Jumping ship: PTI claims coup as ex-governor joins party

Sarwar says he and Imran have similar views on most issues

ISLAMABAD:

Former Punjab governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Tuesday joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)] at a plush ceremony where senior party leaders, including chairman Imran Khan, gave him a rapturous welcome.

“Today, I feel proud that I’m addressing you as a new member of the PTI,” Sarwar said after formally joining Imran Khan’s party.

Sarwar had stepped down as Punjab governor on January 29 reportedly after his differences with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reached a critical point following his unguarded statement on the country’s foreign policy.

Recalling his days in office, Sarwar said ‘PTI label’ was already affixed to him because of his insistence on change. He said the purpose of his joining the PTI was to create a Pakistan where there was education for all and where the masses could get the justice they deserve.

“Imran and I agree on most things, be it good governance, end to corruption or opportunities for overseas Pakistanis,” he said.

The former governor also explained why he quit the top office. “Serving as governor was an honour, but
positions and protocols are pointless if you can’t serve your people,” he said.

Giving another reason for joining the PTI, Sarwar said there was no allegation of corruption against Imran, whose struggle, he said, was not to gain premiership but to fight the status quo.

He said the PTI was struggling not to come to power but to change the fate of the nation. “Join us and change the fate of the nation,” he said while concluding his speech.

Welcoming Chaudhry Sarwar, Imran said he wanted to make the PTI an institution and Sarwar with his vast experience would play a role in realising this aim.

“I know Sarwar for decades and the one thing I like the most about him is that he is a self-made man,” Imran said.

Imran asked Sarwar to play a proactive role in organising the party and in fine-tuning its constitution.

Imran on Altaf

The PTI chief once again hit hard at Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain for his statements against PTI leader Shireen Mazari as he asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take action against him [Altaf] and his party.

“Our fight is against all terrorists so why the prime minister did not ask the British prime minister to hand over Altaf Hussain,” he said.

Imran said political parties have given the government the mandate to take action against armed groups with the spirit that no armed group be allowed to operate in the country.

“If Nawaz Shairf is sincere [to end terrorism], he should immediately take action in line with the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report [on the Baldia factory fire],” he added.

A JIT report recently presented in the Sindh High Court had accused the MQM of the deadly Baldia factory in which more than 250 workers were killed in 2012.   “Time has come to stand up against terrorists and once again make Karachi the city of lights,” Imran told the people of Karachi.

PTI writes to British High Commissioner

Dr Shireen Mazari of the PTI has sent an open letter to the British High Commissioner in Pakistan, alleging that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was spreading hate and inciting violence and requested that the British government strip him of his British nationality.

“He is not only a British citizen but is using British territory to incite people to violence in Pakistan. His party is known to have an armed mafia wing, which indulges in extortion, blackmail and murder…

“We request you to realize the urgency of your government [in] moving against Altaf Hussain by removing the protection of citizenship under which he is hiding and evading multiple criminal charges in Pakistan including that of murder,” the letter said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2015.