ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan has nominated Omar Ayub Khan, the general secretary of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party as the candidate for the post of prime minister, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said on Thursday.
Independent candidates backed by jailed former premier Imran Khan have won 93 seats in last week’s election, making them the largest group in the National Assembly. However, they cannot form a government on their own, having run as individuals and not a party. This also means they are not entitled to reserved seats for minorities and women in the assembly, diminishing their chances to from the government at the center.
“Omar Ayub has been appointed as the prime minister candidate by Khan,” Qaiser told reporters outside Rawalpindi’s central jail after meeting the jailed Khan. “We hope that the PM will be ours, and Omar Ayub will be our representative.”
Qaiser alleged that national elections on Feb. 8 were heavily rigged, adding that Khan would announce a date for nationwide protests by evening today, Thursday.
“Even a child is aware of how our mandate was stolen,” Qaiser said. “So on that matter, Khan will announce a date for a countrywide protest movement where we will take out rallies and protest in different provinces, districts and tehsil headquarters in the country.”
He said Khan had tasked him to engage with various political parties protesting against alleged rigging to formulate a joint strategy in this regard, saying that the recently held polls were the “worst elections in Pakistan’s history.”
“This election is neither being accepted in Pakistan by anyone, neither does it have any credibility, nor is anyone internationally taking it seriously or considering it,” he said.
The Feb. 8 elections polls were marred by a mobile Internet shutdown and unusually delayed results, leading to accusations that they were rigged and drawing concern from rights groups and foreign governments. Several political parties and candidates have held protests against the results and Khan’s PTI has challenged many of the results in court.
The Pakistani government says the measures were taken as the run-up to elections was marred by attacks on rallies, election offices and candidates. Twenty-eight people were killed in a number of attacks in the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces bordering Afghanistan on election eve.
Pakistan’s election regulator has strongly denied allegations it rigged the polls, saying on Monday that delays in poll results were due to the nationwide suspension of mobile phone networks and other logistical issues.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, announced on Tuesday that his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif would be the coalition’s prime minister candidate instead of him. The younger Sharif has the backing of five other political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Quami Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), making him the strongest candidate for the prime minister’s post.
The PML-N emerged as the largest party in parliament with 75 seats following the Feb. 8 elections, while the PPP as the second largest with 54. PPP has backed Shehbaz as the choice for PM but has as yet not committed to joining the government, indicating it would support a minority government from the outside.
Ex-PM Khan’s party nominates Omar Ayub as Pakistan PM candidate
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Ex-PM Khan’s party nominates Omar Ayub as Pakistan PM candidate
- Former premier Khan to announce date for countrywide protests against “rigging” today, says aide
- Says Khan’s party will engage with others protesting against alleged rigging to formulate joint strategy
Sindh cabinet approves compensation for Gul Plaza victims after deadly Karachi fire
- Over 70 people were killed in one of Karachi’s worst fires, which took three days to extinguish
- Deadly blazes have become frequent in the city amid weak fire safety, limited response capacity
ISLAMABAD: The Sindh cabinet on Tuesday approved a major relief and rehabilitation package for victims of the Gul Plaza fire, one of Karachi’s deadliest blazes, which killed more than 70 people and took three days to bring under control earlier this month.
The decision comes weeks after the fire ripped through the multi-story commercial building in the city’s Saddar area, trapping workers and traders as flames spread rapidly through the structure, exposing severe gaps in fire safety enforcement and emergency response.
Under the cabinet-approved package, families of those who died will receive Rs10 million ($35,800) each in compensation, while affected shopkeepers will be provided interest-free loans of Rs10 million per unit, with the provincial government bearing the cost of interest.
An additional Rs500,000 ($1,790) per shopkeeper has been approved as immediate subsistence support.
“There can be no compromise on human life,” Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said during the cabinet meeting, adding that the government’s priority was to support affected families while ensuring accountability.
“Relief, justice and prevention must go hand in hand,” he added.
The cabinet also constituted a high-level subcommittee, headed by the chief minister, to review the findings of an inquiry committee tasked with determining responsibility for the incident and recommending further action.
Fires have become an increasingly frequent occurrence in Karachi, a megacity of more than 20 million people, where fire services remain severely overstretched and under-resourced relative to population density and the scale of commercial activity.
Successive deadly incidents have drawn criticism of the Sindh administration over lax enforcement of building codes, inadequate inspections and limited emergency response capacity.
