As the political uncertainty about who will form the government in the light of February 8 general election continues, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Friday announced that it would form the opposition in the Centre and Punjab as per party founder Imran Khan’s directives.
PTI leader Barrister Saif, while speaking to journalists after a meeting with Qaumi Watan Party in Islamabad, said that PTI has decided to sit on the opposition benches in the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly.
“Many politicians face the allegations that they have power lust but we have decided to sit in the opposition in the Centre and Punjab, despite the fact that if we had got the seats according to the votes we received, we would have been forming the government in the Centre,” he said.
Saif added that the Form-45s were the evidence that the PTI-backed candidates had won but the results were changed in the Form-47s .
He said that party was making contacts with political parties on Imran’s orders, and that is why a delegation led by Asad Qaiser visited the QWP secretariat.
Saif said that the 2024 polls, which he said were “rigged”, created political unrest in the country and resulted in wide scale complaints from the political parties and those “who had the right” and who had received got the votes of people.
“People’s votes were tempered with,” he asserted. Saif said that some people would be cheering that they have got to form the government, but this celebration would be short-lived. “If we see this in the long term, this is a huge problem for the nation, the country and the parliamentary democracy in Pakistan because the coming generations have to bear the brunt of such incidents,” he said. He said that PTI wants “harmony and an environment of reconciliation” in the country.
Sharing the details about the meeting with QWP, Saif said that the PTI requested the party leaders to join it on the agenda to protest the alleged polls rigging. At this, QWP leader Sikandar Sherpao told PTI that they will announce their course of action after sharing PTI’s proposal with the party’s committee.