With its efforts to create the next government failing despite gaining the most seats, embattled Imran Khan's party resolved on Friday to sit in the Opposition at the Centre, as directed by the incarcerated party founder and former Prime Minister, news agency PTI reported. Barrister Ali Saif of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made the decision, a day after the party picked Umar Ayub Khan as its prime ministerial candidate and Aslam Iqbal as Punjab chief minister.
Speaking to the media after visiting the Qaumi Watan Party in Islamabad, Saif said that the party has opted to sit in opposition in the Centre and Punjab on the directions of party founder Khan.
“We decided to sit in opposition despite the reality that if we received seats according to our votes and the results were not changed then maybe today we might have been in the Centre with 180 seats. We have the evidence that our candidates won,” he was quoted as saying by PTI in its report.
Following the decision to join the opposition, it was unclear if the party will participate in the elections for prime minister and Punjab chief minister.
Earlier in the day, the PTI claimed that at least 85 seats won by it in Parliament were stolen in the "biggest voter fraud" in the country's history, and announced plans to organize "peaceful" nationwide demonstrations on Saturday against suspected manipulation.
Independent candidates won 93 of the 265 National Assembly seats contested in the February 8 election, with the majority supported by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
However, the PTI's two biggest competitors look to be on track to establish a coalition government after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) announced a post-election alliance on Tuesday.
The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP finished third with 54. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has also pledged to back them with 17 seats.
To establish a government in the 266-member National Assembly, a party must win 133 of the 265 contested seats.
Raoof Hasan, the PTI's Information Secretary, and other leaders who contested their election results in various forums, including Sher Afzal Marwat, Rehana Dar, Shoaib Shaheen, and Salman Akram Raja, spoke at a news conference.
Hasan stated that 2024 will be regarded as the "biggest voter fraud" in Pakistani history against the party and its candidates.
“According to our estimates, out of 177 [National Assembly] seats which were supposed to be ours, only 92 have been given to us. And 85 seats have been taken away from us fraudulently,” he was quoted as saying by PTI in its report.
He stated that the party was undertaking constitutional and legal steps to counter the rigging and get its right.
“We have verified data about 46 seats and it is being compiled for 39 seats,” he said.