influences. People should vote wisely and don't vote same people like PPP, PML who you have voted 4-5 times in the past. The result will be the same....total failure.
lolzzz...If construction of motorway means progress to you, then you are at the right place now: PMLN.
@Sana Asif: Nobody said that he is corrupt, in fact he is asset and will remain so. But for sure this act of his can't be commended. He had applied for the party ticket in Pesh, din't get it and instead of showing sportsmanship and supporting people who got selected, he changed boats.
And as far as his reasons are concerned, everyone knows their veracity. Pmln has inducted electables from Q and PPP in almost every district. And if I follow his reasoning correctly, giving the opportunity to overseas pakistani might not be viable as it will cost over $1.5m and only a small proportion will actually. Starving today for a better tomorrow has built nations Qamar Saab!
@Sana Asif: What would you say about PML-N and their level of corruption?
these are all people who thought that they would be handed positions and tickets. now running scared once they realize that PTI is truly a democratic party. also, not very sure why the pakistani people have such short memories. All the PML factions and the PPP have had several shots at coming through for the people and have failed miserably. why on earth would anyone think that they will deliver this time around if given the chance?
Dear literate fans of PTI, I sincerely respect your feelings but please learn to be tolerant. Bashing out ET won't change the facts. ET is a newspaper of high standard. It won't gain or lose anything for opposing your IK. If you don't have guts to digest these news please don't read then. Thanks!
Do you guys know, what is "Motia"?
yes yes Mr Zaman like PML-N is a new face party right please dont fool people with this stupid statement
For PTI, anyone who joins in is always pious & credible and anyone who leaves is always an opportunist and corrupt. :-)
Suddenly when you are denied a ticket PTI becomes hypocrite. These people never cite the reason why they were not given the chance to represent the party. Whose the real hypocrite, eh?
There is no space for opportunists, They joined PTI with the believe party will compensate them but when saw KHAN is a man of principle moving towards the right place, best fit or suitable for opportunist.
haha, nice joke. Isnt PMLN all old faces? btw, nawaz sharif has nothing to do with Gwadar port.
ET you are so happy right ;)
this is funny: a large amount of money was spent, rather needlessly, in intra-party elections in the province.
he joined the PTI to serve the nation through politics, but soon realised the party was lacking vision to change the fate of the country – especially since old faces were joining the party.
(so he joins PMLn where every one is an old face!)
Oh my God, that is a disaster for PTI... How PTI will survive now :-> @ET please pick better news for front Page.