Leader of the house: PTI to field Hashmi, says Qureshi

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) will pitch the party's president Javed Hashmi against PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for the post of Prime Minister, PTI's Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi told media persons on Saturday. He was talking with reporters after the conclusion of the party's parliamentary committee meeting held at PTI Chairman Imran Khan's residence.
He said the party chief chaired the meeting and important decisions were taken. He also disclosed that Shehryar Afridi, an MNA from Kohat, and Manza Hassan would be the party's candidates for the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, of the National Assembly, respectively. "PTI chief Imran Khan will be the parliamentary leader of the party in the National Assembly while Dr Arilf Alvi will be assigned the task of Chief Whip in the House," he said.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan, he said, would represent the party in the National Assembly's Business Advisory Committee. "While addressing the meeting, Imran appreciated the efforts of PTI workers and supporters for participating in peaceful protests against poll rigging. The party will not open Pandora's Box by rejecting the outcome of general elections, but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) must investigate complaints about rigging ... PTI is not questioning the validity of entire elections, it is just asking the authority concerned to investigate complaints to fix problems to avoid the recurrence of such anomalies again," he added.
Qureshi said that the meeting also discussed matters relating to ECP and elections tribunals. He said it was noted that the number of election tribunals was not sufficient to entertain a large number of complaints. Hence, the party demands that the ECP should increase the number of elections tribunals so that complaints are disposed off quickly, he said.
He said the meeting also discussed the matter of vacating seats by candidates who have won from more than one constituency, but a final decision in this regard was yet to be taken. According to him, Imran Khan will not attend the first day of the new session of National Assembly on doctors' advice; he will remain in Lahore for now. However, he (Imran) is fast recovering, added. "The meeting also developed a consensus regarding playing an effective and responsible role as (an) opposition (party) in the National Assembly," he said.