Shah Mehmood Qureshi joins PTI

Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told thousands of supporters and followers at a public gathering in Ghotki on Sunday that he has joined the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).
“I have joined the party that is working towards justice and change. I am now part of Imran Khan’s party,” he announced. Qureshi had sought to keep his future political plans secret after resigning from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) but the decision did not come as a surprise, as Imran Khan had declared weeks ago that Qureshi would end up in his party. Qureshi told the crowd that the time had come to for fresh general elections. The National Assembly, he said, was not functioning according to the aspirations of the people. “It is time for this government to go,” he said. Qureshi said he stepped down as the country’s foreign minister in a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on the Raymond Davis fiasco. The former foreign minister said Pakistan’s nuclear programme was not safe in the presence of Zardari and said he would reveal more about the nuclear programme at the PTI’s next public meeting in Karachi. Qureshi said further that President Zardari had said he would not be allowed to hold a rally in Ghotki, however Ghotki did not belong to Zardari but to the Sindhi people.
He said the PPP’s founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a son of Sindh and he came out before the people of Pakistan when the members of the National Assembly did not listen to him. He said the Sindhis were the people who had passed the first resolution for the establishment of Pakistan in the Sindh Assembly. The former foreign minister said the convoy that started from Multan would go all the way and topple the “pharaoh” in Islamabad.
He also said all eyes were on Imran Khan because the nation was looking for a leader to lead from the front and make the country prosperous. “I am embarking on a new journey and from today onwards, Shah Mehmood is part of your team,” he told Khan to thunderous applause.
Earlier, addressing the same gathering, Imran Khan had invited the former foreign minister to join his party. Commenting on the NATO attack in Mohmand Agency, the PTI chairman urged the government to pull out of the US-led war on terror. He said Qureshi’s entry into his party would be useful for the country.