LAHORE: The PTI has failed to come up with a candidate for the coveted slot of the Punjab chief minister more than a week after the general election despite claiming that it has got the required figure to form the government in the province.

Party’s senior leaders say Imran Khan will announce the chief minister’s candidate and cabinet members within 48 hours.

“Imran’s decision about selecting players to run the Punjab government will not disappoint people in Punjab,” a senior party leader said. “It is better to delay than go for a wrong decision."

PTI central Punjab President MPA-elect Abdul Aleem Khan said the traditional status quo parties had again joined hands against Imran Khan. “The PML-N and the PPP have come closer despite launching tirade against each other in election campaigns to protect their corruption and vested interests,” he said.

He said Imran had maintained during his political struggle during the last five years that Zardari-Nawaz (now Shahbaz) were together when it comes to protecting corruption. He said the so-called multi-party conference showed that the political alliance of the defeated parties was aimed at blocking Imran and rejecting people’s mandate.

He said the disgruntled elements were now out for Imran’s character assassination. As people are with Imran for a change in the country, he said, those running disinformation campaign would eventually be disappointed.

PTI leader Mahmoodur Rasheed said Imran’s government would perform far better than what the PPP and PML-N did in the first 100 days. “The opposition parties’ alliance shows that Imran is ready to form a strong government in the Centre and Punjab,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2018