Jahangir Tareen 'likely to meet' PML-N leaders during UK trip

• Istehktam-e-Pakistan Party chief leaves for UK.
• Tareen is expected to stay in UK for over a week.
• He will meet overseas Pakistanis during his visit.

LAHORE: Days after officially forming a political party, Istehktam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), president Jahangir Tareen left for the United Kingdon on Sunday amid speculations that he will hold meetings with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders.

According to sources, the party chief is expected to stay in the UK for over a week, during which he will hold meetings with the overseas Pakistanis and have his medical check-up. 

Soon after rumours spurred regarding its emergence, the party was joined by several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) deserters and close aides of Imran Khan, including:

• Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry
• Former Sindh governor Imran Ismail
• Former health minister Amir Kiani
• Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas 
• Former federal minister Mahmood Molvi
• Former SAPM Firdous Ashiq Awan
• Former federal minister Ali Zaidi
• Former provincial minister Fayyazul Hasan Chauhan
• Former member of the provincial assembly Nauman Langrial

Tareen had brushed aside the impression that his party was formed to replace the PTI, saying IPP would work only to develop the country. 

He had expressed sorrow that despite making efforts while in PTI, his new comrades could not work hard to materialise the PTI manifesto and disappointed the people.

The IPP chief had expressed confidence that more politicians would join the IPP in the coming days, and the party will try its best to resolve the economic mess and divisions in the nation.

Tareen — once a close aide of the PTI chief and a key person in bringing the party to power in 2018 — officially launched his new party on June 8, saying that he joined politics to play his role for the betterment of the country.

Several PTI defectors — who parted ways from Khan following the May 9 mayhem — have joined hands with Tareen.

On May 9, the PTI chairman was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His arrest triggered almost countrywide rioting, during which important military installations — including the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and Lahore Corp Commander’s residence — were attacked and vandalised.

Since then, there has been a mass exodus of PTI leaders jumping ship, and many that claimed to leave the party had stated in their press conferences that they had bid adieu to politics.