Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf (PTI) continued their efforts to contact different political parties and strengthen their forces to form a government in the centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, most of their efforts seem to be in vain. The struggle to break the ice with Awami National Party (ANP) fetched no results as the party has declined to hold any negotiations with PTI.
According to ANP central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, senior leader of PTI Asad Qaiser contacted the ANP leadership. Mian Iftikhar said ANP believed not to negotiate with PTI stole their mandate and that it would be inappropriate to converse with them in the given circumstances.
The central general secretary further claimed that PTI attained the government through rigging. Hussain announced that ANP would hold protests from Feb 20 against election results.
Earlier, Jamat-I-Islami also declined to join hands with PTI for a formation of government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
JUI-F & PTI on Same Page
PTI was able to witness some success as they received some support from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F). Maulana Fazl ur Rehman supported the stance of PTI and both sides jointly rejected the results of recently held February 8 general elections.
JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah and PTI’s Barrister Saif held a joint press conference. Both sides highlighted mutual concerns about the lack of transparency, rigging and irregularities in the electoral process. PTI said it would persist in its political endeavours and collaborate with other like-minded parties with similar stances.