Jahangir Khan Tareen, senior leader of the ruling party, has returned to Pakistan after spending about seven months in the United Kingdom. Speaking to the media on his return, the former PTI secretary general claimed that he had gone abroad for medical treatment. “Have been going abroad to seek medical treatment for the past seven years,” he said.
Tareen added that it was the opposition’s job to say all sorts of things and that he does not deem it important to address their blames. “Thank God that all my business dealings are transparent,” the business magnate stated.
Let me state for the record that JDW is NOT part of the petition against GOPb notification to start sugar Mills on 10th Nov. All of my mills, including those in Sind will start crushing on 10th. Will play my part in helping the Govt overcome the sugar shortage and price hike
— Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) November 6, 2020
The erstwhile PTI stalwart also tweeted regarding the issues, stating that his company, the JDW group, “is not a part of the petition against the GOP notification to start sugar Mills on 10th Nov”.
It is important to note that earlier this year, following the shortage of wheat flour in the country and the subsequent price hike, sugar had also gone missing from the market. Taking notice of the situation, the prime minister had formed a committee to find out those responsible for the crises.
On the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the reports of the inquiry committees tasked to probe sugar and wheat crises in the country were made public on the 4th of April. According to the inquiry committee, there are six groups which control about 51% of the production of sugar in Pakistan, JKT’s Group JDW, controls 19.97% of production, RYK Group (Khusro Bakhtiar) group control 12.24%, Al-Moiz Group controls 6.8%, Tandlianwala Group 4.9%, Omni Group 1.7% and the Sharif family owns 4.5% of the production.
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“The report is a pack of accusations,” Tareen told Samaa TV anchorperson Nadeem Malik on his show. “It was definitely written by incompetent people and there is no doubt about that.”
Why is Tareen’s return important?
Tareen’s return is being seen as important development amid the ongoing political crisis in Pakistan. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of 11 opposition parties, has not only slammed the incumbent government but also named the Army Chief and DG ISI for the engineering political process in Pakistan. Some analysts are of the view that the deepening crisis may prove to be dangerous for the stability of the PTI-led government.
According to the sources, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has also reservations over not resolving their issues despite the passage of two years.
PML-Q leadership skipped Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s lunch invitation in Islamabad, local media reported on Thursday. Speaker Punjab Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema skipped the lunch invitation hosted by PM Khan in honor of coalition partners.
Notably, in June this year, the Chaudhry brothers did not attend a dinner hosted by the premier because of their “busy schedules”. However, despite all differences with PTI and its leadership, PML-Q voted for the budget in June 2020.
In June 2020, BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal also announced to quit the ruling alliance. Mengal argued that the six-points agenda signed with his party was not fulfilled.
In March 2021, half of the Senate will be up for reelection. 52 seats will be up for grabs, including 12 seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, 11 from Punjab and Sindh, four from the newly-merged Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and two from Islamabad
Polls in the 104-strong Senate are held every three years, while a Senator has a six-year term in office.
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In the last Senate election, held prior to the 2018 national polls, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), swept the house. But could it do it again? Now, the PML-N’s rival, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is in power, which means that it is poised to take over the house after emerging victorious in the general polls.
Some analysts are of the view that to deal with the existing and upcoming political challenges, the ruling party required the services of Tareen who is considered to be the most mature man deal with other politicians for political bargain.