Imran Khan agrees to cooperate with rival Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan

Lahore: Imran Khan on Wednesday promised to cooperate with Nawaz Sharif to tackle key challenges like terrorism despite "serious political differences" with the PML-N chief who is set to become Pakistan`s next Prime Minister.

"We have serious political differences but we decided that we will work together to solve the country`s problems, including terrorism," the cricketer-turned-politician said in a video message aired at a news conference by his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party. The video was filmed in the hospital where Khan is recuperating after fracturing his spine in a fall at a campaign meeting days before the May 11 election. Sharif visited Khan in hospital last night and pledged to work with him to tackle the major challenges facing Pakistan. "I say on behalf of all the people that we all want to move forward now. Nawaz Sharif came to see me," Khan said in the video. Khan mounted virulent attacks on Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif while campaigning for the polls. Shortly after it became clear on Sunday that the PML-N was set to win the polls, Sharif said, without naming Khan, that he forgave everyone who had abused him during the campaign. Khan also outlined his plans to form the government in the militancy-hit northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf has emerged as the single largest party. The provincial government will serve as a role model for the rest of Pakistan, he claimed. "We have got a chance for the first time to form government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. We had been waiting for a long time to make a model of a new Pakistan, to make a province a model," he said. New institutions, a local government system and a new police system will be part of the model that will be developed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, he said. Results announced so far by the Election Commission show that the PML-N has won 123 of the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls. The Pakistan People`s Party, which led the outgoing government, won 31 seats and the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf won 26. However, Khan alleged that rigging had taken place in 25 parliamentary constituencies. He said he would ask the poll panel to order recounting in at least four constituencies. "We have doubts that in more than 25 parliamentary seats, the election was not fair. We are giving the Election Commission four seats where they should investigate and order a recount with the registered fingerprints of voters," he said. Khan gave the Election Commission three days to order the recounting. "If the Election Commission fails to meet the deadline, the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf will launch a protest," he said in the video. The four seats include one in Lahore that Khan lost to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of PML-N. PTI