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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sardar Latif Khosa said he was joining the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the wish of the party's founder and former prime minister, Imran Khan, according to Geo News.
"I have decided this only in the interest of the country and democracy," Khosla said in a statement, adding that he has decided to raise his voice vigorously for the truth. Khosa made this announcement at a press conference in Lahore saying he was now free to join the party of his choice. "I have dedicated my services to PTI. I am free to join a party of my choosing," he said, adding that he would not talk about what he lost or gained in the PPP. On December 4, Khosa, a member of Imran Khan's legal team, said the PTI founder invited him to join the PTI, Geo News reported. He called for ending the 'oppression' of the PTI founder, who has been incarcerated since August this year in several cases, Geo News reported. The country's constitution is a civil agreement that has the characteristics of all welfare states, he added. He said the state and the country suffered whenever the powers-that-be deviated from the tenets of the Constitution. "The motherland can become prosperous if we follow the Constitution. The Constitution has a solution for everything if it is implemented in its true spirit," he said. Barrister Muhammed Iqbal, a lawyer, came up with the idea of Pakistan as a separate country and the same was realised by Muhammed Ali Jinnah, he stressed. The seasoned politician said the duty of the armed forces is not only to protect the borders but also to assist the state if required during an emergency such as floods or in providing security for holding elections, according to Geo News. Underscoring the upcoming general elections, he said the country's 250 million people are looking towards the judiciary to ensure a level playing field for all political parties in the run-up to the general elections, scheduled to be held on February 8, next year. The announcement comes as the PTI faces a mass withdrawal of leaders, including Pervez Khattak, Asad Umar, Shireen Mazar and several others, who have already parted ways with Imran Khan following the May 9 riots, which were triggered by Khan's arrest in a corruption case. Earlier, in September, PPP suspended its senior leader and lawyer Khosa's party membership over his failure to reply to the show-cause notice issued against him for violating the party policy. According to the party spokesperson, Secretary General Nayyar Bokhari also suspended his membership in the Central Executive Committee (CEC). Before his suspension, the PPP issued a notice to Khosa for defending the head of another political party, the PTI, without approval, Geo News reported. "You, being a member of the Central Executive Committee of Pakistan [Peoples Party] are defending/ pleading/ representing a head of another political party without prior approval of leadership in corruption cases in which he has been convicted and in a case against him under official secret Act, while delivering a speech in lawyers function you criticised the state policy regarding cipher," the notice stated. (ANI)
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