Disqualified Tareen steps down as PTI general secretary

–PTI leader says ‘will remain part of PTI’s struggle’, hopes to see Imran Khan as Pakistan’s next prime minister

ISLAMABAD: Jahangir Khan Tareen on Saturday tendered his resignation as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) general secretary.

Party chief Imran Khan is yet to accept Tareen’s resignation.

Tareen tweeted that he has resigned as secretary general of the PTI but “will remain the part of the struggle”.

I have resigned as SG of Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf . Will remain part of the struggle. Hoping to see Imran Khan as Pakistan’s next PM , IA pic.twitter.com/mqgoFevRFN

— Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) December 16, 2017

The Supreme Court on Friday handed down its much-awaited judgement in the Imran Khan, Jahangir Tareen disqualification case, rejecting Hanif Abbasi’s petition for Khan’s disqualification but disqualifying Jahangir Tareen for life.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi on Nov 2 last year filed the petition, seeking the two PTI leaders’ disqualification over non-disclosure of assets and existence of their offshore companies, as well as receiving foreign funds for their party.

Tareen was de-seated by the ECP, following his disqualification.

“The Election Commission of Pakistan hereby de-notify Mr. Jahangir Khan Tareen as Member National Assembly of Pakistan from constituency NA-154 Lodhran-1 with immediate effect…”

The notification further declared Tareen as a returned candidate from his constituency Lodhran-1 which stands rescinded with effect from December 15.

Following the Supreme Court’s verdict, Jahangir Tareen had expressed his disappointment and said the country’s top court had disqualified him on “mere interpretation of the trust deed”.

Tareen took to Twitter to express his views following the verdict disqualifying him.
“Accusations Rejected by SC
1) Misuse of authority,loan writeoff
2) Insider Trading
3) Misdeclared Agri income
4) London Property Full money trail accepted not hidden, declared in children’s assets since 2011.
And SC disqualifies me on mere interpretation of the trust deed???,” he tweeted.

IMRAN KHAN CALLS ON TAREEN:

The PTI chief called on Tareen at his Islamabad residence on Saturday.

A high-level party huddle was held at Imran’s Bani Gala residence to discuss the future course of action following Tareen’s disqualification where the party’s legal team briefed the leaders on the details of the Supreme Court judgement.

Sources said that PTI MNA from Islamabad, Asad Umar, remains a strong contender to replace Tareen.

Following Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification by the SC in its landmark Panama Papers verdict, opposition parties — including the PTI — had raised objections to the former prime minister holding a position in the PML-N.

“Someone who is not sadiq [truthful] and ameen [honest] in the view of the apex court should not be eligible to hold party office,” PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi had observed during a National Assembly session last month.

Tareen’s disqualification is also uncomfortably close in judicial reasoning to the ouster of the former prime minister. Effectively, a top PTI leader has been stripped of public office for almost the same reason the PTI used to argue Sharif had no right to hold public office.