Imran Khan Chooses Omar Ayub as His Nominee for Prime Minister of Pakistan

Imran Khan, the jailed former prime minister of Pakistan, has chosen a candidate from his own party, Omar Ayub Khan, to run for the position of prime minister. Omar Ayub Khan will be running against the candidate from Imran Khan's rivals, who have formed a coalition. Although Khan-backed independent candidates won the majority of seats in the recent election, they did not have enough seats to form a government. As a result, there have been several days of negotiations to form a coalition government by the deadline of February 29th, as required by the constitution. Asad Qaiser, a senior leader of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, announced Omar Ayub Khan as their pick for prime minister after meeting with Imran Khan in prison. The nominee of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), who joined forces earlier this week, will also be running for the position. Omar Ayub Khan, who won as an independent candidate backed by PTI, stated that his main priority as prime minister would be to free political prisoners. Despite facing criminal charges, this does not disqualify him from seeking the prime minister position. The vote for the next prime minister will take place after all members of the National Assembly take their oaths and the speaker and deputy speaker have been elected. In the previous election, independent candidates, mostly affiliated with PTI, won the majority of the seats. PTI alleges vote fraud and interference, which electoral officials deny. A Jamaat-e-Islami party politician even gave up his seat, claiming that the vote was rigged in his favor. Omar Ayub Khan stated that they will not allow their mandate to be stolen and that PTI will work towards strengthening democratic institutions and improving the country's economy. Omar Ayub Khan has a political history, having been elected to the National Assembly in 2002 as a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q before moving to the PML-N and then joining PTI in 2018. He was a minister in Imran Khan's cabinet until the former prime minister's removal in April 2022 and has served as PTI's secretary-general since May 27, 2003, soon after Imran Khan's arrest.