Jahangir Khan Tareen, who once used to be a close aide of the PTI chief, has launched a new party, the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party.

He made the announcement during a press conference in Lahore on Thursday.

Seen alongside him were Aleem Khan and several PTI defectors, including Imran Ismail and Tanveer Ilyas, who recently left the party amid a state crackdown on it.

Tareen said on the occasion that the country was witnessing “delicate times”.
Elaborating on the need to form a new party, he said he had joined politics for just one purpose — to contribute to the country’s progress.

“During my long journey in politics, I got the opportunity to meet and work with several people. I learned a lot from this experience,” he said, adding that he was never a “traditional politician”.

He said he had joined the PTI as he was certain that through the party’s platform, “we will be able to implement all those reforms that Pakistan needed and still need”.

“And for this reason, we worked day and night to make the PTI a full-fledged political force. People you see sitting here today, all of them were a part of this struggle,” he added. “We infused the party with newfound passion and enthusiasm after the 2013 elections.”

Tareen said “several facts” would surface in the coming days which would show “to what extent we went to make the party stable”.

“We ensure that PTI turns into such a political force that it does not just win whenever elections are held but it also is in a position to initiate reforms in the country,” he said.

Tareen said reforms were the PTI’s basic manifesto, “due to which we all had come together”.

But, he added, “unfortunately … matter did go the way we expected and people were disheartened”.

He said the PTI’s manifesto was to improve the economy and relations with other countries and most importantly, ensure accountability.

“There were the slogans on the basis of which the party was formed and people voted for the PTI,” he said, regretting that these objectives could not be achieved.

Tareen said the events of May had changed the politics of Pakistan.

“I am saying this from the bottom of my heart that if the miscreants and planners of May 9 are not taken to task, attacks on houses of political rivals will also be considered acceptable.

“And we will never let this happen,” he vowed.