ISLAMABAD: Those Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers supporting the party’s estranged leader Jahangir Tareen will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday and brief him regarding the alleged smearing and victimization campaign against the former PTI stalwart.
However, there are conflicting claims about the participation of Tareen in the meeting.
According to a PTI source, a meeting between PM Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen has been fixed. But another source said that Tareen would not be accompanying the PTI delegation.
The source said the Tareen group would inform the Prime Minister about the concerns of Jahangir Tareen regarding the cases against him.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also took a tough stance against the Tareen group.
“There are claims that some MNAs and MPAs had taken a stance (on Tareen). No one can deviate from the PTI. Whosoever has been elected with the symbol of bat and with Imran Khan’s vote bank should know that there is a clear line. They may cross the line but such confusions would not be accepted,” Qureshi told a public meeting in Multan where Prime Minister Imran Khan was in attendance.
He said this was a clear message of PTI workers to their lawmakers.
“My dear prime minister, stand firm and don’t worry. Respect and power are from Allah almighty. No one gave you power through backdoor,” roared Qureshi.
The source said that the Tareen group would talk to Imran Khan about the FIR case against Tareen and will also present the concerns with him.
The sources said some of the federal ministers and PTI members of the National Assembly (NA) had opposed the idea of a direct meeting of Prime Minister Imran Khan with Jahangir Tareen and had advised the premier that any meeting with Jahangir Tareen would send a signal of weakness and of a compromise on accountability.
The source said that majority of PTI National Assembly members and federal ministers said the meeting of the prime minister with Jahangir Tareen will send a negative message and give the impression that the government has compromised over corruption.
These members are of the view that evidence of corruption and money laundering of the Tareen group has been found and Tareen is blackmailing the government. Federal Minister of Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur has taken the toughest stance in this regard.
On the other hand, the Tareen group says that it has the support of 45 provincial and national members and more members are in touch with Tareen.
