PTI pledges talks with dissident Baloch leaders

Tareen accuses Balochistan ministers, bureaucrats of plundering uplift funds

QUETTA: After coming into power, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will initiate a meaningful dialogue with Baloch dissident leaders who believe in an integral Pakistan, PTI’s Secretary-General Jahangir Khan Tareen said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference here, he maintained that PTI would win the 2018 general elections and would form the government in Islamabad and all provinces as people all over the country were supporting PTI.



He was accompanied by PTI’s provincial president Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, Senior Vice-President Mir Ismail Lehri, Sardar Khadim Hussain Wardag and Qasim Suri.

Tareen said that the PML-N government was crippled and unable to overcome challenges being faced by the country and this was why PTI was calling for its ouster and early elections.

“Conducting early elections will not harm Pakistan,” he insisted, saying that early elections would help improve the domestic situation.

He said that people were joining PTI in large numbers, adding that the party’s popularity graph was rising day by day.

Criticising the performance of Balochistan government, he said that the coalition government led by the PML-N had failed to resolve people’s problems.

Under NFC Award, he said, funds amounting to billions of rupees were given to Balochistan, but these funds were not spent on providing basic amenities and most of the funds were plundered.

“Ministers and bureaucrats are involved in corruption. They looted public money in the name of development,” Jahangir Treen maintained, saying that after coming into power, PTI would hold all corrupt people to account.

PTI, he said, would launch talks with dissident Baloch leaders who wanted to remain in the framework of Pakistan.



“We will bring everyone who wants to serve the people into the national mainstream,” he said.

The PTI leader said that party would consider entering into electoral alliance with all parties, with one exception – the JUI-F.

“We can enter into electoral alliance with any party except the JUI-F,” Jahangir Tareen said, adding that PTI cannot enter in any alliance with parties involved in damaging Pakistan.