Supporters of the Insaf Movement protest in the city of Peshawar against what they consider to be fraud in the (European) general elections.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, affiliated with imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, announced on Tuesday its intention to form a coalition with two other parties to form a federal and regional government. A party official said that Khan will decide who will be the prime minister of this government.
In his first public statement since the announcement of the election results that took place last week, Imran Khan said in his speech in Jin Adiyala prison - where he spent most of his time since his arrest last August - that the independent members of Parliament supported by his party will join the Muslim Unity Council party. “Al-Saghir to form a government after the elections.
Khan told a group of journalists who were covering a procedural hearing in the prison outside the capital, Islamabad, “We will not sit with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) nor with the Pakistan People’s Party,” accusing both parties of “corruption.” He said, “We will challenge fraud.” "The elections are before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and we will study the alliance later."
For his part, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said today that independent candidates supported by Imran Khan are welcome to form a government if they can prove their majority in Parliament.
Sharif added that if the independents supported by Khan are unable to do so, other parties will move forward with forming a government. Adding that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sharif wing, is in talks with other parties to form a coalition.
For his part, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, ruled out the formation of a coalition between his party and the Muslim League to form the government, stressing that his party "is not interested in a new alliance with the Muslim League, but it will support any government it forms on certain issues."
Bhutto Zardari said, "We will support a political party without becoming part of the government." But he added, "But we will support voting on the prime ministership, the budget, and legislation on an issue-by-issue basis."
Bhutto Zardari - the son of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari - confirmed that he would like to see his father become president again, saying, “The country is going through a major crisis at the present time, and if anyone has the ability to extinguish this fire, it is Asif.” Ali Zardari.
In the general elections that took place on February 8, no party was able to win enough seats to form a federal government alone, which sparked a wave of negotiations to form coalitions between the parties.
Last Sunday, the Pakistan Election Commission announced the final results of the National Assembly elections, where independents supported by the Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 101 seats, out of a total of 265 seats.
The Pakistan Muslim League, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has 75 seats. While the People's Party of Pakistan, led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, won 54 seats, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement won 17 seats, and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Party won seats.
Ten small parties won the remaining 17 seats, with two seats remaining vacant, as the Election Commission announced the suspension of voting in one seat due to the death of one of the candidates, and withholding the result of another seat and re-voting on it.
Last Thursday, the country witnessed legislative elections to choose 266 deputies, out of 5,121 candidates, and 593 deputies in the regional parliaments, out of 12,695 candidates.
Source: Agencies