Imran has asked me to retain KP CM’s slot: Khattak

NOWSHERA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has tasked former chief minister Pervez Khattak with key assignments with regard to the formation of the next government, sources said on Friday.

The sources said that Imran Khan had asked Pervez Khattak to woo two winning independent candidates of the Punjab Assembly and two independently elected MNAs to join the PTI to facilitate the formation of the government in Punjab.

Pervez Khattak, the sources said, would be the next chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it had been decided at a meeting held at Banigala with Imran Khan in the chair. The former KP chief minister, the sources said, had started approaching the winning independent candidates in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Talking to this scribe, Pervez Khattak rejected the speculations about opting for a berth in the federal cabinet. He clarified that he would prefer to serve as the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pervez Khattak said that Imran Khan had instructed him to retain the office of the chief minister. He said that the PTI had the numerical strength to form the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pervez Khattak said that the PTI would carry out its reform agenda and work for the development of the province.

Congratulating PTI workers, he said that his party won the election on the basis of its performance in the last five years. He rejected allegations of rigging levelled by the opposition parties and said that they should respect the mandate of the PTI.

Pervez Khattak said the opposition parties should present proof of rigging instead of making baseless allegations. He said that the people had rejected those who had launched a propaganda campaign against the PTI.

Pervez Khattak said that Imran Khan would become the prime minister and serve the people. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday notified the victory of former Pervez Khattak in PK-64 on its official website.

The ECP had mistakenly mentioned the name of Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) candidate Haider Ali Shah as leading the PK-64 contest with majority votes, in its official website, which created misunderstanding and became popular trend on social media and in electronic media.

The error, however, was rectified when the district returning officer Nowshera Nasrullah Khan Gandapur, returning officer Irshad Ali Mehsud, district election commissioner Zulfiqar and director general Irshad Ali Khan who identified the mistake on the website and showed the form 47 wherein PTI candidate Pervez Khattak was seen clearly leading with 38,240 votes. The ECP later notified the victory of former chief minister Pervez Khattak on its website.