KARACHI: Former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has hinted that the formation of a new political party can be announced as early as this month.

The former PPP senator, who parted ways with his party Khokhar last year, had been on a speaking tour of the country alongside former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and ex-finance minister Miftah Ismail. The trio has long been hinting at introducing a new force into the political mainstream.

In an interview with Dawn News’ Nadir Guramani, Mr Khokhar was asked about the timeline of the formation of this new party, to which he replied, “God willing, this month. There is also a proposal that it should be done after the elections, but, in my opinion, we should do it before the elections.”

The three men have held a series of seminars — dubbed ‘Reimagining Pakistan’ — this year to highlight the country’s current challenges and develop a consensus on the future course of action required by all stakeholders.

Says establishment ‘won’t allow Imran Khan to return, nation won’t vote for PDM’

Despite speculation to the contrary, Mr Khokhar had inssited there were no plans to turn their current campaign into a political party. However, in recent times both he and Mr Ismail have conceded the need for a new political party, while Mr Abbasi has also been dropping hints that he may be close to parting ways with the PML-N.

If formed, this would be the latest political party to be formed ahead of the much-anticipated elections.

Other newly formed parties include PTI breakaway factions such as Jehangir Tareen’s Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) and Pervez Khattak’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Parlia­men­tar­ians (PTI-P), both of which have cannibalised prominent members of the former ruling party.

Questioned why they felt the need for a new party, Mr Khokhar said the “failure” of the other parties was not a secret, as they come up with the same slogans and promises of reforms, but do nothing to meet the promises.

‘Pro-establishment’ label

Asked whether any electables would join the new party, the former senator said it was very important for the party not to be tagged with the “pro-establishment” label, adding that the people could not be blamed for such apprehensions, given the political history of Pakistan.

In response to the question on why Mr Abbasi was taking his time to consider coming onboard with the new party, Mr Khokhar said it was a major decision for the PML-N veteran.

“He is convinced ... there is a space present [for a new party],” he added.

“The deadlock... right now is that the establishment will not allow Imran Khan to take over, while the nation will not vote for PDM,” he said.

“The dynamics of politics have changed drastically however; it is not benefitting the common people at all. The manifestos of the parties are not favouring the people who’re right now worried about paying the bills, so the party needs to build a solid reform which will not be working on its personal agendas,” he added.

When asked about the possibility of reaching out to Senator Musadik Malik and former Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry to join the newly formed party, he responded that no decisions have been made yet, but people could expect a surprise.

“The basic mistake these parties have been making for ages now is that the decisions are taken in ‘closed rooms’ without including all the members. No discussions are happening; no suggestions are taken into consideration. This is not how political parties are supposed to function,” he added.

In response to the question about the role of the Senate in upcoming general elections, he said that the ‘sanctity of the Senate’ was not maintained by the politicians themselves.

Last week, in an interview on Samaa TV, Mr Abbasi had emphasised the need for a new party as existing parties needed complete reforms.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2023