Pakistan Elections: Imran Khan’s party rejects Sharif’s claim to power as PTI-backed candidates win big

Pakistan Elections 2024: Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Saturday (Feb 10) claimed that the party is assured that it has 'won' over 170 seats in 252-seat National Assembly of Pakistan.

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party was stripped off of its popular cricket bat symbol and the politicians backed by it contested elections as independent candidates. According to the latest seat figures available at the time of filing this report, the independent candidates (most of them backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) have won about 100 seats, followed by Nawaz Sharif's PML(N) with 54 seats and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's PPP's 17 seats.

On Friday evening, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) first laid claim to power and said that the efforts have already begun for an alliance with Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and others. On Saturday, Pakistani media reported that the PPP and the PML(N) have agreed to form an alliance.

"Yesterday we saw that a person presuming himself as Prime Minister-elect gave a premature statement. He has no majority," Barrister Gohar said while denouncing the three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's claim to power.

Responding to a question by WION's Pakistan Bureau Chief Anas Mallick, the PTI chief Gohar Khan said that the party will conduct "no negotiations with anyone" to cross the majority mark in the National Assembly.

"We are not fighting with any institutions. All we do is respecting the will of the people," Khan said.

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PTI leader Gohar Ali Khan alsocalled on party workers to hold a protest on Feb 11 outside the offices of returning officers in constituencies where the poll results were being "withheld and delayed".

"According to [Imran] Khan sahib’s instructions, the areas in which our results were withheld and delayed — we will share that list with you — and intentionally our majority is being converted… to turn a winning seat into a defeat."

"This is why, God-willing, the areas in which the results were not declared, we will hold protests tomorrow in those constituencies outside the relevant RO offices."

Gohar added that the protest would be peaceful, urging party workers and supporters to protest "according to the law".

(With inputs from agencies)