In line with expectations, former federal minister for interior Faisal Saleh Hayat on Wednesday quit the PPP and joined the PML-N ahead of the upcoming general elections.

According to a Dawn report, the announcement of Hayat switching parties was expected on Monday or Tuesday when PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif were expected to visit Jewana.

However, the announcement was made today (Wednesday) outside Hayat’s residence in Shah Jewana in the presence of Shehbaz only, with his elder sibling and party chief missing.

“We are confident that Hayat’s induction will strengthen the PML-N, especially in Jhang and Chiniot, but also in his other constituencies,” Shehbaz said as he welcomed the latest inductee into his party.

He said that Hayat’s presence in the party will bolster Nawaz’s leadership. “Nawaz will, God willing, become the prime minister for the fourth term. He is not just a politician but also a statesman.”

Hayat, a former PPP and PML-Q member, had given a clear indication last week that he was about to switch sides again. On Friday, when he reached in a big procession of his supporters to the office of returning officer to file his nomination papers for NA-108 and PP-125, not a single PPP flag was carried by any of his supporters.

Hayat had first quit the PPP during the Musharraf regime and later joined the PML-Q. He rejoined the PPP in 2017.

In the 2018 general election, he was the PPP candidate but lost the election to PTI’s Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan by just 600 votes in the recount. The PML-N could not field any candidate in his constituency in the last election.