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ISLAMABAD: Jailed former PM Imran Khan picked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf secretary-general Omar Ayub to contest for PM against Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, and tasked his party with engaging with all political forces protesting the Feb 8 results.
Ayub, who has been in hiding since May last year to avoid arrest, is the grandson of Pakistan’s first military dictator, Gen Muhammad Ayub Khan, who ruled the country from 1958 to 1969 after toppling President Iskandar Ali Mirza.
Khan’s party also called for countrywide protests against widespread rigging in polls and directed all PTI tiers to bring out the public on Saturday. Winning 93 seats in last week’s polls, PTI-backed Independent candidates make up the largest group in the National Assembly. But a lawmaker requires 134 votes to become leader of the House, which comprised 266 elected members. It means PTI is not in a position to form govt without forging a coalition with other parties.
“Omar Ayub has been appointed as prime minister candidate by Khan,” PTI stalwart and former NA speaker Asad Qaiser told media after his meeting with Khan in Adiala jail. “We hope the PM will be ours, and Omar Ayub will be our representative.”
Qaiser quoted Khan as saying, “This election is neither being accepted in Pakistan by anyone, neither does it have any credibility, nor is anyone internationally taking it seriously or considering it (sic).”
Ayub, who has been in hiding since May last year to avoid arrest, is the grandson of Pakistan’s first military dictator, Gen Muhammad Ayub Khan, who ruled the country from 1958 to 1969 after toppling President Iskandar Ali Mirza.
Khan’s party also called for countrywide protests against widespread rigging in polls and directed all PTI tiers to bring out the public on Saturday. Winning 93 seats in last week’s polls, PTI-backed Independent candidates make up the largest group in the National Assembly. But a lawmaker requires 134 votes to become leader of the House, which comprised 266 elected members. It means PTI is not in a position to form govt without forging a coalition with other parties.
“Omar Ayub has been appointed as prime minister candidate by Khan,” PTI stalwart and former NA speaker Asad Qaiser told media after his meeting with Khan in Adiala jail. “We hope the PM will be ours, and Omar Ayub will be our representative.”
Qaiser quoted Khan as saying, “This election is neither being accepted in Pakistan by anyone, neither does it have any credibility, nor is anyone internationally taking it seriously or considering it (sic).”
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