LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central organiser Jahangir Khan Tareen has said the party does not feel like thanking any party or anybody for withdrawing the MQM and JUI-F’s resolutions about unseating of its legislators from the National Assembly.

Flanked by PTI Punjab organiser Chaudhry Sarwar, Mr Tareen told a news conference at the newly-established PTI chairman’s secretariat on Thursday that the PTI did not want or plan derailment of democracy. As Mr Tareen said the PTI was still ready to stay out of the assemblies, Mr Sarwar said PML-N legislators were wise enough not to unseat the PTI members.

“I had predicted that there would be general elections and not by-elections, if the PTI parliamentarians were unseated,” he said.

He said Imran would currently not go to the NA session but at an appropriate time, when there would be a need to speak on national issues. He also criticised NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for requesting MQM chief Altaf Husain to withdraw PTI members’ unseating resolution.

He lauded the law-enforcement agencies for purging Karachi of the menaces of extortion, kidnapping and target killing. He said the Kalabagh dam should have been constructed with due consensus among all the provinces and until then focus should be on developing Bhasha Dam.

Tareen said the PTI had given all proofs to the Judicial Commission and it pointed out some 40 lapses and mismanagement by Election Commission officials. He said Imran had also written a letter to the chief election commissioner to take disciplinary action against those held responsible for lapses by the JC.

Mr Tareen announced the party organisation process in Punjab had been completed and it was stepping up its local election campaign by raising different issues beginning with agriculture. A Kissan conference would be held in Vehari on Saturday (tomorrow) followed by conferences in Sheikhupura, Toba Tek Singh and then across the country.

Refusing to comment on fissures in the party, Mr Tareen said the leaders and workers were following party’s ideology.

Mr Sarwar said he had re-organised the party during the last three months and taken all old workers and leaders into confidence before re-organising the party in respective districts. He said the leadership in Kasur was taken into confidence before former federal minister Talib Nakai joined the party.

He said more and more people were joining the PTI because they had realised that neither the PML-N nor the PPP was able to resolve people’s problems. He said Imran would lead the local election campaign and chair kissan conferences.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2015

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