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PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday announced that party-backed independent candidates — who emerged victorious in the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the 2024 general elections — would join right-wing party Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) as part of their parliamentary strategy.
He addressed the media in Islamabad today alongside party leaders Raoof Hasan, PTI PM candidate Omar Ayub Khan, SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Majlis Wahadat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) Secretary General Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.
“Our candidates have submitted their affidavits with us and with their consent today we are announcing that PTI-supported independents are joining the Sunni Ittehad Council,” Barrister Gohar said.
He made it clear that the party reached a “formal agreement” with the SIC, and it would be submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan today.
“There are 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly and there are 227 reserved seats in the entire country,” he said. “These seats are only provided to political parties.
“Therefore, to protect our reserved seats and provide the cover to our members, we have reached a formal agreement under which all our candidates have joined the party and we will present this documentation before the ECP,” he said.
Gohar said a request would also be filed in the ECP regarding the allocation of reserved seats as per the party strength and law.
“We claim that the PTI has won 180 National Assembly seats,” he said, adding that all the independent candidates contested the polls on PTI tickets and were supported by the party.
“Thankfully, they have won in a big number in all provinces […] of these only three have been notified yet,” Barrister Gohar said.
Alliance to strengthen PTI, says Omar Ayub
Meanwhile, Ayub said his party wanted unity in the country and therefore party-backed candidates decided to join the SIC in the Centre and all provinces.
“This is because the quota of reserved seats lies with political parties. Coming together with the Sunni Ittehad Council would increase the PTI’s strength in the National Assembly,” he said.
In the light of the explosive rigging allegations of former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha, Ayub said the PTI had demanded that party-supported candidates should be declared “returned candidates”.
“We had also said that the MQM-P stole PTI’s mandate in Karachi and Hyderabad,” he said, adding that a similar case also persisted in Peshawar.
Ayub added that after joining the SIC, the PTI would form governments. “Our first job would be to set free Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi and all our senior leadership,” he vowed.
He also lauded and thanked the MWM for the support it provided to the Imran Khan-led party.
Policy to be decided by Imran and PTI, says Hafiz Hamid Raza
Meanwhile, SIC’s Hafiz Raza said his party’s alliance with the PTI dates back nearly eight years.
“But the way PTI’s ‘bat’ was taken just a few days before elections […] I want to clarify that this is not a ‘single-handed’ decision. It includes the approval of PTI leadership and Imran Khan,” he said.
Raza added that SIC and MWM were two parties that had always opposed sectarian violence and did not believe in militancy. “We have a clear stance on banned outfits,” he stated.
“I want to clarify one more thing that our support of Imran Khan and the PTI is unconditional and without any demand,” the SIC leader said. “I want to make it clear, in black and white, that the policy will be of the PTI and Imran Khan sahib.”
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