Independent candidates backed by Pakistan's jailed former prime minister who won seats in recent inconclusive elections will join the minority Sunni Ittehad Council Political Party to form a government, the party's interim chief said on February 19. The interim chief, Barrister Gohar Khan, said at a news briefing that the decision to join the minority party was made so former PM Imran Khan's party, Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), which was barred from contesting the election, could access reserved seats in the national assembly. He said the group had signed a memorandum with the PTI and all direction would come from the PTI and jailed leader Khan.
Pakistan's Imran Khan-Backed Candidates To Join Sunni Party, Says Interim Party Chief
Ali Amin Gandapur, nominated to be chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party, holds up a portrait of former Prime Minister Imran Khan at a protest in Peshawar on February 17.