PTI nominates Imran as its prime minister candidate
The opposition would not be able to undermine the upcoming government and all they can do is ‘create a rumpus’ Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PTI’s senior vice-president
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan’s party on Monday officially nominated him for the post of the country’s next prime minister.
To become premier, Khan will face a vote in parliament — perhaps as early as on Saturday — in which he will have to defeat a rival candidate fielded by the opposition.
Imran’s Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won most parliament seats in last month’s general elections — 115 — but fell short of a majority in 342-seat assembly, requiring it to form a coalition. Many lawmakers who won parliament seats running as independents in the July 25 vote have joined his coalition.
Imran was nominated by PTI’s parliamentary committee which met at a hotel here. The meeting was attended by several top leaders and elected members of PTI including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak, Chaudhry Sarwar, Fawad Chaudhry, Arif Alvi and Shafqat Mahmood.
Qureshi, the party’s senior vicepresident, presented a resolution in favour of Imran’s nomination to become the party’s parliamentary leader, which was accepted by the members.
The meeting was taken into confidence about the formation of the government and it unanimously decided to nominate Imran Khan as party nominee for the prime minister, according to PTI sources.
Imran thanked the members for showing confidence in his leadership. PTI leader Arif Alvi, a lawmaker elected from Karachi, said Imran was formally nominated at a party meeting in Islamabad on Monday. He was unanimously endorsed, said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister and party deputy leader.
But Imran is likely to face tough opposition from the Pakistan Muslim League of ousted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other parties, which allege that vote rigging took place in the elections. Sharif is currently appealing a 10year prison sentence for corruption and the party is led by his brother, Shahbaz Sharif.
Qureshi insisted the opposition would not be able to undermine the upcoming government and quoted Imran as saying during Monday’s meeting that all they can do is “create a rumpus.”
Also on Monday, the Pakistan Muslim League convened in Lahore to discuss the formation of the provincial government in Punjab. It’s relying on assembly members who won seats as independents to side with it in the 371-seat provincial assembly. The party won 129 seats there.
Imran party, which won 123 seats in Punjab, is also aspiring to form the provincial government, saying it also has won over many independents.
Earlier in the day, Imran left his Banigala residence for the first time after his party’s victory in last week’s elections. Despite Imran’s explicit instructions and refusal to travel with a large protocol, a number of cars and heavy security tagged along with him.
While the exact date of the swearing-in of Pakistan’s new prime minister has not been announced, reports say it could take place on August 14, the Independence Day of the country. The National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total. For Imran to officially become prime minister — Pakistan’s nineteenth — the parliament must convene and vote on his nomination. —