Senior politician Talha bids farewell to JUI-F, joins PPP
ISLAMABAD: Senior leader and Jamiat-e-ulema Islam-f (JUI-F) Senator Talha Mahmood officially joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday.
In a press conference held in Islamabad, Talha announced his departure from JUI-F and his decision to align with PPP, alongside other PPP leaders.
Talha emphasised his decision to join PPP amidst the country’s severe crisis, stating that it is incumbent upon all to contribute towards resolving the challenges faced by the nation.
“Each of us has to play a role to rescue Pakistan out of the crisis,” said the former JUI-F leader who was flanked by Nayyar Hussain Bokhari and Faisal Karim Kundi of PPP.
Talha said he had first obtained a JUI-F ticket in 2006 for a National Assembly seat and had not joined any other party since then. During the last 18 years, he told reporters, he neither received any salary nor enjoyed perks and privilege despite serving in different capacities, including as a federal minister.
Talha said he was invited to join PPP during a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.
He said the focus of his former party JUI-F is on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, while there is no major contribution of the party in Punjab and Sindh.
To a query, he said he did not mention anything about having differences with JUI-F chief Maulana
Fazl-ur-rehman. However, he said, there was no beter political floor than the PPP right now.
Talha also accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) of stealing his mandate in the general elections.
Speaking on the occasion, Bokhari welcomed Talha into the party’s ranks and mentioned that he had always played a positive role in the parliament.
Similarly, Kundi, who is the PPP information secretary, said they would work hard for strengthening the PPP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He added that the Sunni Itehad Council (SIC) was trampling upon the Constitution — a reference to the provincial government’s decision to disregard Governor Ghulam Ali’s orders about convening the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session.
The opposition parties have moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) with a plea that the SIC government in the province wants to stop the MPAS elected on the reserved seats from taking oath so that they could not cast their votes in the Senate elections scheduled for April 2.
He urged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Speaker Babar Khan Swati to play his constitutional role and claimed that the PTI members — who are now using SIC as an umbrella ater geting elected as independents in Feb.8 elections — were unhappy with the affairs.