ISLAMABAD: On Sunday, Aun Chaudhry, the Additional Secretary of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), clarified the nature of his meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif, stating that it was a personal encounter.
This explanation came in response to a video which depicted the IPP office bearer meeting with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at the Allama Iqbal International Airport just before Nawaz’s departure to Minar-e-Pakistan.
During an interview with Geo News today, Chaudhry emphasized the existence of personal relationships separate from the realm of politics. He pointed out his prior involvement in Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet for a duration of one and a half years to underscore this aspect.
“I have conveyed my position to the party leadership,” he stated.
These statements come in the context of the earlier decision by the IPP, led by Jahangir Khan Tareen, to distance itself from the meeting at the Lahore airport and to initiate the issuance of a show-cause notice regarding the meeting.
Chaudhry, a former aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, aligned himself with Tareen and resigned from his position as special adviser to the Punjab chief minister in August 2021. This move followed a request to clarify his stance regarding whether he supports Tareen or the party in light of the differences between Imran and Tareen related to a high-profile sugar scandal.
The three-time former prime minister briefly touched down in Islamabad, where he signed and submitted appeals against the convictions that led to his imprisonment before he left the country in 2019. After a brief stay of a few hours, Nawaz flew to Lahore to initiate his party’s campaign for the upcoming election year with a rally attended by thousands of his supporters.
Addressing a massive crowd, the PML-N leader affirmed that he had no intentions of seeking vengeance against his political adversaries and, simultaneously, urged all constitutional institutions to collaborate in advancing the country’s development.
