Miftah Ismail unveils launching date of new political party

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Miftah Ismail on Thursday announced the launching date of his new political party, the Awaam Pakistan (AP), whose convener would be former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

The ex-finance minister, speaking to Geo News via phone, announced that the Awaam Pakistan will be launched next month and Abbasi would be its first convener. The launching ceremony of AP will be held in Islamabad on July 6.

Shedding light on the new party’s manifesto, the politician said that they aimed to change the entire governance system of the country with the masses as core sources of decision-making.

Regarding the inclusion of political heavyweights, he also revealed that his party had been in contact with several politicians across the country.

He announced that former PML-N leaders Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi, Javed Abbasi, Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Rana Zahid Tauseef, Zahid Binnouri, and Sardar Anwar Soomro will be part of the Awaam Pakistan party.

Additionally, Dr Zafar Mirza and Sheikh Salahuddin will also join the Abbasi-led party.

Two months ago, estranged PML-N senior vice-president Abbasi approached the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the registration of a new political party.

Abbasi, the seasoned politician who parted ways with the Nawaz-led party after having differences over the last year, submitted relevant documents to the poll organising authority’s office for the registration of a new political party under the Election Act 2017.

Abbasi, the former prime minister, served the top office from August 2017 to May 2018.

He also announced that he would take part in the next elections under the banner of his new party.

Prior to Abbasi’s big move, two bigwigs from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — Jahangir Tareen and Pervez Khattak — formed their own political parties along with a large number of politicians who had been part of the Imran Khan-founded party.

Tareen officially launched his party, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), in June last year. Just a month after Tareen, Khattak also launched his party by the name of PTI Parliamentarians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) which was joined by a large number of defectors from the former ruling party.