Jahangir Tareen returns to political arena

LAHORE:

Senior politician Jahangir Khan Tareen on Thursday formally announced the formation of a new political party, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, with the promise of working for economic and social reforms in the country.

Tareen – once a close confidant of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan but had a falling out in the later years – announced the new party at a news conference in Lahore with over 100 PTI defectors and deserters joining its ranks.

Speaking alongside former PTI stalwarts, Aleem Khan, Ali Zaidi, Imran Ismail, Tanveer Ilyas and others, Tareen said that they were launching the party to fulfil the “teachings of Quaid-i-Azam and the dreams of Allama Iqbal”.

At the news conference, Tareen and other leaders criticised the PTI, and condemning the May 9 violence that saw arson and vandal attacks on government buildings, including the sensitive military installations and the monuments of the martyrs.

“We have come today to lay the foundation of a new party 'the Istehkam Pakistan',” Tareen made the formal announcement of his party. “Today, we promise that we will play our role at the forefront to rid Pakistan of this current quagmire,” he said.

“Our party will be the party of the common man. We will struggle to fulfil the teachings of Quaid-i-Azam and the dreams of Allama Iqbal,” he added. “Today, Pakistan needs a leadership that ends political and social divisions and promotes love instead of hate.”

The senior politician announced that the party would unveil its reforms agenda soon. "Through our voters' mandate, we will try to introduce political, social and economic reforms," he said.

Read Tareen forms new political party

He underscored that they wanted to get better results in forthcoming elections and work towards enhancing exports, especially lifting the Information Technology (IT) sector, strengthening the agricultural sector and safeguarding the rights of the masses.

He said his party's purpose was to represent the aspirations of the youth. “We will also protect the rights of women and minorities and become the voice of the voiceless,” he maintained.

Tareen emphasised that in the present circumstances, when “Pakistan is passing through a critical period” there was the need for a new political party. He added that he took the initiative so that he could contribute to the national development from that platform.

On a personal note, Tareen stated that he had worked with many people during this long journey and had learned a lot from them but emphasised that he entered politics with a purpose – to bring about reforms.

Continuing, he said, he joined the PTI to bring all those reforms, which were needed in the country, adding that all those sitting at the news conference had also the same passion – to do something positive for the country.

The senior politician noted that several past incidents, which he claimed would be unfolded in a few days, would throw light on how much effort was made by him and his colleagues to achieve this goal.

“We worked hard so that the party [PTI] could win the elections and implement its reforms agenda,” he said. “Our primary purpose was to bring reforms but unfortunately it didn’t happen and the people lost hope due to our failure,” he added.

“We were supposed to correct our crippling economy, to improve relations with the foreign world and to do accountability but we couldn’t do anything in this regard,” Tareen said.

May 9 violence

Besides, Tareen said, the politics of the last few years had also damaged the “social fabric of our society and there is a dire need to correct all these misdeeds”.

In these circumstances, he stressed that the nation desperately needed hope.

Recently, Tareen added, the PTI attacked military installations and damaged the monuments of the martyrs on May 9. He stated that May 9 had a significant impact on the political landscape of Pakistan. “It changed the political discourse of Pakistan,” he added.

“We all really want to heal the wounds of this country by promoting unity, stability and tolerance,” he said. He pledged to launch “earnest initiatives” aimed at resolving the country’s “multitude of problems”.

Tareen called for bringing all the “culprits, planners and handlers of the saddest day” of May 9 to justice at any cost. “They don’t deserve any mercy, while facing the law. The mob must be dealt with an iron hand.”

Nearly 100 former PTI members of the national and provincial assemblies have joined the new party and Tareen said that many more prominent politicians would join his party in the coming days.

“They [the newcomers] will be heavyweights with huge vote bank in their respective constituencies,” he continued.

“The unity of our members at one platform and their collective efforts will navigate Pakistan out of its current crises,” he added.

Aleem Khan

Earlier, Aleem Khan, another former confidant of Imran, praised Tareen’s decision to form a new party, saying that the situation had become highly chaotic after May 9 violence which caused concern among the patriotic Pakistanis.

He acknowledged Tareen's efforts in bringing those people together in one party. He said that they had spent the past 12 years at a one platform, dedicating their energies to achieve their goals. “But regrettably, those goals remained unfulfilled,” he lamented.

Those who were present at the announcement of the IPP included Aamir Kayani, Fayyazul Hasan Chauhan, Malik Khurram, Fawad Chaudhry, Raja Yawar Kamal, Dr Firdosh Ashiq Awan, Rana Nazir, Memon Jafar Tariq, Pir Saeedul Hasan Shah, Umair Nazir, Khalid Mahmood, Javed Anwar Awan, Mian Jalil Sharqpuri, Rai Aslam, Murad Ras, Amin Chaudhry, Shoaib Siddiqui, Mian Khalid, Sheikh Yaqub, Ajmal Cheema, Chaudhry Ali Akhtar, Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Mian Waris, Mian Kashif, Chaudhry Ashfaq, Faisal Jabwana, Mahr Mohsin Raza, Saeed Nawani, Rashid Akbar, Malik Ameer Haider Sangha, Mian Anwar Khurshid, Dewan Akhlaq, Dewan Azmat, Mehr Arshad Kathia, Chaudhry Noraiz Shakoor, Muhammad Shah Khagha, Numan Langriyal, Mubin Bukhari, Tahseen Nawaz Gardezi, Jahanzeb Warren, Abdul Hai Dasti, Niaz Gashkuri, Rafaqat Geelani, Sardar Qaiser Magsi, Chaudhry Ishaq, Qasim Langha , Zaheeruddin Khan, Ali Zai, Tariq Abdullah, Shazia Abbas, Malik Akram Khan, Ejaz Janjua, Imran Parvez Dhal, Mujtaba Maitla and Nazir Baloch.

On Wednesday night, nearly 100 former PTI members of the national and provincial assemblies gathered at the residence of Aleem Khan at a dinner-reception where Tareen formed the new party.

Several leaders of the PTI had parted ways with the party after the government held Imran Khan responsible for the riots that broke out across the country following his arrest in a graft case on May 9.

According to sources, former senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had participated in the dinner the previous day but he made the formal announcement of joining the party on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Musarrat Cheema who had quit the PTI recently, denied joining the IPP, saying that she had taken a break from politics.

In another significant development, a group of link-minded former PTI lawmakers led by Hashim Dogar has been dissolved.

Dogar, the former Punjab home minister, said that the ‘Democrat Group’ had been terminated and “all the friends can make their own decisions about their future”.

“I will not join any party, but I will continue politics against the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement).”