.... there is a secret committee functioning to probe the background of such leaders after its clearance such people are being accepted.
When it was revealed that this secret committee comprises a former ISI official, a retired major general and some IB people, it simply infuriated the PTI’s senior leaders.
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Senior and old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders are feeling insecure and becoming desperate over the continued inclusion of what they term as ‘establishment men’ in the party fold and that too on top positions.
The latest upcoming inclusion of a key establishment-icon who is also supposed to hold an extremely important position in the party soon after joining the party is raising many red flags.
These PTI leaders who had been working hard to strengthen the party among the masses for years and were cheerful after the successful Lahore rally, now see that party top leadership blindly following the establishment line and accepting the tested and failed politicians publicly known as the ‘men of establishment’.
These leaders are of the view that party’s core committee has decided in principle that all the politicians will be accepted in the party fold after complete scrutiny through a scrutiny committee.
PTI leaders say that recent meeting of the PTI’s core committee was quite noisy on these issues, but there is a feeling that suggestions or remarks of the old leaders are being ignored and as the only objective now is to gain power with the establishment support.
It has been revealed that when many leaders raised the question that how so many Q-Leaguers and Musharraf men like Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal are being inducted without any scrutiny against the party’s core committee’s decisions, the PTI’s Punjab president rose to his seat to reply that there is a secret committee functioning to probe the background of such leaders after its clearance such people are being accepted.
When it was revealed that this secret committee comprises a former ISI official, a retired major general and some IB people, it simply infuriated the PTI’s senior leaders.
Some have also shown concern that it was decided in party’s core committee that no PTI candidate will participate in any by-elections now but giving party’s ticket to son of Shah Mahmood Qureshi was again a violation of party decision which is being violated without even taking approval of the core committee.
Among those who have joined or are joining the PTI and who have been close to the establishment can be included General (r) Anis Bajwa, who was number 2 in the ISI under General Ehsan. General (r) Shahid Aziz, former army general was a diehard Musharraf loyalist. General (r) Javed Hassan was also considered close to the establishment and was and has a ‘Kargil fame’.
Masood Sharif is ex-IB chief and is considered close to the establishment. Former Inspector General Police Iftikhar Rashid is also known for these links. Brig Ejaz Minhas has recently retired from the ISI, and he is secretary election cell of PTI, Punjab.
A Lahore based bureaucrat-turned-analyst is known for always being close to the establishment line. First he was with PPP then joined Leghari in his interim cabinet and finally joined the establishment and become a provincial minister.
Another important lady who may be joining the PTI in the next few days and for whom Imran Khan is anxious is also known for her decades long relationship with the establishment.
Zafar Iqbal Warriach whose joining the PTI has created ripples in the party circles was minister of state during Musharraf regime and was in charge of Islamabad administration during the Lal Masjid operation.
Names of the establishment’s Q-Leaguers who joined the PTI in last few months have already been published in national press show that more than 90 percent of the new entrants in Lahore, Chakwal and all other major cities of Punjab are known Musharraf’s men, having close and continuous connections with the establishment.
A senior PTI leader said that one Orangzeb Hoti, who was once convicted in US, is also being included in the party and is promised that he will be given party ticket. This has also angered the party leaders. The PTI leaders say that they are observing that almost more than half of the PTI top leadership now comprises either retired military, ISI officials or those politicians known as men of the establishment.
The leaders say that in next few days, a top party leader, on wink of concerned circles of the establishment, is all set to hand over most of the party issues to two persons; one, a non-politician, recently included from Lahore while the other a lady who will announce her participation publicly in few days.
These senior PTI leaders say that unfortunately these major changes in party structure are being made without discussing them in the party’s top decision-making forum.
These senior PTI leaders have also expressed reservations about Imran Khan’s one-day UAE visit last week where he met with an important member of the UAE government.
They say this meeting was arranged by Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the day when an important UAE government official visited Pakistan to convince the Pakistan government not to get Shamsi Airbase vacated. The same meeting was kept secret from the media.
The PTI leaders say that relations of top PPP leadership with US and UAE governments and Nawaz Sharif with Saudi government are considered as basic reason of maintenance of status quo in the country’s politics. They say that at least Imran should have avoided flying to Dubai to meet a UAE ruler on desire of the later.
“Imran should understand that power will be given by the people of Pakistan and not by the rulers of other countries. Imran should keep a distance from the Qureshi’s contacts with foreign powers as in that case the PTI will immediately turn into a status quo party,” a senior PTI leader told The News.
On the other hand, another incident in a recent meeting shocked senior PTI leaders. According to a leader Imran, during this meeting, praised Fawad Chaudhry as one of the few members of the Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League and asked the participants whether he should be included in the PTI. Though Imran was snubbed by many top PTI leaders on this, but these leaders are still shocked over the bent of Imran’s mind.
When PTI spokesman and leader Umar Cheema was asked to comment on the main points of this report, he told The News that after the October 30 successful Lahore rally, thousands of people are trying to or are joining the PTI. Many people are raising objections to some of these new entrants, and the PTI leadership has made it clear time and again that none of these new entrants have been promised the party ticket for the next general elections.
Cheema said that election tickets will only be awarded after a complete scrutiny. He said the impression is not true that the PTI is losing popularity after inclusion of these new entrants.
Regarding the question of announcement of joining of another establishment-icon in the next few days, who will get a top party office, Cheema said that the PTI is welcoming all new entrants, and no one is being promised any ticket but some top professionals are being given important assignments to take full advantage of their competence.
Regarding Imran’s meeting with UAE rulers with support of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Cheema said that he did not know why a press release of this meeting was not issued. “I have heard of it, but I did not know about the meeting agenda,” Cheema said.
He said that one Rauf Hassan, who handles the PTI media in Islamabad, should be consulted on this question.
Regarding Imran’s desire to include Fawad Chaudhry of Musharraf’s party, Cheema said in the recent core committee meeting, many names were considered for their inclusion into the party fold, but name of Fawad Chaudhry was not discussed.
Raoof Hasan, PTI central vice-president, while talking to The News said that Imran Khan frequently visits other countries, mostly for fund raising, and his last week UAE visit was also meant for the same purpose. “Had Imran any official meeting there, the party would have issued an appropriate press release in that regard,’ he concluded.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=10987&Cat=13&dt=12/14/2011
