ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Naeemul Haq on Saturday said that his party will soon announce the names for the slot of chief minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Talking to media at Bani Gala in Islamabad on Saturday, he said that all political parties should respond positively to the offer of party chairman Imran Khan to work together for betterment and prosperity of Pakistan. The PTI leader hoped that President Mamnoon Hussain will soon summon the National Assembly session to complete the procedure of election for the slot of Prime Minister. Haq went on to say that we are in touch with independent candidates but there has been no contact with Pakistan Peoples’ Party Parliamentarians (PPPP).

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced final results of all the constituencies of the national and provincial assemblies on Saturday, more than 56 hours after the conclusion of voting for the 2018 General Elections in the country. According to an update issued by the ECP, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has won 116 of the 270 National Assembly seats, emerging as the largest political party in the country. The PML-N grabbed 64 seats, while the PPP is in third place with 43 National Assembly seats. Similarly, Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) secured 12 seats and Pakistan Muslim League (Q), Balochistan National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan, and Balochistan Awami Party has secured 4, 03, 06, and 04 seats respectively. Awami National Party (ANP) has won one seat; Awami Muslim League (AML), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaniyat and Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) have also grabbed one NA seat each.

Although Khan appeared likely to fall short of the 137 seats needed for a majority in the National Assembly, his better-than-expected results mean he should have no problems forming a government with a handful of small coalition partners.

One of the first tasks for Khan, once he forms the government, will be to avert a currency crisis, which follows for devaluations of the rupee currency since December, and will likely require Islamabad to seek Pakistan s second International Monetary Fund bailout since 2013.

Despite initially rejecting Khan’s win and alleging that vote rigging had taken place, Shahbaz Sharif s Muslim League accepted the results on Friday. Nawaz Sharif is still behind bars on corruption charges, after being detained upon his return to Pakistan on the eve of the election. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had 64 seats, the results showed. The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was third with 43 seats.

“The PML-N would play the role of a strong opposition,” said Shahbaz Sharif.

PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said that work to build the governing coalition was already underway and that the party would consider both independents and allies, in a process that could take several days.—NNI