December 22, 2001	Saturday	Shawwal 6, 1422

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ABBOTTABAD, Dec 21: Rehmat Khan Wardug, acting president of Tehrik-i-Istiqlal, has said that TI will never join any other party and shall keep intact its individual status.

He told a press conference at his residence here on Friday that this was in keeping with the decision of the party’s central committee, which met in September.

However, the TI could join an electoral alliance before the next polls, but to decide about it now would be too premature, he said.

When his attention was drawn to Omer Asghar Khan’s decision to quit the federal cabinet and launch a new political party, and his saying that TI will be one of the components of the new setup as its president Air Marshal Asghar Khan had opted to join the new party, Wardug said the TI chief was given a free hand to decide the future strategy for himself.

The party, he said, had acted in a democratic way when its central committee, with a majority of more than 100 members, decided to keep the TI a separate political entity. Only three members chose to join a new setup.

While paying rich tribute to Asghar Khan, Wardug remarked that the country needed a patriot like him and every of his act “is full of sincerity” but “we had to honour the verdict of the TI’s central command.”

About re-organization of the party, he said election of TI’s new president will take place before March 30, 2002, for which meetings of provincial bodies will be summoned in February.

When asked about the present govt’s policies, he said but for the slow and doubtful accountability process, “things are going in the right direction and the country’s economy is showing slight improvement despite adverse conditions worldwide.”

Wardug fully supported President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Indian issue, saying New Delhi should not underestimate Pakistani nation as 14 million people stood united who knew how to protect the ideological and geographical boundaries of the country.

He said in order to achieve better and transparent results from the local governments, the newly elected members, Nazims and Naib Nazims must be educated their responsibilities and functions as most of them appeared to be not clear about what they must do.