Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Senior leader and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F Senator Talha Mahmood on Tuesday announced his decision to switch his loyalties and join the PPP, citing his desire to work at the national level as the sole reason behind the move.
“I have never been a part of any party except Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam,” said Talha. “Currently, the economic and political conditions of Pakistan are in front of everyone. All institutions including the media of Pakistan are going through a crisis,” he added. “Pakistan will have to play its role to get out of the crisis,” he emphasized.
Talha said he was invited to join PPP He said the focus of his former party, JUI-F is on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, while there is no major contribution of the party in Punjab and Sindh.
To a query, Mahmood said he did not mention anything about having differences with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman. However, he said, there was no better political floor than the PPP right now. He also accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of stealing his mandate in the general elections 2024.
Meanwhile, PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi, on Mehmood’s inclusion, said they were going to strengthen the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as more politicians from the province were in contact with them to join their ranks. He said his party would give a surprise during the upcoming Senate elections in KP.
Pointing towards the KP assembly speaker’s delay in taking oath from the members elected on reserved seats, he said the speaker was violating the law and Constitution.
Kundi, who is the PPP information secretary, said they would work hard for strengthening the PPP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He added that the Sunni Ittehad Council was trampling upon the constitution – a reference to the provincial government’s decision to disregard Governor Ghulam Ali’s orders about convening the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session.
He urged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Speaker Babar Khan Swati to play his constitutional role and claimed that the PTI members – who are now using SIC as an umbrella after getting elected as independents in Feb 8 elections – were unhappy with the affairs.
In this connection, he predicted the formation of a forward bloc in the SIC’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter and said the PPP stood by Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir and the soldiers in their fight against terrorism.
