LAHORE: Almost a year after his ceremonial removal as Punjab governor by his former party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Sunday formally announced joining the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Chaudhry Sarwar, who announced his inclusion after his meeting with the party’s supremo Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, was removed from his position just days ahead of Imran Khan’s ouster following a vote of no-confidence in April last year.

“I was invited to join the Pakistan Muslim League,” Chaudhry Sarwar said during a presser adding that his first priority would be to “strengthen the party”.

Expressing his dissatisfaction with the current state of political affairs in the country, Chaudhry Sarwar said: “Politicians are not willing to sit together in the most difficult of situations.”

He added that politicians work for power when they are in the Opposition; however, no one thinks about what they must do after arriving in the office.

Sharing his views about the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government in Islamabad, the former Punjab governor said that PDM will have to take strong measures economically.

Chaudhry Sarwar, when speaking about his accomplishments during his tenure in the governor’s house, said he appointed the university’s vice-chancellor on merit.

After his removal from the governor’s office last year, the politician berated his former party’s leadership slamming its “foreign conspiracy” narrative. However, he vowed to stand behind Khan despite reservations.

“On the one hand, there was the prime minister and on the other, it was the entire PTI. Bribery has reached grassroots levels, but we vowed to stand with Khan,” he added.

Minister for National Food Security and Research Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, Federal Minister for Board of Investment (Including Chinese & other FDI) Chaudhry Salik Hussain and other PML-Q leaders were also present on the occasion.