Imran Khan’s PTI decides to sit in opposition at Centre, Punjab

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With its efforts to form the next government failing despite securing the highest number of seats, embattled Imran Khan’s party on Friday pledged to sit in the opposition at the Centre, as did the jailed party leader, news agency PTI reported. The founder and former Prime Minister had instructed. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) barrister Ali Saif took the decision a day after the party selected Omar Ayub Khan as its prime ministerial candidate and Aslam Iqbal as the chief minister of Punjab.

Speaking to the media after visiting the Qaumi Watan Party in Islamabad, Saif said that the party has chosen to sit in the opposition at the Center and in Punjab on the instructions of party founder Khan.

“We decided to sit in the opposition despite the fact that if we had got seats as per our votes and the results had not changed, we would probably have been at the Center today with 180 seats,” he said. We have evidence that our candidate won,” PTI quoted him as saying in its report.

Following the decision to join the opposition, it was unclear whether the party would participate in the elections for Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Punjab.

Earlier in the day, PTI claimed that at least 85 seats won by it in Parliament were stolen in the “biggest voter fraud” in the country’s history, and called for holding “peaceful” nationwide demonstrations on Saturday against suspected manipulation. Announced the plan.

In the February 8 election, 93 of the 265 seats in the National Assembly were won by independent candidates, most of whom were supported by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

However, PTI’s two biggest rivals are planning to form a coalition government after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) announced a post-poll alliance. Are on the way. on Tuesday.

PML-N won 75 seats, while PPP stood third with 54 seats. Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has also pledged to support him with 17 seats.

To form a government in the 266-member National Assembly, a party must win 133 of the 265 seats.

PTI Information Secretary Rauf Hasan and other leaders who protested against its election results on various platforms, including Sher Afzal Marwat, Rehana Dar, Shoaib Shaheen and Salman Akram Raja, spoke at a press conference.

Hasan said that 2024 would be considered the “biggest voter fraud” in Pakistani history against the party and its candidates.

“According to our estimate, out of 177 [National Assembly] Out of the seats which should have been ours, only 92 seats have been given to us. And 85 seats were fraudulently snatched away from us,” PTI quoted him as saying in its report.

He said the party is taking constitutional and legal steps to counter the rigging and reclaim its rights.

“We have verified the data about 46 seats and it is being compiled for 39 seats,” he said.