PTI’s stalwart Farrukh Habib joins Jahangir Tareen’s Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party

PTI’s stalwart Farrukh Habib officially joined Jahangir Tareen’s Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) on Monday.

The now-former Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf leader announced his decision to quit the party in a press conference held at IPP’s head office in Lahore alongside the party’s top leadership.

Former minister Farrukh Habib’s whereabouts had been unknown after his arrest from Gwadar last month, and he resurfaced safe and sound in a press conference on Monday evening.

Habib, who was one of the pioneer members of PTI’s student organization, condemned the May 9 riots mentioning politics on the basis of agitation against institutions was harmful to the country and also highlighted the need to work for the betterment of the country.

“I wasn’t at my house for the past five months […] and for the last few weeks, I wasn’t even in contact with my family,” the former state minister said.

“Since May 9, we did not face the law and were away from our houses. For the past five months, I was constantly pondering whether I joined politics for this reason?” he added.

Habib added that PTI’s “war” with the state institutions was “not a war between believers and non-believers”, lamenting that the ex-premier brought the country to the verge of violence.

“I realized that we took our real struggle to the path of violence. We stepped away from Pakistan which was envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam,” the former minister added.

The former minister accused the PTI chief of failing to practically follow the moral high ground in his actions as he too took gifts from the Toshakhana while party leaders used to criticize Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari for taking luxurious items.

Farrukh Habib also slammed the PTI chief for failing to uphold merit during his stint in power as many capable individuals were ignored and some handpicked people were given important portfolios.