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PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan on Thursday said former premier Imran Khan had nominated Omer Ayub as the candidate for prime minister while Mian Aslam Iqbal was picked for the slot of Punjab chief minister.<\/p>\n
The development came after Barrister Gohar and other PTI leaders held a flurry of meetings with the imprisoned party chief at Adiala Jail to discuss the current political scenario.<\/p>\n
With post-election deal-making in high gear, the PTI \u2014 like all other political parties \u2014 is weighing its options. Earlier this week, the Imran-led party, whose independent candidates clinched<\/a> a lion\u2019s share in the polls, said it would ally with the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen<\/a> in the Centre and Punjab.<\/p>\n The party had said it would form a coalition government with the Jamaat-i-Islami in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, JI\u2019s Liaquat Baloch later said that his party was not interested<\/a> in working with the PTI in the province.<\/p>\n In a media talk outside Adiala Jail today, Barrister Gohar said Imran had nominated PTI central general secretary Omar Ayub Khan \u2014 who is in hiding after facing over 20 criminal charges following the May 9 riots \u2014 as the candidate for prime minister.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Salaar Kakar were nominated for the slots of Punjab and Balochistan chief ministers, respectively. Barrister Gohar said Aqibullah Khan \u2014 brother of PTI leader Asad Qaiser \u2014 was picked for the position of the speaker of the KP Assembly.<\/p>\n He said the PTI\u2019s nominations for the National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker would be announced in the upcoming days.<\/p>\n Barrister Gohar further asserted that the PTI would not engage in power-sharing with the PML-N, PPP and MQM-P. \u201cImran Khan has clearly said that the politics of PTI is not for power-sharing but for the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe PTI is doing politics for the protection of the public\u2019s rights and believes in the supremacy of the mandate and democracy,\u201d he highlighted. \u201cTherefore, we don\u2019t believe in any power-sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will do strong opposition until our full mandate is returned, but we are in the position to form governments in Punjab, KP and Centre,\u201d Gohar said.<\/p>\n He also said that the party would hold a peaceful protest across the country on Saturday (February 17) against the \u201cmarginalisation of the PTI\u201d, claiming that the party had won a \u201cclear mandate\u201d but it was being \u201csnatched\u201d.<\/p>\n Barrister Gohar invited all other political parties that were protesting the February 8 election results \u2014 specifically naming the Grand Democratic Alliance, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan and Awami National Party \u2014 to join the PTI.<\/p>\n He added that the PTI would record a peaceful protest on Saturday afternoon and requested the public to participate in it. \u201cThese elections were very critical [\u2026] and we won\u2019t let our mandate be stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in response to a question, Gohar refuted reports regarding talks with the PPP and a coalition with the PTI-Parliamentarians. He also urged the Election Commission of Pakistan and the judiciary to fix petitions filed by the party against alleged rigging in several constituencies, saying that a delay in the same would affect the \u201clarger mandate\u201d.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser said Imran had given him an \u201cassignment\u201d to engage with all political parties protesting the election results, specifically mentioning Maulana Fazlur Rehman\u2019s JUI-F, the Awami National Party and Qaumi Wattan Party.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to form a strategy together because these were the worst elections in the history of Pakistan,\u201d the PTI leader said outside Adiala Jail. A day earlier, Qaiser had petitioned the Islamabad High Court seeking permission to meet Imran.<\/p>\n In a media talk today, Qaiser alleged that the Feb 8 polls had no credibility both locally and internationally.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, we have decided that we will protest against this [elections] across the country and I will myself reach out to political parties for this purpose,\u201d Qaiser added.<\/p>\n In response to a question, he stated that PTI-backed candidates who had won the polls would not resign in any condition and would sit in the assemblies. The PTI leader further added that the party would call its parliamentary session in \u201ca day or two\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, former senator Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif said Imran had conveyed a special message regarding the statement issued by the US on the general elections.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that the US has in every period either supported dictators or brought forward the most corrupt leaders [\u2026] and democracy was ridiculed by bringing such people,\u201d Barrister Saif said.<\/p>\nQaiser says tasked with reaching out to political parties<\/h2>\n
Message for US<\/h2>\n