Jahangir Khan Tareen, the patron-in-chief of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), on Thursday vowed that the party would truly bring about ‘Naya Pakistan’.

Tareen made the remarks at the tail-end of his speech while addressing a workers’ convention in Taxila, where former PTI leader and federal minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan formally joined the party.

“What do we want to do? We want to take Pakistan beyond its potential,” he said as he lamented the lack of progress made in the country in the past 75 years.

“Whether we succeed or not, only God knows. But we will work with good intentions and will think of the people first. If we do that, then we will be successful.”

Commenting on Sarwar’s decision to join the party, Tareen said that the relationship between the two was like that between “brothers”.

“When such friends are with us, then the work we need to do to make the country progress, we can do that,” he said.

Concluding his speech, Tareen said, “Together, we will truly make a ‘Naya Pakistan’, God willing!”

During his speech today, Tareen said, “Forget the past and look forward […] this country has everything. If there is anything lacking, it is that we [political parties] are always fighting with one another.

“Such parties can’t do politics. They have gotten into the habit of fighting with each other […]. Be competitive all you want but don’t fight. Don’t ruin the country,” he added.

Tareen said that the IPP would try to set new traditions, fulfil its objectives and work for the benefit of the people.

“But insulting one another and wishing ill on each other won’t get us anywhere. Widen your goals as well as your thought process and choose your words cautiously,” he advised.

“God willing, we will achieve what we set out to achieve,” he said, thanking the workers in attendance for their support to the IPP. “We are nothing without your support and hard work, you are our true strength,” he said.

“Our message will be spread all across the country, thanks to the help of you all. Sure, we have television and newspaper, but when people go to one another’s houses to talk to them, that’s how the true message is spread,” he said.

“You are our strength who can take our message further,” he added.

Led by Tareen — who once used to be a close aide of PTI chief Imran Khan — the IPP was formally launched in June. At the launching ceremony, Tareen was flanked by several other PTI defectors — including those who left in the aftermath of the May 9 incidents and amid a state crackdown on the former ruling party.

As election campaigns kick off ahead of the polls scheduled for February 8, the party last week pledged to ensure a minimum wage of Rs50,000 for workers, offer subsidies to the poor on electricity bills, allocate more funds to the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and reduce petrol prices.

“If the party is voted into power, it will collect taxes from the wealthy class and allocate the country’s resources to benefit the poor and needy,” IPP President Aleem Khan said while addressing a public meeting organised by his party’s local chapter in Hafizabad.

He emphasised that providing relief to the ordinary and poor classes of the country would be the top priority of his party.