Although the details of a new political party are kept under wraps, former PPP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has expressed his desire to launch it before the general elections but the onus was on his friends.

“My suggestion is that the party should come before elections. Rest depends on friends,” he said in an interview with Aaj News show Faisla Aap Ka which was aired on Thursday.

When asked, Khokhar stated PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would make his own decision while praising the former prime minister for his stature and awareness about the country’s issues.

He and his fellow politician Miftah Ismail were on the show of Asma Shirazi. They answered queries related to the hearing of a set of review petitions in the Supreme Court against the apex court’s Faizabad sit-in verdict and the possibility of their new party.

They also responded to questions about their affiliation with their former parties and the need for coming up with a new one.

On the same wavelength, Khokhar highlighted that the prevailing situation has created a vacuum as the mainstream parties have purportedly disconnected from the people due to being entangled in their own problems.

None of the parties brought any reform, he claimed while speaking about the past, adding that the people’s issues were not important to them.

“Right now, the most difficult task is to raise hope. There is no hope. Raising hope is a gigantic task,” he said, admitting that the troika of Khokhar, Miftah, and Abbasi – which has been conducting seminars in universities – was not perfect.

Pakistan’s political history has been marred by claims of establishment meddling in the state affairs and controlling the reins. Even caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has been said to be associated with the establishment—a claim which he has denied. In an interview with Aaj News earlier this month, he said that a “love and hate relationship” continues Pakistan’s politics.

On the show, Shirazi also asked Miftah about the apparent support from GHQ for the party as the PML-N was dissatisfied with him for having a friendship with former army chief General Bajwa.

“This is a very fashionable conversation,” the former finance minister said, adding that he was in jail for more than 50 days without any prior warning from the PML-N. He wondered how such arguments could be raised.

Miftah admitted that he had a friendship with Bajwa even before the latter became the COAS. “I’m not a hypocrite. He [Bajwa] did not stop me from going to jail. And I never shut my tongue.”