JKT group’s 17 members ‘conditionally’ ready to back PTI

A total of 17 lawmakers belonging to estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen’s (JKT) group have expressed their conditional readiness to return to the ruling PTI in the wake of the opposition’s upcoming no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.

Sources said a government team led by Punjab Education Minister Dr Murad Raas held talks with the JKT group.

The members of the group were offered to address their concerns and also have a direct meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan or Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

The members of the group again demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Buzdar be replaced.

They added that they did not want to leave the party but Buzdar would have to be sent packing.

According to the sources, the 17 members of the group presented a long list of reservations with CM Buzdar and also briefed the negotiators on constituency issues, bureaucracy and retaliation by the government.

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According to a member of the government’s negotiating team, the group had “very valid” reservations about the constituencies.

However, he added, when the members of the group were offered to meet directly with PM Imran to convey their reservations, they said the replacement of the Punjab CM was their top demand.

Sources said the negotiating team had informed the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister about the demands of the Tareen group.

The government team is likely to meet the members of the group again in the coming one or two days.

On March 8, the lawmakers belonging to the group had already announced that they would only support the government in the no-confidence move if it accepted their condition to remove the Punjab CM Buzdar from his post.

After a meeting in the provincial capital, Punjab MPA Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial had told the media that all members of the group had given full authority to Tareen to make any decision on their behalf.

“I want to highlight here that all members of the group are united on the strategy to move forward [to vote against the no-trust motion] if the government accepts the minus Buzdar formula,” Langrial had added.

He had indicated that they were in contact with different political parties as the group had a majority after two big political parties in the House.

Former senior minister of the PTI government, Abdul Aleem Khan, along with a group of like-minded parliamentarians, had announced on March 7 that he would be joining the estranged faction of the ruling party led by Tareen.

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Aleem had 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 had 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 had added.