 "Imran Khan to be sworn in as new Prime Minister of Pakistan before Aug 14")
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan will be sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan before August 14, a party leader said on Sunday.
PTI leader Naeem-ul-Haq was quoted by Geo News saying that mainstream political parties agreed to attend the oath-taking ceremony. Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain would call for an assembly session, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) would soon administer the oath to the newly elected representatives, Naeem-ul-Haq was quoted.
While asserting that PTI would form the government at the Centre, he claimed that the party would form government in Punjab province also. He said, "Imran Khan is working day and night for this. We are in contact with independent candidates and today or until tomorrow the nation will hear a good news."
Meanwhile, four independent candidates have joined the PTI, as the latter is staking claim to form the government in Punjab and is locked in a political battle with PML-N. In Punjab Assembly, PML-N bagged 127 seats, while PTI is not far behind and is second with 123 seats, as per the ECP's results of total 295 total seats, as per the report.
Haq underscored that Pakistan's economy was in a critical situation and all had to stand for the country to promote unity. He refuted allegations that there were tussles between senior PTI leaders Jahangir Tareen and Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Asked whether disgruntled Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar would join the PTI, Haq replied that he is welcome to join the party.
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The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 115 seats, after the ECP on Saturday released the complete preliminary results for 270 of 272 National Assembly (NA) constituencies. The ECP completed the process after almost three days when the general elections were held.
The PML-N which won 64 seats came second, while the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) bagged 43 seats and finished third.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) which is an alliance of various religious parties in Pakistan garnered 12 seats while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) won six seats. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) won four seats apiece whereas the Balochistan National Party (BNP) bagged three seats.
Other parties such as the Awami National Party (ANP), Awami Muslim League (AML), Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaniyat have garnered one seat each. Also, independent candidates won 12 NA constituencies. They are likely to play a crucial role in the formation of the government at the centre.
26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed's Allaha-u-Akbar Tehreek (AAT) which was contesting for the first time failed to win any seat.
Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening, which was marred by tedious counting and allegations of rigging by major political parties, including the PML-N and PPP.
On Friday, a multi-party conference was called for by the PML-N to prepare a strategy over the alleged rigging of the General Elections 2018.
Chaired by PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif and MMA President Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the all-party conference has rejected the poll results and demanded a transparent re-election in the country.