Former National Assembly opposition leader Raja Riaz claims that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was released from prison in June this year because “he agreed to work against party chief Imran Khan.”
Riaz, a PTI dissident, stated this on Saturday during the Geo News programme Naya Pakistan.
Qureshi was one of scores of PTI leaders detained during the May 9 protests sparked by Imran Khan’s imprisonment in a corruption case.
Following the violent protests, some PTI leaders, including Fawad Chaudhry, Aamir Mehmood Kiyani, Ali Zaidi, Pervez Khattak, and others, split with the party’s leader over the attacks on defence and public infrastructure in several regions of the country.
When programme hosts Shehzad Iqbal brought up Qureshi’s allegation that Riaz’s name was not presented as caretaker prime minister, he said, “First ask Qureshi sahib under what agreement he was released from jail and is roaming freely and holding press conferences.”
He stated that the PTI leaders are either in hiding or in jail, and he asked Qureshi to clarify his stand on this.
“100% he is outside jail due to some agreement. Those who are still with the PTI chairman are either in jail or in hiding,” he added.
When asked about the alleged bargain that got Qureshi out of jail, the PTI dissident stated that the PTI vice chairman had promised or might have agreed in writing that he would work against PTI chief Khan and “minus” him from the party.
Qureshi asserted on the same episode that newly chosen interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was neither a choice of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) nor the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
“Do you think that country’s important decisions can be taken by Raja Riaz,” Qureshi asked rhetorically.
He also expressed hope that the interim Prime Minister-designate will oversee free and fair elections in the country, stressing that contentious elections will not bring stability.
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, a lawmaker from the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), was named caretaker prime minister in an unexpected move earlier today, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The decision was reached following the second round of consultations between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Riaz, and a summary to that effect has been authorized by President Arif Alvi in accordance with Article 224 1A.
