PTI asserts majority, urges respect for public mandate

Gohar urges ECP to immediately announce all results, says Alvi would invite his party to form government

LAHORE:

As final results still trickled in on Saturday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claimed a majority in the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said President Arif Alvi would invite his party to form the government as they had secured a majority in the National Assembly.

Addressing a news conference, jointly convened with the party’s Central Spokesperson Raoof Hasan on Saturday, Gohar emphasised that everybody should respect the public mandate.

“We have no quarrel with anyone, we want to move forward. We will proceed and form a government in accordance with the constitution and the law," he clarified.

"We will constitute the government in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Centre, and the announcement of the KP chief minister will be made in two days.”

Taking a dig at former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Gohar stated, "Nawaz Sharif does not have a majority in the NA, but he still considers himself the prime minister."He said the elections were held freely and peacefully and today is a very important day in the democratic history of Pakistan. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should immediately announce all results.

He highlighted that, according to the law, it was the commission's duty to release results by 2am, yet the announcement was delayed until 10am. The reasons for this deviation from the scheduled time need clarification, he added.

He said that presiding officers counted votes and prepared Form 45, however, results were stopped around midnight and an attempt was made to snatch public mandate. The PTI chief said the results should be made according to Form 45 as they had received all those forms.

He also announced to hold peaceful protests on Saturday outside those RO offices, who have not announced the result yet. He warned that the economy would not be able to tolerate the suppression of peoples' voice and forming a desired government.

“No obstacle should be created for the PTI and results should be announced as soon as possible. As per the law, the final result is extracted from Form 45 and we have received all the results,” he said adding that the final results should be announced before 12am tonight.

Read: Public’s poll participation reflects confidence in Imran: PTI

Gohar said their independent candidates were in contact with the party. They were loyal to the party and would remain so, he added. He said that the party would make their independent government while ruling out the possibility of collation with the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP).

He said the PTI would go towards intra-party elections within 15 days after completion of the process. The people had given a big mandate to the PTI, he maintained.He underscored that all cases against the PTI founding chairman Imran Khan were fake and fabricated. "It was merely political victimisation. It is the responsibility of the superior judiciary to look into the affairs of the lower courts."

Answering a question, Gohar said Imran Khan is the chairman of PTI and will remain the party chairman.
“Though, I may be in the driving seat but Imran Khan is my leader and he will decide who will be the next prime minister of Pakistan. The party will soon announce its strategy regarding reserved seats as well as what party they should join.”

Gohar also gave a call for peaceful protest in front of returning officers’ offices across Pakistan where results are being delayed or an attempt is made to snatch public mandate.

“The workers are requested that protest is a right, but it should be peaceful. Workers should bring national and party flags with them. They should remain peaceful in all circumstances,” he stressed and asked police and other law enforcement agencies not to create hurdles in peaceful protest.

He said advertently an attempt was made to defeat them on the seats they had won. He claimed that the PTI had won elections on 170 seats of the National Assembly. He further claimed that the party has secured a two-thirds majority in the K-P and bagged 180 seats of the Punjab Assembly.

He also said that this marked the first instance where a political party secured 35 out of the total 39 National Assembly seats from Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa.Gohar said they would decide about the chief minister’s post after consultation in two days. He announced that his party would soon give a public-friendly chief minister to Punjab.