Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced on Thursday that it has nominated party general secretary Omar Ayub as its prime ministerial candidate.

Independent candidates backed by the jailed former prime minister won 92 seats in last week’s election, becoming the largest group. However, they cannot form a government alone because they are running as individuals rather than as a party.

PTI leader Asad Qaiser told mediapersons that Omar Ayub will be the party’s candidate for the post of prime minister. dawn Newspaper reports. Qaiser announced the decision after speaking to the PTI founder in Adiala jail. He said Imran would set a date later today for nationwide protests against alleged fraud in the February 8 polls.

Keizer said one of his “missions” was to engage with all parties protesting the poll results. “We want us all to develop a strategy because the mandate was stolen – this is the worst, most rigged election in our history,” he said.

Last week’s divided national election results provided an unexpected bonus for independent candidates loyal to Imran, who have defied an army-backed crackdown and produced a greater combined performance than any other party. However, late on Tuesday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which enjoys high-level support, said it would work with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and smaller parties to form the next government.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leader of the PPP and foreign minister in the 2022-23 government, said his party would not hold ministerial posts this time and would support the prime minister “on a case-by-case basis”. However, there are still many negotiations to be done, including the potential return of his father, Asif Ali Zardari, to the presidency.

(Institutional investment)