Shahbaz Sharif, Jahangir Tareen met secretly to discuss anti-PTI strategy: sources

• Without confirming or denying his meeting with Shahbaz Sharif, Tareen says "such contacts are part of politics."
• Everybody is upset over the economic condition of the country and because of the growing price hike, he says. 
• Tareen says his group of estranged ruling party MNAs and MPAs have given him the mandate to make any political decision.

ISLAMABAD: In a major development, PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif and PTI’s disgruntled leader Jahangir Khan Tareen met secretly to discuss ousting of Prime Minister Imran Khan, said sources.

The credible source told The News that the two leaders met a few days ago to discuss the fate of the incumbent government.

Tareen, when contacted, did not offer any comment on this critically important meeting in the wake of the Opposition’s announcement to move a no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan.

‘Such contacts are part of politics’

Without confirming or denying his meeting with Shahbaz Sharif, Jahangir Tareen said that his group of estranged ruling party MNAs and MPAs had given him the mandate to make any political decision.

Tareen said that being a politician, he believes in interaction with other politicians. "Such contacts are part of politics," he added.

Tareen said that everybody is upset over the economic condition of the country and because of the growing price hike. He said that his group’s MPs are of the view that they could not stay indifferent to the woes of the masses. To a question, Tareen said that his group's MPs are more than 30 in number.

However, in the meeting between Shahbaz Sharif and Jehangir Tareen, which remained secret and was not even shared with most of their respective party leaders, the two reportedly discussed ways and means to get rid of the Imran Khan government.

The issue of a no-confidence motion was also discussed, the source said.

Interestingly, the oppositions’ activities concerning a possible no trust move are being kept secret by a few key leaders. Few politicians in the PML-N, PPP or JUI-F, including very senior ones, are in the picture of what is actually going on behind the scenes.

Earlier this week, many parliamentarians supporting estranged PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen met twice in Lahore and reposed their complete confidence in him and vowed to stand by him. 

Last Tuesday, according to a media report, the group gathered at a reception hosted by Aun Chaudhry, brother of PTI MPA Amin Chaudhry and a close confidant of Tareen. 

Those who attended the reception included MNAs Khwaja Shiraz, Sardar Riaz Mazari, Raja Riaz, Mubeen Alam Anwer, Ghulam Lali, provincial ministers Nauman Langrial, Ajmal Cheema, advisers to chief minister Faisal Jaboana, Abdul Hayee Dastee, MPAs Chaudhry Zawar, Aslam Bharwana, Tahir Randhawa, Salman Naeem, Omar Aftab Dhillon, senior politician Ishaq Khakwani and others.

The group, headed by Tareen, had also met a few days ago at the Gaddafi Stadium lounge and watched a cricket match of the Pakistan Super League. 

The group had decided to move ahead together and expressed complete confidence in the leadership of Tareen.

Talking to the media, Jehangir Tareen had said it was the need of the hour to sit together to find solutions to the prevailing issues of the country. 

For the purpose, he was quoted as saying, all friends gathered and discussed core issues, including the price hike. To a question, he had said that nothing regarding a no-confidence move by the opposition had been discussed in the meeting. About his meeting with political leaders, he had said politicians remained in contact with each other and it would continue in future as well.

Originally published in The News