[ad_1]
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independent candidates who had won seats in the general elections held on February 8 will be joining the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), said PTI’s interim chief Gohar Ali Khan on Monday. The alliance is sought to claim seats reserved for women and minorities.
Khan said that the party has done it to have “reserve seats” allocated to them in the Pakistan elections.
“All PTI-backed independent candidates who won seats in the national election will join Sunni Ittehad Council. We have done this to have reserved seats allocated to us in the national assembly,” the interim chief said.
This comes after the PTI formed an alliance with SIC on Sunday, two days after it decided to sit on the opposition benches and launch a countrywide campaign against alleged rigging in the polls. Jailed leader Imran Khan’s party did so to renew its efforts to form governments in the Centre, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to a report in Dawn, PTI leaders have vowed to form governments, with Omar Ayub as its prime minister candidate, The party has claimed that 30 million votes were polled for PTI-backed candidates even without its electoral symbol of ‘bat’.
The interim chief has also claimed that the party had won 180 seats in the National Assembly, 115 seats in Punjab, 16 in Sindh, 42 in KP, and four in Balochistan. “In Balochistan, we got one seat, three are due. In Sindh, we did not get even a single seat. In Punjab, we are due about 50 seats.”
Before the pact with SIC, Imran Khan’s party had forged an alliance with the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen in Punjab and the Centre. PTI spokesperson had also officially announced the same at a press conference last week. According to Dawn’s report, this decision irked the Jamaat-i-Islami, with which PTI had decided to enter a similar alliance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The JI then said that it was not interested in a ‘limited alliance’ with the PTI.
The other alliance
Pakistan’s two major parties — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — are trying to bridge their differences over forming a minority coalition government after an inconclusive election, a top party official said, underscoring political and economic instability.
Today’s talks will be the fifth such round after former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif was named by his party to lead the country again.
“Both the parties haven’t yet agreed on final points. Negotiations are underway on various proposals,” said Ishaq Dar, a senator of Sharif’s party, who is leading it in the talks.
The PPP of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has announced conditional support for the PML-N, saying it will vote for Sharif to form the government, but would not take positions in the cabinet.
(With agency inputs)
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!
Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Published: 19 Feb 2024, 06:04 PM IST
[ad_2]
Source link