While it is not known whether or not senior lawyer Latif Khosa’s decision to join a seemingly beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will help the party brighten its electoral prospects in a meaningful way at this point in time, this development, which has taken place weeks before the schedule general elections, must have boosted the flagging morale of party’s rank and file to look up to some seasoned and experienced politician in the absence of incarcerated top leaders such as Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore yesterday, Khosa alluded to those PTI leaders who had quit the party since May 9 2030, saying “the world says that people hold press conferences to leave the party and you are holding a press conference to join it.

I am doing this deliberately....” His tone and tenor, in my view, clearly demonstrates his hostility towards the establishment and protest against Imran Khan’s ordeal. Khosa’s approach to the May 9 incident and subsequent actions against PTI was quite different from his party’s (Pakistan People’s Party’s).

Ultimately, Khosa’s overt support to Imran Khan had earned him censure and expulsion from the party. Khosa is artful and crafty. He’s a shrewd politician, so to speak. In other words, he’s equally sharp and astute in legal and political matters. Good luck Khosa, good luck IK.

Khurshid Randhawa (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023