Qureshi invites Imran to Ghotki public meeting
ISLAMABAD: Four days before his Ghotki public meeting, Shah Mehmood Qureshi met Mian Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday on his invitation. Ostensibly, a guessing game is still on about his future political alignment — PML-N or PTI.
Qureshi will unveil his future line of action on November 27 at a public meeting in Ghotki, a border district inside Sindh, where he has significant following, both spiritually and politically.
Not Nawaz Sharif or Shahbaz Sharif, Imran has been invited to the event and this, in a way, indicates the PTI can be his new political destination. Qureshi insists he will announce his future political alignment in Ghotki.
PTI central information secretary Omar Sarfraz Cheema confirmed the Sunday’s event was Qureshi’s initiative and his party chairman had been invited to it. Cheema also expressed his ignorance about Qureshi’s future plan.
“Please wait for November 27,” he said, when The News approached him on telephone in Lahore.Sources close to the Makhdoom of Multan claim that he is not alone in starting new innings with a new political party and they insisted Qureshi’s most likely choice would be Imran Khan’s PTI.
He will not be alone in making a formal announcement on his new destination but a group of politicians, primarily from southern Punjab, will also do so. A forward bloc that has emerged in the PPP Punjab and supported the former foreign minister is also expected to join the PTI, more likely on November 27.
Needless to say, Qureshi’s new political option is the PTI and his joining the party will arguably be the most significant boost to a party that has set the alarm bells ringing in the PML-N and PPP following its recent Lahore public meeting.
“Let me first make an announcement about my own future. Only then I can try to persuade others to also join me,” said the soft-spoken Qureshi. Asked about his meeting with Nawaz Sharif, he said he met the PML-N leader on his invitation, as both enjoyed cordial relations since long.
He did not agree with this correspondent that during his rendezvous with the PML-N leader, he presented a charter of demands before him.
When asked could he be the next chief minister of the Punjab after joining a political party, Qureshi said his future political alignment would be without preconditions or demands. “Had this been the case, I would have not resigned as foreign minister. National interests and prestige is more important to me,” he emphasised.
Qureshi invites Imran to Ghotki public meeting
We'll know for sure in a few hours
