PTI picks Ayub as Pak PM candidate

A key aide of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan said yesterday that the jailed leader had nominated Omar Ayub Khan as a candidate in a parliamentary vote to elect a new premier following last week's national elections.

Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) also announced countrywide protests against what it called widespread rigging against it in the polls. The election commission has denied such accusations and said legal forums would address any specific concerns.

The polls did not return a clear majority for anyone, but independent candidates backed by Khan's PTI won 92 out of 264 seats making them the largest group. Khan ruled out alliances with the three largest parties, which means his candidate currently does not have the numbers to form government.

"Omar Ayub will be our candidate for the prime minister election, he has been nominated by Imran Khan," Asad Qaiser, a senior leader of PTI, told journalists after meeting the former premier in prison.

Qaiser said PTI would reach out to other parties to discuss supporting Ayub's candidature. Khan's opponents have already announced an alliance to form a minority government, reports Reuters.

Ayub is currently in hiding, and is wanted in various investigations by law enforcement, including charges of being a part of rioting that followed Khan's arrest.

He contested and won a seat in the election despite his absence from the campaign. He had previously been a member of the party of Khan's main rival Nawaz Sharif as well as the ruling party of former military rule Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Ayub is the grandson of Pakistan's first military dictator Ayub Khan who ruled Pakistan from 1958 to 1969.

Imran Khan and his party say that the election results were rigged against their candidates, who should have won even more seats. They have challenged a number of results before the election commission.

The party also called on its supporters to take part in nationwide protests against the alleged rigging today. PTI's interim chief, Gohar Ali Khan, said he was inviting other parties that also believed the polls were unfair to join the protest.

PTI supporters have already been protesting in various parts of the country, including the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan, where a number of roads and highways were blocked by protesters.

The US again called for probe into the election rigging allegations, The News reported.

"We think that's an appropriate step to take. That's our response to questions of irregularities not just in Pakistan, but when we see them anywhere in the world. We think that they're thoroughly investigated and resolved. And so that – we will continue to call for that…," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said later on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, PML-N senior leader Khawaja Saad Rafique has called for forming a national government comprising all political parties in a bid to reduce "political tensions and bitterness".

In a post on X yesterday, the former federal minister urged all stakeholders to consider forming a national government as no party has secured a simple majority.