PTI plans 'loyal to Imran' oath for election winners

Alarmed at the flight of some of its newly elected lawmakers to other political parties soon after the general elections, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has chalked out a strategy to prevent any further defections, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.

Quoting its sources, the TV channel reported that the party had decided to take oath from its winning candidates that they would remain loyal to the former prime minister and ex-PTI chairman Imran Khan.

The affidavit given to PTI’s Shahid Khattak, who had been elected as MNA from NA-38, Karak, read that he would not join any party, including the PML-N and the PPP, sources disclosed.

After no party managed to get a simple majority either in the National Assembly or the Punjab Assembly in the elections, both the PPP and the PML-N are now busy making efforts to enlist the support of PTI-backed candidates, who have been elected to assemblies in large numbers, so that they could form governments both at the Center and in the provincial assembly sans PTI.  

So far close to a dozen PTI’s newly elected MNAs and MPAs have joined the PML-N, which is a source of concern for the party as it risks losing its majority in the National Assembly.

Reporter: Amir Shehzad