KARACHI: Former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Thursday bid adieu to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), reportedly due to differences with the party head, over confrontation with national institutions.
Few days earlier, Jamali had suggested PML-N President Nawaz Sharif to refrain from confrontation with the institutions. Jamali returned to his ancestral village and would announce his next course of action after consultation with the locals. According to reports, Jamali had apprehensions against policies of the PML-N. He said the ousted PM had not changed a bit. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders reportedly contacted Jamali, seeking him to join their parties. Originally a supporter of the PPP, the 73-year-old politician formally launched his political career in the 1970s from Balochistan. He also served as Chief Minister of Balochistan during late 1980s and 90s. Jamali later joined the PML-N and then dissociated with it after the military coup led by former president Pervez Musharraf. As a Pakistan Muslim League-Q leader, he rose to prime minister’s post in 2002, until his resignation in 2004. Most recently, he was a confidant of Nawaz, but intra-party differences had led to Jamali parting ways with the PML-N.
Published in Daily Times, October 13th 2017.
