PTI defectors flock to new boss, soon to launch new party: Report

Several disgruntled leaders who quit Pakistans former prime minister Imran Khans party have joined hands and are set to launch a new militarybacked party to fight the general elections likely to be held in October the PTI reported on ThursdayAccording to the news agency PTI Sugar baron and Khans old friend Jahangir Khan Tareen JKT is leading the group of leaders who left Khans Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI party in the wake of attacks on military installations last monthMore than 100 PTI stalwarts and legislators on Wednesday joined their new boss Tareen who is likely to launch the IstehkaamiPakistan Party IPP comprising over 120 former leaders and lawmakers of the PTIThis new party is being tagged as the kings party by Khan and political pundits for having the full backing of the military establishment In the next elections it is said the kings party will emerge strong and have a share of power It is not out of place to say that the IPP kings party will be the new PTI minus Imran Khan in the next general elections likely to be held in October 2023 former PTI leader Firdous Ashiq Awan told the Press Trust of India on ThursdayShe said Khan is responsible for what he and his party are facing todayHis antimilitary narrative caused May 9 incidents Instead of targeting his political rivals he aimed at the establishment and now he is paying the price she said Most of the main leaders and former lawmakers of PTI have joined the JKT group and no one will stay with Khan she saidWe under the new platform will do politics against mainstream parties PMLN and PPP as PTI has now become a thing of the past Awan said More than 130 leaders and former lawmakers have quit PTI for what Khan said under military pressure to keep him out of politicsInterestingly some of them had announced a temporary break from politics while quitting the PTI in the wake of the May 9 unrest However their break lasted only a couple of weeks before they formally entered the new political campEvery day since the attacks on over 20 military installations and state buildings including the army headquarters in Rawalpindi the PTI leaders have been leaving KhanIt is believed that only a handful of PTI leaders may be left supporting Khan in the ongoing efforts to fracture the PTI Almost all PTI deserters have converged on one platform JKT group Now this group is launching a new party IstehkaamiPakistan Party IPP and all those leaving Mr Khan will be part of this party said PMs special assistant Awn Chaudhry who is a main leader of the JKT groupHe said Tareen will soon make a formal announcement of the partyHe said the Democrats group comprising some 35 former lawmakers of PTI has also joined the JKT group Now we will do politics on the new platform Chaudhry saidProminent among those who joined the JKT are PTIs former senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry its founding member Amir Kiyani former Sindh governor Imran Ismael former federal ministers Ali Zaidi and Firdous Ashiq Awan and outspoken Fayyazul Hasan ChohanProperty and media tycoon Aleem Khan is lobbying for the presidents slot in the IPP while Tareen himself may be called chief of the new party till he gets relief from the court regarding his lifetime disqualification from holding a public officeThe arrest of Khan by paramilitary personnel from the Islamabad High Court premises on May 9 triggered unrest in Pakistan leading to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the angry PTI protestersThe ousted premier is under pressure to keep his party intact as dozens of top leaders have abandoned it after the crackdown launched to arrest those involved in attacks on military installations on May 9Imran Khan a cricketerturnedpolitician was ousted from power in April last year after losing a noconfidence vote in his leadership which he alleged was part of a USled conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia China and AfghanistanSource PTI