00:00 The Chief of National Justice was arrested yesterday. He was transferred to Attock jail.
00:05 Attock jail has a very interesting history.
00:08 When the accused was in the hands of the Chief Justice, when the arrest happened,
00:15 he was sent to Attock jail for a refresher course.
00:18 Nawaz Sharif has been to Attock jail.
00:20 Zultakar Ali Bhutto has also been put in Attock jail.
00:22 Now Imran Khan is also present in Attock jail.
00:26 But obviously, the structure of his party is different.
00:29 The seat warmers or those who handled the party, were the people of his family.
00:34 Sharif family, which is called Sharif Family Limited Jamaat PMLN.
00:37 When Nawaz Sharif went out of the election process,
00:40 his brother and other family members were present to handle the party's affairs.
00:46 In People's Party, similar cases have been filed.
00:49 Some or the other Bhutto is present to handle the party's affairs.
00:54 But here the matter is a little different.
00:57 Because there is no family member present here.
01:00 So who will handle the party's affairs after Khan?
01:03 This was a very important debate.
01:04 Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on 11 March 2023, infamously,
01:08 that if he is arrested, he will handle the party.
01:13 Shah Mahmood Qureshi has given a clear statement that God forbid,
01:18 if he is arrested, then it is his expectation and responsibility,
01:24 he has entrusted me with, that I will handle the party's affairs.
01:30 After that, we saw that Shah Mahmood Qureshi is present in the party's meetings.
01:36 And he is active since yesterday.
01:38 Today he has also led the meeting of the core committee.
01:41 Asad Umar was on my program on 29 July.
01:44 I asked him, are you still in Tehreek-e-Insaf?
01:46 Because you are not present in the different activities of the party or meetings.
01:50 He confirmed that he is still in the party.
01:53 Sir, you have made a big condition for the election.
01:56 You are in PTI, right?
01:58 You had left your position, you are in PTI.
02:01 Yes, of course.
02:02 And you have no objection to the election?
02:04 No, no, sir, I have no objection.
02:05 I am going to ask the next question.
02:07 So, the election campaign, the preparation, the tickets,
02:10 if the election is in 3-4 months, what are the expectations?
02:13 The work has started.
02:14 The work has started.
02:16 Because I am not in that position, I am not directly involved in it.
02:21 I am not in that position, but I know that all the updates are received.
02:24 The third person was Parvez Khattak, but he has now left his party.
02:28 And a while ago, he said that most probably Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will not be in the election.
02:34 So, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentarians, his party, fought the election.
02:37 But anyway, the immediate political challenge for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is to keep the party together at this time.
02:44 And along with that, if he prepares for the election, he still has many other stages.
02:49 There is a clear message of tomorrow's arrest that look for your own way, look for your own ticket,
02:55 where you have to park, in Mr. Ali Khan's party or in Mr. Parvez Khattak's party.
03:00 So, Mr. Amir, I will start with you.
03:02 Sir, what is the situation now?
03:04 Shah Mahmood Qureshi has administrative and political experience,
03:08 but keeping the party together, going to the election campaign and going through this whole period,
03:13 what do you think, what difficulties will there be and how will his workers respond to this whole issue?
03:20 Look, obviously, it is a very big challenge for the entire Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
03:25 There are two or three elements in it.
03:27 The first is that the administrative structure of the PTI has been greatly affected, it has broken.
03:32 It is not just that the upper tier of leadership has left, as you were saying,
03:36 but the mid-level, the ones who are big in the areas, the influencers,
03:41 who manage the election day, mobilize the people, i.e. the big members of the community,
03:45 usually those people go where the wind blows, so you see that those people are also not there.
03:50 So, obviously, in these circumstances, if Imran Khan was also leading the party,
03:53 then he would have to face difficulties.
03:55 Now, if he moves away from the mandate, and there are two scenarios for that,
03:59 that it is possible that in the coming days, his punishment may be suspended,
04:04 but he still cannot lead the party.
04:06 Neither can the family be suspended, nor can the prison, I think, be suspended, as far as I know.
04:11 I am saying the same thing, I am saying that he still cannot lead the party, that's what I am saying.
04:15 He still cannot lead the party, so obviously, Shah Mahmood Qureishi has a very big opportunity
04:21 to prove his mettle.
04:23 There are certainly different branches in the PTI, there are different lobbies,
04:26 so how do they reach out, unite people, and the biggest thing in this will be that
04:30 whether the former Prime Minister is in jail or out of jail,
04:33 if he says, put your hand on his head and say,
04:37 "Yes, on my behalf, move the PTI voter, Diehard, or his workers,
04:43 he will join his party."
04:45 If you look at the historical importance of this,
04:48 take the example of People's Party,
04:50 that after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, how many parties came out of People's Party?
04:53 Ghausser Niazi's Pakistan People's Party came out progressive,
04:57 then Abdul Hafeez Peerzada's and Mumtaz Bhutto's made their own party,
05:01 which later became Natural Front,
05:03 Mumtaz Bhutto's, Jatoyi's National People's Party was formed,
05:06 then Patriot, recently, during Musharraf's time, became the Bhutto Group,
05:11 but the mainstream party remained the same,
05:13 and the people who were juniors, came to senior positions,
05:17 in the Noon League, you see, the same thing happened there,
05:20 the top tier went, when the Kaaf League was formed,
05:22 but today, their top tier got the opportunity to come up,
05:25 they used to be on the third tier.
05:28 So, this will happen in PTI as well, but you said something very important,
05:31 that because it's not a dynastic party, it will be very challenging,
05:35 but along with that, there is this opportunity,
05:37 that you make a party which is not dynastic.
05:40 Sir, usually, the attitude in Pakistan,
05:42 which is the name of the dynasty, is a tie rod.
05:45 Moiz, just to play devil's advocate,
05:47 today, the party is feeling that the time has come,
05:53 because in Pakistan, political parties, when they go through this process of splitting,
05:59 then, is it necessary to be tolerant?
06:02 Is it integral for the development?
06:05 I think, tolerance is a part of our politics,
06:10 because this splitting happens every few years,
06:13 otherwise, there is no scope for it.
06:15 I think, it is a part of the progressive action,
06:18 which has come up in PTI,
06:20 and it is the most accepted party for most of the past year.
06:24 I don't think it is acceptable to measure it with the leaders of the party,
06:30 or as Amir Sahib said,
06:32 because if there was no force,
06:36 then it would be fine to see what the leaders of the party are doing,
06:38 and why they are not doing it,
06:39 and whether the party is vocal, organized or not.
06:41 But where there is a situation,
06:43 where every person does not have the expectation of their fundamental rights and liberty,
06:50 whether they will be active or not,
06:53 then you cannot measure whether the leader of the party has come out or not.
06:57 But Election Day is a different creature.
07:00 On Election Day, the standard in this situation will be seen in such a way,
07:05 that how many PTI people who had received tickets,
07:08 how many people have returned those tickets.
07:10 I think 95% of the people have taken the tickets and are sitting quietly.
07:14 They know that making noise at this time is just to harm themselves.
07:17 But if people have the option to vote on the day of elections,
07:24 no matter how late it is,
07:26 then whether their opinion has changed or not,
07:29 one of the markers of that is that the people who are standing to take their opinion,
07:32 they are still standing with PTI.
