Pakistan's jailed ex-PM Imran Khan seems ready to bury the hatchet

Imprisoned Pakistan former prime minister Imran Khan apparently agr­eed to let bygones be byg­ones as his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday said it will form governments in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal government in the Centre after the PTI-backed independent candidates secured a purported lead in the 2024 polls.

Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail on Sat­u­rday, PTI lawyer Umair Khan Niazi said Imran Khan has decided to form the government in the Centre and in KP and Punjab provinces after the victory of his symbol-less party, reports Dawn.

According to Niazi the PTI leader has called on the powers-that-be not to let Nawaz Sharif form the coalition government as "such an experiment did not work in the past".

Niazi said Imran Khan was ready to move on to end political instability and for the future of the country. The lawyer said the candidates of the PTI who were defeated through rigging have been asked by the party founder to take to the streets in their constituencies on Sunday to protest the apparent rigging.

In a bid to execute its plan to form the government, the PTI asked Umair Niazi to get in touch with party-backed candidates for a government at the federal level, while Ali Amin Gandapur and Mian Aslam Iqbal have been asked to appro­ach lawmakers-elect in KP and Punjab, respectively, the Dawn report said.

At a press conference addressed by PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan alongside others in the federal capital, the PTI leaders hoped that President Arif Alvi would invite the party to form since it emerged as the "largest single party" following the elections.

It must be noted here that the president cannot invite a political party to form a government at this juncture. As per Article 91 of Pakistan's Constitution, the National Assembly shall meet on the twenty-first day following the day on which a general election to the assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the president. After the election of the speaker and deputy speaker, the house will elect the leader of the house (prime minister). 

"The member elected…shall be called upon by the President to assume the office of Prime Minister…," read clause four of Article 91.

During the press conference, the PTI leader asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to prepare anew the results of the elections considering Form-45 initially issued.

"Khan sahab, who is in jail, said we won't let slavery take hold. Now the whole situation is in front of you; people came out in droves on their leader's call to vote for the PTI despite suppression," he added.

Gohar claimed that the PTI had 170 seats and it would avail legal options to find out what happened to the final results, which faced an ordinate delay. He said it was the responsibility of the ECP to compile the results in a transparent manner, adding that as per the law, the contesting candidate, an election agent as well as an authorised observer needed to be present during the compilation process.

Gohar further said hurdles should not be created for the PTI in forming its government since it had a "clear majority" after allegedly securing victory on 170 National Assembly seats out of the 265 seats where elections were held.