Release political prisoners, respect PTI mandate, party tells Pakistan army chief after elections

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said on Saturday the release of all political prisoners and accepting the party’s mandate to rule was the only “healing touch” the country’s all-powerful army chief could offer after general elections in which the PTI has declared victory.
The remarks by Gohar Khan, who heads the PTI while its founder former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in jail, came hours after a rare public statement by Gen Asim Munir directly addressing the country’s political affairs and calling on political parties to form a “unified government” after polls on Feb. 8 did not produce a clear winner.
Though the final result of the 265 National Assembly seats contested has not yet been released, independent candidates backed by the PTI were leading the race with 102 seats out of 258 counted out close to midnight on Saturday. Behind the PTI was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with 73 seats, followed by the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in third place with 54.
Whoever seeks to form the next government would need support from other parties with no one close to the seat threshold, 133, for a simple majority in parliament. The PTI is also yet to announce the party banner it will ask its loyalists to join as independent candidates cannot form a government on their own in Pakistan and need to be part of a political party.
On Friday, Sharif had urged his allied parties to form a coalition government with his PML-N and on Saturday afternoon, the army chief called for a “united government” that could deliver “stable hands and a healing touch” to bring stability in Pakistan.
“Healing touch would mean that you [army] got to make sure that there are no political prisoners anymore in Pakistan,” Gohar, who is also Khan’s lawyer, told Arab News in an interview, when asked what the PTI would consider a “healing touch” from the army.
“[PTI] mandate has to be respected. Short of it there can be no healing touch.”
In response to the army chief’s call for a “united government,” Gohar said a united government did not mean a coalition government.
“United government means that every party should be united in one thing, which is that you have to respect and regard people’s mandate first,” Gohar said. “The people have spoken [through the vote] and for the first time they have spoken in a very tough situation [amid a crackdown against PTI].”
“NEAR VICTORY”

That PTI-backed candidates have outperformed their rivals is by all admissions a shocking victory for Khan, whose party has faces a months-long crackdown that included restrictions on campaigning, with many key leaders in jail or disallowed from running in polls. Khan himself was missing from elections as he has been in prison since August last year, been handed jail terms in four cases and is disqualified from contesting elections for ten years.
Ahead of the polls, allegations of military meddling took center-stage in Pakistan, casting a shadow over a historic event that marked only the country’s third-ever democratic transition of power.
Gohar said 95 out of 102 independents who had won were PTI loyalists, while it would contest the results in at least 50 seats in which the party believes results were manipulated. 
Pakistan’s National Assembly has 336 seats, 266 of which are directly elected, while 60 are reserved for women and another 10 for religious minorities, which are allocated to parties based on the ratio of their winnings in general elections. Elections on Feb. 8 were held on 265 seats. 
“We are near to victory in Punjab,” Gohar said. “We have two-thirds majority in KPK [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] and we are actually close to the final figure in the center. We would be hopefully forming the government in the center, as well as Punjab and the KPK.”
Like leaders of other political parties, Gohar lamented a delay by the election commission to release the full results of the vote even two days after polling ended.
“We are giving time to the Election Commission [of Pakistan] to announce all the results by 12 [am] tonight [Sunday],” the PTI leader warned. 
“If they do not, then we are going to hold a peaceful protest in front of the RO [Returning Officer] offices in all those areas where elections [results] have not been announced or elections [results] have been withheld.”
He said the party would decide in the next few days which party it would join to claim a share of reserved seats in parliament, as well as choose the names of key appointments at the center, Punjab and KP after “final instructions” from Khan.
Most importantly, Gohar said the PTI was certain the coming days would see its leader released from jail.
“The people have decided [through elections] in favor of Imran Khan, now common sense must prevail,” he said.
“I think we will go to the high court, these convictions [against Khan] would be set aside and he will be out soon.”