Staff Reporter Peshawar
Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak on Thursday denied media reports of PTI stalwart Jahangir Tareen being brought back into the party’s fold, to take over responsibility for election candidates in Punjab.
The federal minister was addressing the media after an inspection of the Peshawar BRT office along with National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan.
Responding to a question about the government’s preparations for the upcoming Senate elections, Khattak denied reports of Tareen being given responsibility for currying favour with candidates in Punjab again.
“That is wrong propaganda, Jahangir Tareen is nowhere to be seen, our numbers [of candidates] are full and there will be no buying and selling [of candidates],” said Khattak, warning that if anyone else tried to engage in “buying and selling” of candidates, they would be “given a befitting response”.
His remarks came after calls by some members of the PTI to bring Tareen back into the fold in a meeting of the parliamentary party of the ruling alliance led by the PTI at Parliament House on Wednesday.
A PTI leader from Faisalabad, Raja Riaz, had demanded in the meeting that Jahangir Tareen should be made a member of a committee to be formed to devise a plan for contesting the upcoming Senate elections. Information Minister Shibli Faraz had said of the demand that it was Riaz’s “personal opinion”.
Speaking about the 10-party opposition alliance, Khattak said, “Till today, we haven’t taken one step to win over the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement], we don’t want to win them over and nor have we ever tried.”
