KARACHI: Defence Minister Pervez Khattak’s brother and former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Liaquat has formally joined Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F).
During a joint press conference with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Islamabad, former provincial minister and MPA Liaquat Khattak made the announcement that he, his son, and other close aides are joining the party.
Fazl welcomed Khattak to the party and said that even their family had expressed no confidence in the government’s leadership. ” We are political people, we do deal with slander.”
“The captain (Imran Khan) says he is a player and knows how to counter. You received funding from India, US, and Israel. You will suffer the same fate as Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani,” he said. “If you want to compete with me on a level playing field, then come out in the open,” the JUI-F chief said.
Pervez, who served as chief minister of the province from 2013 to 2018, developed differences with his brother, Liaqat, during by-election for PK-63 in 2021. Liaquat wanted the PTI ticket for his son, Ahad Khattak, to contest for the PK-63, which had fallen vacant after the death of the ruling party MPA Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel.
The ticket was given to the son of the late legislator, Mian Umar Kakakhel. Later, PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali Khan defeated the ruling party candidate in the by-election for PK-63 which widened the rift between them.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan subsequently removed Liaqat from his post as the provincial minister for irrigation for allegedly supporting the rival PML-N candidate.
