Daily Times

Defence Minister Pervez Khattak’s brother and former PTI member Thursday formally joined JUI-F as the opposition mounts pressure on the government. Former provincial minister and MPA Liaquat Khattak made the announcement that he, his son, and other people are joining the party during a joint press conference with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Islamabad.

Talking to journalists, Fazl welcomed Khattak to the party and said that their family had expressed no confidence in the government’s leadership, taking a jibe at the defence minister. “The captain (Imran Khan) says he is a player and knows how to counter [problems]. You received funding from India, US, and Israel. You will suffer the same fate as Afghanistan’s Ashraf Ghani,” he said a day after PM Imran Khan lashed out at him.

“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, at the time of the 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 Jamshedduddin Kakakhel due to the coronavirus.

The ticket was given to the son of the late legislator, Mian Umar Kakakhel. This created a wedge between Pervez and Liaqat. Later, PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali Khan defeated the ruling party candidate in the by-election for PK-63 which widened the gap between the Khattak brothers. Later, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan removed Liaqat from his post as the provincial minister for irrigation for allegedly supporting the PML-N candidate in the by-elections.