LAHORE: Former federal interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat on Wednesday announced quitting the PPP, for a second time, and joined the PML-N ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The announcement was made on Wednesday outside Hayat’s residence in Shah Jewana in the presence of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.
“We are confident that Hayat’s inclusion will strengthen the PML-N, especially in Jhang and Chiniot, but also in his other constituencies,” Shehbaz said as he welcomed the erstwhile PPP stalwart in the party fold.
He said that Hayat’s presence in the party will bolster Nawaz’s leadership. “Nawaz will, God willing, become the prime minister for the fourth term. He is not just a politician but also a statesman.”
Earlier, there were reports that Faisal Saleh Hayat will make announcement regarding switching parties on Monday or Tuesday during the expected visit of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif to Jewana.
Hayat, a former PPP and PML-Q member, had given a clear indication last week that he was about to switch sides again. On Friday, when he reached in a big procession of his supporters to the office of returning officer to file his nomination papers for NA-108 and PP-125, not a single PPP flag was carried by any of his supporters.
Hayat had first quit the PPP during the Musharraf regime and later joined the PML-Q. He rejoined the PPP in 2017.
In the 2018 general election, he was the PPP candidate but lost the election to PTI’s Sahibzada Muhammad Mehboob Sultan by just 600 votes in the recount. The PML-N could not field any candidate in his constituency in the last election.
