Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jehangir Khan Tareen on Monday said the verdict of the judicial commission probing rigging allegations into the General Elections 2013 would likely come before the end of July, adding that his party had put up a strong case during the proceedings and was hoping for a favourable decision.
Speaking in DNA talkshow hosted by Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on Channel 24, Tareen said that the PTI’s sit-in protests in Islamabad last year had created political awareness in the masses.
“People have realized that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were doing politics of ‘muk muka’ therefore they are now looking towards PTI and Imran Khan for resolution of their issues,” he said. Tareen added that Imran Khan had a spotless past and it was his vision to serve the country.
Tareen denied that the party’s sit-in protest had failed, saying that the Dharna had shaken the people from slumber and they now knew that no one could usurp their rights. He said the party was now able to hold sit-ins across the country whenever it wanted because of the mass public support it had gathered during the sit-in protest.
The PTI official also denied that the sit-in protest had been launched at the behest of the Pakistani military establishment. “The decision to hold the protest was held on May 11 and it was not due to any external pressure. The military cannot force people to come out on the roads, it was Imran Khan and PTI’s vision that compelled people to join the anti-government protests,” he said.
Commenting on intra-party rifts, Tareen said that he believed that a delay in intra-party elections had affected the party. “My position in the party is because of my services to the cause,” he said while referring to criticism against him from within the party.
Replying to a question regarding the involvement of Imran Khan’s wife Reham Khan in party affairs, Tareen denied that Reham had any role in the party. “She helps her husband in various party activities but she has no direct role in the party itself,” he said.