A senior aide to former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently imprisoned, stated on Thursday that Khan has nominated Omar Ayub Khan for a parliamentary vote to elect a new Prime Minister following the general elections held last week. The party also announced plans to organize protests across the country against what it described as widespread election fraud. The electoral commission denied these allegations and stated that legal bodies would address any specific concerns.
No party gained a clear majority in the elections, but independent candidates supported by Khan secured 92 seats out of 264, making them the largest group in parliament. However, Khan refused to ally with the three major parties, meaning his nominee currently lacks the numbers needed to form a government. Asad Qaiser, a senior leader of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, told reporters after meeting with the imprisoned former Prime Minister, "Omar Ayub will be our candidate for Prime Minister. He was nominated by Imran Khan." He added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party would reach out to other parties to discuss support for Ayub's nomination. Khan's opponents have already formed a coalition to establish a minority government.
Khan's supporters ran as independents in the elections rather than under their party's banner, as the electoral commission rejected their candidacies for technical reasons. Although Khan is barred from running in the elections and has been jailed on charges ranging from leaking state secrets to corruption, millions of his supporters turned out to vote for him despite his inability to hold any government position due to his imprisonment.
Ayub is currently in hiding and faces multiple investigations by law enforcement authorities, with accusations against him including involvement in the riots that occurred after Khan's arrest. He ran and won a seat in the elections despite being absent from the campaign. Ayub previously was a member of Khan's main rival party, led by Nawaz Sharif, as well as the ruling party of former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Ayub is the grandson of Ayub Khan, Pakistan's first military dictator, who ruled Pakistan from 1958 to 1969.
