Will Jehangir Tareen’s Return Aggravate Things For PML-N?

Jehangir Tareen, a confidante of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has arrived back in the country after spending six months in London.

Tareen had left the country after being blamed as one of the figures for the sugar crisis in the report of the Sugar Commission formed by the government to probe into the matter.

He was summoned by the commission as well as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to explain charges on him but he had excused from presenting himself.

He landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIA) in Lahore with his son Ali Tareen on Friday.

Jahangir Tareen’s sudden return has raised many questions regarding the government’s future course against somebody who had spent his wealth for the interest of PTI.

Jahangir Tareen had served as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General but abandoned the party position.

He was known to be a savior for the ruling party during the general elections of 2018, when he prodigally spent for Khan and later refused to hold an office when the government was formed.

Prime Minister Imran Khan who once was very close to Tareen, had to distance himself after his friend’s alleged involvement in the sugar crisis.However, amidst all these questions, the return of Tareen would certainly damage Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) position as it had a point to criticize the government’s anti-corruption narrative.

The opposition party recurrently targeted the premier for not bringing his ‘friend’ back from London whilst demanding Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) Head Nawaz Sharif to return as he was a proclaimed offender.

The opposition’s narrative would surely weaken with Tareen’s surprising return and the former would have to at least elide Tareen’s absence from its charge-sheet against the government.

Khan’s confidante Tareen talked to the media briefly after arriving at the Lahore International Airport (LIA) on Friday. He cited illness as a reason behind leaving the country said that he visited London every year for a medical check-up.

On the criticism by the opposition parties, Tareen said that its only job was to make false accusations.

Now, since the former PTI official has landed back in the country, it can be expected that PML-N would change its question from ‘Why Tareen is sitting in London after being named in crisis?’ to ‘When will he be prosecuted on charges?’

These questions were asked by News360 to senior journalists and analysts. According to them, the pressure is already on the PML-N but how long it will be able to withstand it depends on the PML-N’s backdoor talks.