Lahore: Imran Khan will be sworn in as Pakistan's new Prime Minister
before the country's independence day on August 14, his party has
announced as it is trying to reach out to smaller parties and
independents to form the next government.
Though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the single
largest party in the National Assembly after the July 25 elections, the
party is still short of numbers to form its government on its own.
PTI leader Naeenul Haq told media last night that consultations are on
to complete the number game.
"We have done our homework and he will take oath as Prime Minister
before August 14,” Haq said.
According to the complete preliminary results announced by the ECP,
the PTI has obtained 115 general seats — 12 short of a simple majority
— while the PML-N and PPP have won 64 and 43 seats, respectively.
Pakistan's NA – the lower house of Parliament – comprises a total of 342
members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the
government if it manages to secure 172 seats in total.
Meanwhile, political activities are at full swing and parties are holding
open meetings and secret parleys to arrange the political chessboard.
Pakistan's two major parties — the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — are expected to meet in a
couple of days to devise a joint strategy in a bid to give a tough time to
the PTI in parliament, the Dawn reported.
The Pakistani electronic media throughout the day yesterday kept on
mentioning names of possible candidates for key government offices
and possible members of the federal cabinet.
The PTI leaders who have won more than one seat will have to vacate
additional seats as the law allows an individual to retain only one seat.
PTI chairman Khan has won five seats and he will have to vacate four
seats.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan of Taxila has also won two NA seats by defeating
former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and he will also have
to vacate one seat.
Former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak has won
both National Assembly and provincial assembly seats.
If the PTI decides to nominate him again for the office of the chief
minister, he will also have to vacate the NA seat which means that the
party's seats will be reduced to 109.
It was after these calculations that the PTI leadership has now decided
to reach out to other smaller groups and independents since the party
has already declared that it will not join hands with the PPP and the
PML-N, the daily said.
The Dawn reported that Former secretary general of the PTI Jahangir
Tareen had established contacts with independents and the Muttahida
Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) which has won six seats. There
are 13 independents who have won the NA seats.
If the PTI obtains support of the GDA, MQM-P, PML-Q and the Awami
Muslim League, the number of its seats will become 122 — still 15 short
of the required numbers, which is more than the independents who
have won the elections.
Other parties which will have representation in the NA are the
Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) with three members, and
Jamhoori Watan Party, Awami National Party and Pakistan Tehreek-i-
Insaniyat with one seat each.
Though the PPP and the PML-N have also rejected the elections results,
sources in the two parties told Dawn that they would not support the
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA)'s call for boycotting the oath-taking
session of the National Assembly.
“We have decided to play the role of an aggressive opposition in
parliament,” said a senior PML-N leader who had participated in the
MMA-convened multiparty conference in Islamabad on Friday.
A senior leader of the PPP said so far they had not finalised any strategy
for the elections of key parliamentary offices.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari yesterday formed a committee to
engage with political parties to discuss the way forward in the post-poll
scenario.
The sources said contact had been established between the PPP and
the PML-N and the leaders of the two sides were expected to hold a
meeting in a few days.
Governor
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