As part of their parliamentary plan, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Monday that the party-backed independent candidates who won in the Center, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the general elections of 2024 will be joining the right-wing Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
Alongside the party’s leaders Raoof Hasan, PTI PM nominee Omar Ayub Khan, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and Majlis Wahadat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) Secretary General Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, he spoke to the media in Islamabad today.
Barrister Gohar stated, “With their permission, we are announcing today that PTI-supported individuals are going to join the Sunni Ittehad Council. Our nominees filed their affidavits with us.”
He clarified that the party and the SIC had struck a “formal agreement,” which will be presented to the Pakistani Election Commission today.
He declared, “There are 227 reserved seats nationwide and 70 reserved positions in the National Assembly.” Political parties are the only ones granted these seats.
He declared, “Therefore, we have reached an official agreement under which every one of our nominees have officially joined the party and we will be presenting this paperwork before the ECP to protect our reserved places while offering the cover to our members.”
According to Gohar, a request for the distribution of reserved seats in accordance with the law and party strength will also be made to the ECP.
“We assert that the PTI has secured 180 seats in the National Assembly,” he declared, emphasizing that every independent candidate ran on a PTI ticket and received backing from the party.
Barrister Gohar stated, “Thankfully, they were victorious in an overwhelming majority in all provinces […] of just three have been informed yet.”
Partnership to bolster PTI, according to Omar Ayub
Ayub, however, stated that his party’s goal was national unification, which is why candidates supported by the party chose to become part of the SIC in the Center and every province.
This is due to political parties’ ownership of the reserved seat quota. The PTI’s influence in the National Assembly would grow if it united with the Sunni Ittehad Council, he stated.
Given the explosive rigging claims made by ex Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha, Ayub stated that the PTI had insisted that candidates backed by the party be referred to as “returned candidates.”
He continued, saying that a similar situation continued in Peshawar. “We additionally stated that the MQM-P stole PTI’s vote in Karachi and Hyderabad,” he said.
Ayub continued, saying that the PTI will establish governments after joining the SIC. “We pledged to release Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi, and all of our senior leadership as our first priority.”
He also praised and expressed gratitude to the MWM for its assistance to the party led by Imran Khan.
Imran and the PTI will decide on policy, according to Hafiz Hamid Raza
Hafiz Raza of the SIC, meanwhile, stated that the PTI and his party have been allies for almost eight years.
However, the manner PTI’s “bat” was handled just a few days prior to the elections… To be clear, I did not make this decision “single-handedly.” Imran Khan and the PTI leadership have approved of it, he added.
Raza continued, saying that the MWM and SIC were two organizations that have consistently disapproved of militancy and condemned sectarian bloodshed. He declared, “We have a clear position on banned outfits.”
The head of SIC stated, “I want to clear one more thing: we support Imran Khan and the PTI unconditionally and without making any demands.” “I want to be absolutely certain, in black and white, that the PTI and Imran Khan sahib will be leading this policy.”
PTI-JUI-P coalition
In the meantime, an agreement for “political stability” was announced by the PTI and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan (JUI-P).
At a news conference, a JUI-P leader declared, “I am grateful to PTI for bringing JUI-P into trust regarding the present situation and opting for a partnership for the way forward.”
Both sides had confirmed their intention to keep in touch, according to Barrister Gohar. “We all believe that this country belongs to us, that democracy should advance, and that we will move forward to strengthen the economy.”
He stated that the parties have decided to keep up the fight against the polls that were allegedly rigged on February 8.
According to Ayub, the party and himself have historically maintained cordial ties with the JUI-P. He emphasized the necessity for economic strengthening and claimed that patriotism was the reason the two parties had come together.
“The economy will grow when there is a strong prime minister from a powerful party in office, not when there is a worthless, unlistenable candidate with 40 seats from a crooked election. Since he won’t be able to make choices, the country urgently needs a strong government, which the PTI alone can give.
Reiterating the party’s demand for 180 seats, Ayub demanded that their Form 47 be given in accordance with Form 45. He said that certain officials, including the former commissioner of Rawalpindi, had also acknowledged to vote-rigging.
In the coming days, he said, the party will win additional hotly contested seats, and the PTI would take power in all four provinces as well as the center.
In addition, Barrister Gohar demanded that the findings be released in accordance with Form 45, stating that there was an easy path forward and that the party was unwilling to open a “pandora’s box.”
According to Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani, “this alliance will remain forever,” the JUI-P leader stated that the political alliance that includes the PTI had been in place for a considerable amount of time.
Disagreements, he claimed, were just momentary. He claimed that lawlessness, peace, and order were the main issues facing the nation.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser stated that his party was in contact for an agreement with the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and the Grand Democratic agreement.
“With God’s blessing, we will travel to Quetta and Karachi tomorrow. We will not permit anyone to make decisions behind closed doors; instead, these decisions must be made in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” he declared.
Qaiser asserted that his party was the biggest political power in the nation and had received the support of the people. “Any other government that takes over will be phony and incapable of resolving Pakistan’s issues,” he continued.
The PTI leader expressed additional hope that the courts will hear the complaints of his party.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
