Highlight
- Imran Khan’s PTI registered a massive victory in Punjab province elections
- PTI won 15 out of 20 seats in the provincial assembly in the by-elections held on Sunday.
- Elections were held in only 20 seats as 5 candidates were indirectly elected on reserved seats.
Pakistan News: Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Monday discussed the possibility of forming a government in Pakistan’s Punjab province after a landslide victory in the bypolls.
The PTI won 15 of the 20 provincial assembly seats in Sunday’s bypolls, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) got just four. One seat was occupied by an independent candidate.
These seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan defeated 25 PTI MPs for voting against the party’s candidate in the chief ministerial election.
Elections were held in only 20 seats as five candidates were indirectly elected against reserved seats.
The results changed the numbers game in the provincial assembly where the PTI and its main ally Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid (PML-Q) have a total of 188 members and the PML-N and its ally 179 MLAs. The chief ministerial candidate needs the support of 186 assembly members to be elected.
The Supreme Court has ordered fresh elections for the post of Chief Minister immediately after the by-election.
Earlier, PTI had supported Chaudhry Parvez Elahi of PMLQ as its joint candidate, who lost to Hamza Shahbaz, son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The new tally showed that PTI and its allies were in a winning position.
However, there is debate on whether Elahi should be the joint candidate or not, as PTI legislators insist that party supremo Khan nominate a party loyalist rather than endorsing the PML-Q candidate – Because the party has only 10 seats in the assembly. ,
Monday’s meeting of the PTI core committee, chaired by ousted Prime Minister Khan and attended by senior party leadership, held detailed discussions on government formation matters in Punjab.
Earlier on Monday, Khan and Elahi, who is also the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, held a post-by-election consultative telephone conversation.
In another development, PTI has asked Hamza to step down after losing majority in the assembly.
After losing Punjab to his nemesis PTI, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would be confined to Islamabad, an extremely unpleasant situation for his coalition government, as, colloquially, the one who controls Lahore, controls the country.
With PTI coming to Lahore, it will be difficult for them to run the country smoothly.
The prime minister has begun discussions on the political situation with key allies including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).
According to Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb, an important meeting of PML-N leaders is going to be held in Lahore on Tuesday.
London-based PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has also directed his party to convene a consultation meeting to discuss the PML-N’s defeat at its home ground.
Meanwhile, buoyed by the victory, PTI chief Khan has demanded early general elections.
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