ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan said on Monday that he will be taking oath as prime minister of Pakistan on August 11, reported Radio Pakistan.
The party was asked to form a government in the center after it won the most number of seats in the July 25 general elections. PTI also won a two-thirds majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and emerged as a strong runner-up in Punjab.
The PTI chief is currently actively engaged in forging alliances to form a coalition government in the center, Punjab, and Balochistan.
Talking to the newly elected members of KP Assembly, the prime minister-in-waiting said his nominated choice for the position of chief minister KP would be a “decision taken in the best interest of the people.”
He added that alleviation of poverty from interior Sindh is a top priority for the PTI government.
On Sunday, while speaking to the media outside Khan’s Bani Gala residence, PTI leader Naeemul Haq confirmed the PTI chief would be taking oath as prime minister before Aug. 14.
He also said that a possible venue for the oath-taking ceremony could be D-Chowk — a very important junction in Islamabad, leading up to the Presidency, the Prime Minister’s House, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and the Parliament.
“Imran Khan would prefer a people’s ceremony of oath-taking where thousands can watch him take oath as prime minister of Pakistan.”
In August 2014, to protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections, the PTI started a long march ending with a sit-in at D-Chowk. After reaching Islamabad, the protesters insisted on staying at D-Chowk until their demands were met. The sit-in lasted for 126 days.
“Perhaps the D-Chowk area may be the right place to do it (the oath-taking ceremony). Let’s hope so. Will keep on updating on this,” Haq reiterated in a statement released on social media.
All mainstream political parties have also agreed to attend the oath-taking ceremony, which is perceived as a “positive step,” said Haq.
According to the official results issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the PTI has emerged as the single largest political party in the National Assembly with 116 members.
“Imran Khan (is) working day and night to create the best possible team to run the country under a PTI government. The challenges of the economy, foreign policy, development, poverty, inflation (and) environment must be met and resolved on a priority basis. Inshallah the PTI govt will do it,” Haq said in his statement on social media.
Imran Khan to take oath as prime minister on August 11
Imran Khan to take oath as prime minister on August 11
- The prime minister designate may take oath in a “people’s ceremony” where thousands can watch him, hinted his party spokesperson, with a famous square in Islamabad as the possible venue
- The PTI chief is actively engaged these days forging alliances in an effort to form a coalition government in most parts of Pakistan
Peshawar church attack haunts Christians at Christmas
- The 2013 suicide attack at All Saints Church killed 113 worshippers, leaving lasting scars on survivors
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to protect religious minorities on Christmas, act against any injustice
PESHAWAR: After passing multiple checkpoints under the watchful eyes of snipers stationed overhead, hundreds of Christians gathered for a Christmas mass in northwest Pakistan 12 years after suicide bombers killed dozens of worshippers.
The impact of metal shards remain etched on a wall next to a memorial bearing the names of those killed at All Saints Church in Peshawar, in the violence-wracked province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Even today, when I recall that day 12 years ago, my soul trembles,” Natasha Zulfiqar, a 30-year-old housewife who was wounded in the attack along with her parents, told AFP on Thursday.
Her right wrist still bears the scar.
A militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on September 22, 2013, when 113 people were killed, according to a church toll.
“There was blood everywhere. The church lawn was covered with bodies,” Zulfiqar said.
Christians make up less than two percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people and have long faced discrimination in the conservative Muslim country, often sidelined into low-paying jobs and sometimes the target of blasphemy charges.
Along with other religious minorities, the community has often been targeted by militants over the years.
Today, a wall clock inside All Saints giving the time of the blast as 11:43 am is preserved in its damaged state, its glass shattered.
“The blast was so powerful that its marks are still visible on this wall — and those marks are not only on the wall, but they are also etched into our hearts as well,” said Emmanuel Ghori, a caretaker at the church.
Addressing a Christmas ceremony in the capital Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to protect religious minorities.
“I want to make it clear that if any injustice is done to any member of a minority, the law will respond with full force,” he said.
For Azzeka Victor Sadiq, whose father was killed and mother wounded in the blasts, “The intensity of the grief can never truly fade.”
“Whenever I come to the church, the entire incident replays itself before my eyes,” the 38-year-old teacher told AFP.
