Imran Khan formally nominated as PTI's candidate for Pakistan PM

ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan has been formally nominated as his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) candidate for Pakistan Prime Minister. The decision was taken in PTI's Parliamentary party meeting held on Monday. During the meetings, Khan said that as the Prime Minister, he will personally answer questions for an hour every week. 

A resolution in favour of Khan's nomination as the party's parliamentary leader was placed in the meeting which was unanimously accepted.

It was likely that during the meeting, the decision will be taken on the names of federal cabinet members. The party was also expected to finalise the names of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief ministers.

PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said that the PTI has the support of 174 members of the National Assembly and 186 in the Punjab Assembly, which is sufficient to elect the leaders of each house. Pakistan's National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected. A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total. The PTI had emerged in the lead with 116 NA seats in the polls. 

Political parties have been scrambling to make nominations for the keys posts ahead of the August 15 deadline for the first session of the national and provincial assemblies. Under the Constitution, the first session should be called within 21 days of elections. 

As the elections were held on July 25, it means that the national assembly and provincial assemblies should meet on or before August 15. Federal Law Minister Ali Zafar said last week that the caretaker wants to complete the transfer of power by August 15.