'Dead on arrival': Qureshi on Tareen's new political party

• Qureshi likens IPP to patient brought at hospital's emergency.
• PTI vice chairman appears before anti-terrorism court in Lahore.
• Court grants bail to senior PTI politician till June 27.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday dismissed Jahangir Tareen's Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) as "dead on arrival" after it was launched a few days back.

The PTI leader expressed his views on the recently established political faction, which primarily consists of former PTI members while speaking to journalists outside an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore.

In response to a question about the Tareen-led party, Qureshi drew a parallel, likening it to a patient pronounced "dead on arrival" in the emergency ward of a hospital.

"I would only say this much about it: when you take a patient, after an incident, to a hospital's emergency. For instance, the Services Hospital is close by. You take them to its emergency.

"The doctors conduct their examination, after which they declare them dead. So I will only say this is a launch which is dead on arrival," he said.

Qureshi appeared before the ATC to request bail in the case related to road obstruction and delivering incendiary remarks.

Additional Sessions Judge Nadeem Hasan Wasir conducted the case's hearing.

The court granted interim bail to the senior politician till June 27, while restraining police from taking him into custody till the said date. Meanwhile, details of records related to Qureshi's case were also sought from the police at the next hearing.

Qureshi, however, has also been ordered to be involved in the probe. The PTI politician was booked in the case at the Race Course police station.

Earlier this week, Tareen officially announced his new political party. “We are laying a foundation of a new political party — Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party,” he said, addressing a news conference flanked by former PTI leaders, including Aleem Khan, Imran Ismail, and others.

The influential politician from Southern Punjab, a former close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and who played a major role in the party's formation, said that he joined politics to play his role for the betterment of the country.

“We have gathered at one platform to make joint efforts to lift the country out of this quagmire,” he said, adding that the country needed a political leadership to resolve all prevailing issues, including social, economic, and others.

Tareen's party comprises politicians who had jumped PTI's ship during the ongoing mass exodus, with many claiming to leave the party and bidding adieu to politics.

Most politicians in the exodus, which began after bigwigs of the Imran Khan-led political entity left the party one after another, include Fawad Chaudhry, Ali Zaidi, Mahmood Baqi Maulvi, Imran Ismail, Firdous Ashiq Awa, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan and Murad Raas.