Pakistan President Would Invite Independent Candidates to Form Govt: PTI

Islamabad – As the PTI-backed independent candidates continue to lead the polls, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi would invite his party to form the government as they had gotten a majority in the National Assembly. Amid all the political turmoil and legal battles, the party's members who were forced to contest elections independently took a major lead in the polls. However, fighting without an electoral symbol came with a cost as the party members would have to support another contesting political party to form a government in the house. Meanwhile, Khan's proclamation came hours after reports emerged that Nawaz Sharif's PML-N and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's PPP had agreed to form an alliance. 

“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,” Gohar Khan said addressing the media in Islamabad, Geo News reported. The PTI leader insisted that the results should be put out in accordance with Form 45 and made it clear that no obstacles should be created for the party as they work on in deciding the Leader of the House. “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 12:00 am tonight.

Gohar urge PTI candidates to protest outside RO's office due to the delays

During the presser, the PTI chairman said that the party members would protest peacefully in the constituencies where the results were stopped. “The workers are requested that protest is a right, but it should be peaceful,” he said. Khan claimed that an attempt was made to defeat independent candidates in the seats they were winning. Earlier today, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN ) noted on Saturday that transparency in elections was observed at polling stations, but not in the offices of returning officers (ROs). “The failure to display copies of Form 45, as required, in 29% of polling stations was a notable oversight,” the electoral observatory noted.  FAFEN spokesperson Musarrat Qadeem explained that the delay in the release of poll results, and suspension of internet and mobile services damaged parliamentary efforts made through Election Act.

Circumstances under which PTI can form Government

Since PTI-backed candidates are running independently and not with a party symbol, the party cannot form a government on its own, even if it clinchs the highest number of seats. One of the major reasons for this is the fact that PTI members are not allotted a quota of minority seats in the assembly without a party symbol. Without ensuring reservations for minorities, the party can not form a government. Hence, this leaves the party with two options – either join hands with the big guns or hold its ground and send a contender to be the Leader of the House. If PTI-backed independents want to emerge as the biggest group in Parliament, they can form alliances with small existing parties. According to Dawn, one of the names that is being mentioned is the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) which is already a registered party and has formed a coalition with PTI in local government elections. This way the PTI-backed independents will get the reserved seats they need and send a contender for the Leader of the House.

On Friday, senior PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan ruled out forging an alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). "We are not in contact with PPP or PML-N," the PTI leader told Geo News. “We are not intending to form a coalition government with PPP and PML-N. We will form the government at the Centre and Punjab,” he added.