Former Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) federal minister Imtiaz Safdar Waraich has formally announced to join Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a press conference at Bani Gala on Friday.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan welcomed the stalwart politician, saying his inclusion will strengthen PTI in Gujranwala division.
It is vital to mention here that Warraich’s inclusion is the fourth major jolt to the PPP’s Gujranwala division, home of the party’s central Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira.
Earlier, party stalwarts Nazar Muhammad Gondal from Mandi Bahauddin, Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul from Gujrat, and Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan from Sialkot have bid adieu to the PPP.
Imtiaz Warraich was among the PPP’s senior members and is regarded as a veteran politician and a party stalwart.
Moreover, Fawad Chaudhry has also revealed that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) former district nazim from Khanewal Ahmed Yar Haraj will also join PTI on Saturday.
Born in Punjab’s Gujranwala district, Warraich is a lawyer by profession who served as the Gujranwala district’s bar association’s general secretary in 1982-1983 and was a member of the local district council from 1983-1991.
He has also served as the director of Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited and was a federal minister in former premier Benazir Bhutto’s second government.
He was twice elected as MNA in 2002 and 2008 from NA-98, his home constituency in Gujranwala, and was elected as an MPA for the Punjab Assembly in 1993, also from a seat in the same region. After his win in 2008, Warraich served as state minister for communication.