ISLAMABAD: Former premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Friday it had no plans to form a coalition government with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), though it reserved the option of bringing a no-confidence motion against the sitting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The statement was issued by the current PTI chairman, Barrister Gohar Khan, after securing a major legal victory in the Supreme Court in a case involving the reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies, which are distributed among winning political factions on a proportional basis.
The PPP decided to support the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party after the February 8 general elections, though it did not join the federal cabinet, creating the impression that it was interested in keeping its political options open.
“If we had to form a government with the Pakistan Peoples Party, that option was available to us on February 9,” he told Independent Urdu in an interview. “We took a principled stance. Imran Khan does not believe in power-sharing. He practices people’s politics, so he does not need power-sharing.”
He maintained that his party was not against political dialogue, though its founding leader and the former Pakistani prime minister had ruled out any negotiations with the PPP, PML-N and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Asked about the no-trust vote after emerging as the single largest party in the National Assembly, the PTI chairman said the proposal had not come up for discussion, though it was always an option that political parties could exercise.
“Once we get the seats and come into the majority, we will see what needs to be done,” he said. “This issue can come under consideration since any political party always has this option. However, the party leadership has not made any decision regarding this matter yet.”
