The FINANCIAL — Pakistan's ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Quraishi joined forces with cricketer-politician Imran Khan yesterday, becoming the most high-profile defector to his growing campaign to win the next general election.
Quraishi made the announcement at a rally led by Khan in the southern town of Ghotki, part of the broad hinterland in the southern province of Sindh and central province of Punjab where the former minister is considered powerful.
"I announce I am joining a movement, which is struggling to win justice for people," Quraishi said of Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf which is fast emerging as a powerful player in the run-up to elections due early 2013.Quraishi lost his position as cabinet minister in a February reshuffle. He was offered another portfolio, which he refused, and this month resigned as lawmaker representing the main ruling Pakistan People's Party.
"Winds of change have now begun," Quraishi told the rally attended by several thousand supporters 420 km north of Karachi.
"I am embarking on a new journey and from today onwards, Shah Mahmoud is part of your team," he told Khan to thunderous applause.
Quraishi fell out with President Asif Ali Zardari around the time of the reshuffle .
He used the rally to criticise Zardari, whose five-year mandate expires in 2013.
"They have indulged in loot and plunder," he said. "The time has come to seek a fresh mandate from the people," Quraishi added.
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