ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced a five-member team to open communication with other political factions in the country which is beginning to witness election activities ahead of the national polls next year.
Earlier this month, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced it was going to hold the electoral contest in the country on February 8 after consulting President Arif Alvi on the Supreme Court’s instructions to fulfil a constitutional requirement.
The PTI decision to constitute the committee arrives after the rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party reached an election alliance with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in the southern Sindh province which has mostly been ruled by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in recent decades.
“It is hereby notified that the following are appointed as members of Political Engagement Committee with immediate effect,” PTI secretary-general Omar Ayub Khan said in a notification shared by the party on Wednesday.
He named Barrister Ali Zafar, Dr. Humayun Mohmand, Ali Muhammad Khan, Ali Asghar Khan and Raoof Hasan to represent the party during the political engagements.
The PPP has already indicated it might get into some electoral understanding with the PTI in Punjab ahead of the elections.
A top PTI leader Asad Qaiser also met Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman last month in what was viewed as an effort to reach some political understanding before the elections.
Qaiser was subsequently arrested by the authorities on graft charges, making the PTI claim the government was not providing a level playing field to all political parties in the country.
