ISLAMABAD: Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza on Sunday said that escalating criticism in the media by PTI leaders on the party’s decision to join SIC will make Imran Khan “suffer more than anyone”.
“Speaking out against the decision to join SIC would benefit the current government more and that I “would not want in any situation to discuss internal affairs in public,” SIC chief Hamid Raza said during an interview with a private TV channel.
He continued that “this behaviour” would compromise discipline of the party and would simply divert attention from Imran Khan’s cases,” he said, adding that he had not yet met the jailed PTI founder as his name had not been cleared by jail authorities for a meeting.
The SIC chairman asserted said that the PTI decision to join SIC was to bring them “under one umbrella”, and was conveyed to him via the party’s top leaders – Barrister Gohar Khan and Omar Ayub Khan.
“The purpose of joining SIC was to bring PTI candidates under one umbrella so the plans of other parties to pressurise candidates would not be successful,” he said, adding that the target was achieved as their votes for most elections in the Parliament were secure.
Raza confirmed that Imran made the decision to join SIC, adding that the decision was conveyed to him through PTI leaders such as chairman Gohar Khan, secretary general Omar Ayub Khan and spokesperson Raoof Hasan.
Regarding Ali Zafar’s criticism of the decision, Raza said it was possible that Zafar was not part of the team that met Imran when the decision was finalised as “three different teams met Imran”.
Sahibzada Hamid Raza was of the view that the decision of PTI-backed independent candidates to join his party was made by former premier Imran Khan.
To the question that PTI potentially wanting to get back its candidates, Raza said, “I have no issues.”
“Our settlement [with the PTI] was temporary,” the SIC chief further said, adding that it was done to “secure” PTI candidates.
Walid Iqbal joins chorus of criticising move to join SIC
Meanwhile, former PTI senator Walid Iqbal joined other party leaders, including Sher Afzal Marwat, in criticising the decision to join the Sunni Ittehad Council in a bid to secure reserved seats.
Speaking to a private TV, he stated it would have been wiser to have joined a party that had submitted a list of reserved seats, adding that it would have reduced legal and constitutional challenges for the PTI.
On the upcoming Senate polls, he said, “Well, I am not a crystal ball but I have seen surprises in the Senate [elections] before.”
