Onto PML-N: Former squash champion quits PTI

Qamar Zaman maintains the PTI lacks vision to lead the country.

PESHAWAR:

Former squash champion Qamar Zaman has quit the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)  and formally joined Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), calling his former party hypocritical and labeling it a “party of old faces with no vision”.

Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, Zaman said he joined the PTI to serve the nation through politics, but soon realised the party was lacking vision to change the fate of the country – especially since old faces were joining the party.

“Imran Khan has a good plan to serve the nation, but the people who joined his party are [only] trying to reach the corridors of power.” Zaman also alleged a large amount of money was spent, rather needlessly, in intra-party elections in the province.

The former squash champion said he had not discussed his reservations with any one and had not applied for a ticket to contest the polls. However, by joining the PML-N, Zaman intends to work towards the promotion of sports.



“Mian Nawaz Sharif is the only politician in the country whose track record shows he can cope with the current scenario and put the country on the path of development and prosperity,” said Zaman. “He made tremendous headway during his tenure – the construction of the motorway, Gwadar Port and the Coastal Highway.”

Zaman urged all citizens of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to trust the leadership of Nawaz and Pir Sabir Shah and vote for them for a safe and prosperous future.

At the conference, PML-N Provincial Joint Secretary Zubair Elahi said Zaman will be honored and given the status which he deserves in the party.

Qamar Zaman joined the PTI on November 17, 2011 and at that point reflected full confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan.

One of the leading players of squash in the 1970s and 1980s, Zaman’s biggest triumph was winning the British Open in 1975.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2013.