- Barrister Gohar invites public to a peaceful protest on Saturday afternoon against poll rigging
ISLAMABAD: Former premier Imran Khan on Thursday nominated Omer Ayub as the PTI candidate for prime minister while Mian Aslam Iqbal for the slot of Punjab chief minister.
PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan revealed on Thursday after he along with other PTI leaders held meetings with the imprisoned party chief at Adiala Jail to discuss the current political scenario.
In a media talk outside Adiala Jail on Thursday, Barrister Gohar said Imran had nominated PTI central general secretary Omar Ayub Khan — who is in hiding after facing over 20 criminal charges following the May 9 riots — as the candidate for prime minister.
Meanwhile, Mian Aslam Iqbal was nominated for the slot of Punjab chief minister and deliberation was underway over the nomination of Salaar Khan Kakar as Balochistan CM. Barrister Gohar said Aqibullah Khan — brother of PTI leader Asad Qaiser — was picked for the position of the speaker of the KP Assembly.
He said the PTI’s nominations for the National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker would be announced in the upcoming days.
Barrister Gohar asserted that the PTI would not engage in power-sharing with the PML-N, PPP and MQM-P. “Imran Khan has clearly said that the politics of PTI is not for power-sharing but for the public,” he said.
“The PTI is doing politics for the protection of the public’s rights and believes in the supremacy of the mandate and democracy,” he highlighted. “Therefore, we don’t believe in any power-sharing.”
“We will do strong opposition until our full mandate is returned, but we are in the position to form governments in Punjab, KP and Centre,” Gohar said.
He also said that the party would hold a peaceful protest across the country on Saturday (February 17) against the “marginalisation of the PTI”, claiming that the party had won a “clear mandate” but it was being “snatched”.
Barrister Gohar invited all other political parties that were protesting the February 8 election results — specifically naming the Grand Democratic Alliance, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan and Awami National Party — to join the PTI.
He added that the PTI would record a peaceful protest on Saturday afternoon and requested the public to participate in it. “These elections were very critical […] and we won’t let our mandate be stolen.”
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 “larger mandate”.
Qaiser says tasked with reaching out to political parties
Earlier in the day, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser said Imran had given him an “assignment” to engage with all political parties protesting the election results, specifically mentioning Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F, the Awami National Party and Qaumi Wattan Party.
“We want to form a strategy together because these were the worst elections in the history of Pakistan,” the PTI leader said outside Adiala Jail. A day earlier, Qaiser had petitioned the Islamabad High Court seeking permission to meet Imran.
In a media talk today, Qaiser alleged that the Feb 8 polls had no credibility both locally and internationally.
“Therefore, 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,” Qaiser added.
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 “a day or two”.
