Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the emissary assigned by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to cobble an anti-Nawaz alliance, has failed to accomplish the mission.

Major opposition parties refused to commit their participation in the expected dharna the PTI chairman has already planned to stage outside the Raiwind residence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his extended family.

Sources told Daily Times the botched ‘Qureshi Mission’ added to the frustration of Khan, who was already annoyed at certain leaders over creating frictions within the party.

On Tuesday, Qureshi dashed to Parliament House to meet senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders including Senator Aitzaz Ahsan and MNA Khurshid Shah – opposition leaders in the Senate and National Assembly respectively.

The PTI leader was expecting a warm embrace from his formers colleagues, especially after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar’s outburst against both the opposition leaders. However, having miscalculated the situation, Qureshi had to return empty handed.

Given recent infighting in the PTI, Qureshi was said to recall his days in the PPP. Sources said he only smirked when the PPP leaders teased him by asking if he was planning to quit the PTI.

In his televised address on Sunday, the PTI chairman had asked the government to set up an independent inquiry commission under the chief justice of Pakistan to further probe the hidden assets of Sharif family unearthed by the Panama leak. He threatened a long march and dharna at Raiwind if the demand was not met by April 24, which happens to be 20th Foundation Day of the PTI.

While the PPP leaders agreed with Qureshi that there must be an independent inquiry into the scandal, they refused to become a part of the PTI-proposed dharna. “We haven’t made any commitments with the PTI,” Senator Ahsan told journalists after the meeting. He asserted that the prime minister rushed to London to win support of Asif Zardari following the Panama leak.

However, spokesperson to the prime minister, Musadiq Malik, refuted Senator Ahsan’s claim, saying the prime minister was visiting London for his regular medical checkup.

Interestingly, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar cancelled his important visit to Washington to reach London instead. What could merely be a coincident, but the PTI senior leader Jehangir Tareen has already reached London and PTI Chairman Imran Khan would leave for London tomorrow (Thursday).

After his failing to impress the PPP leadership, Qureshi called on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Amir Sirajul Haq. Instead of announcing unconditional support to the PTI, the JI amir said the consultations would continue to prepare a joint strategy. The two leaders agreed that only a transparent and independent probe into the Panama allegations would be acceptable.

The PTI sources said that Khan was disappointed at the ‘poor performance’ of Qureshi. The two have already developed differences after Qureshi created his own group to challenge Jehangir Khan Tareen in the intra-party elections. The PTI chairman was furious to find himself in a situation where he had to choose between Qureshi and Jehagir Khan Tareen. Resultantly, he called off the elections.

Known as a political renegade, Qureshi had joined the PTI after deserting the PPP at a critical juncture. Sources said at one stage he beseeched General Musharraf’s close aide Tariq Aziz to help him become Punjab chief minister. And after 2008 general elections, he again approached the same person pleading him to use his good offices to help him become the prime minister. However, Asif Ali Zardari vetoed that move.

Not long ago his real brother, Mureed Hussain Qureshi, made startling allegations against him. He accused him of collecting Rs 5 million every month from the holy shrines of Shah Rukn-e-Alam and Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Multani, presumably, to fund the PTI rallies. Mureed Hussain had also announced removing Shah Mehmood Qureshi from the custodianship of both the shrines. Later year, Mureed Hussain revealed that his brother had himself told him that he would replace Imran Khan within two years.