Disgruntled Aleem Khan joins Tareen faction

Laments PTI sidelined loyalists despite their 'crucial role' in last elections

LAHORE:

Former senior minister of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Abdul Aleem Khan, along with a group of like-minded parliamentarians, announced on Monday that he would be joining the estranged faction of the ruling party led by Jahangir Khan Tareen.

Aleem made the announcement at Tareen’s residence in Lahore after an important meeting of the group held to discuss the no-trust motion announced by the joint opposition. Speaking to the media, Aleem said that he contacted over 40 parliamentarians of the ruling party during the past four days. “We all have teamed up in the last bid to strengthen the party. The PTI does not belong to an individual but it belongs to all of us. We will jointly make all decisions over the no-trust motion,” he said.

The former senior minister pointed out that Tareen, who is currently seeking medical treatment in London, had played an active role in bringing PTI into power. But he was ignored by the party for unknown reasons, he added.

Also read: No-trust threat takes its toll on PM Imran

He also said that many PTI leaders are still unaware of the reason why this happened. “All those people who worked alongside Prime Minister Imran Khan for Naya Pakistan have been sidelined and others surrounded the leader when the party came into power. There is no answer to why this happened,” he lamented.

`Aleem said that he would not have been disheartened if the popularity of the PTI was growing. There were strong concerns brewing among the ranks of party workers and supporters about the government’s performance in Punjab, he added.

“I did not support the PTI for Punjab’s chief ministership but had hope in Imran Khan. I enjoy better facilities than entitlement of the chief minister,” he further said while responding to media queries.
The meeting was attended by provincial ministers Nauman Langrial, Ajmal Cheema, MPAs Lala Tahir Randhawa, Salman Naeem, Khurram Leghari, Abdul Hai Dasti, Aslam Bharwana, Zawar Hussain, Saeed Nawani, Bilal Warraich, Amin Chaudry and Qasim Langah.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the PTI’s core committee to review the current political situation in the country. The premier reiterated that opposition parties were welcome to test the waters with their no-trust motion against his government and directed Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak to bring disgruntled members back into the party’s fold, including Aleem and his associates.

Also read: No-confidence motion to be tabled after long march: Shah

He went on to assure the party leaders that there was nothing to be worried about as there is no threat to the government. ‘Situation hurtling out of hand’On the other hand, PML-Q senior leader and Speaker Punjab Assembly Pervez Elahi has warned the PTI-led government that it was “fast losing control” over political situation as opposition parties were claiming that they had achieved the support of enough lawmakers required to de-seat Prime Minister Imran through a no-confidence vote.

He made the remarks in a meeting with the Punjab government ministers where he advised its coalition partner, PTI, that it was need of the hour to take “big political decisions,” sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune on Monday. “The prevailing political situation requires the government to move forward and make major political decisions… because whoever takes a decision first has the upper hand in politics,” the seasoned politician was quoted as saying in the meeting.