Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairperson Imran Khan, who is expected to become the next prime minister of Pakistan, will take the oath at the President House, the party confirmed on Wednesday. The decision was announced after a party meeting at Imran’s residence in Bani Gala. The sources in the President House had earlier informed that the 20th prime minister of Pakistan will take oath at the President House. Imran, on the other hand, had expressed his wish to take oath at either Islamabad's D-Chowk or Parade Ground. The source had shared that the prime minister will take the oath in President House and the oath will be administered by President Mamnoon Hussain. The oathtaking ceremony cannot be shifted to another location as per the wishes of anyone, the source said, adding that the ceremony will not be held anywhere else. While speaking about the future tenure of PTI, party leader Naeem-ul-Haque remarked that the country’s golden era will start once PTI comes into power. “We will soon announce the good tidings of ten million jobs,” he said while speaking to media in Islamabad. Haque further claimed that PTI has attained 153 seats in Punjab assembly, adding that Imran will soon announce his cabinet.<doc-sep>ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's cricket star turned politician Imran Khan declared victory Thursday for his party in the country's general elections, promising a "new" Pakistan following a vote that was marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence. Khan, who aspires to be the country's next prime minister, said in a televised address to the nation that "thanks to God, we won and we were successful." "If God wills, we will set an example," he added. Pakistan's election commission has not yet released official, final results but Khan has maintained a commanding lead according to projections by many television stations, though it's unclear if his Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, would get a simple majority or have to form a coalition govrnment. Election officials said an official count confirming Pakistan's next government was expected later in the evening. Khan's message of a "new" Pakistan resonated with young voters in a country where 64 per cent of its 200 million people are below the age of 30, according to a United Nations report. Supporters of cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), celebrate outside his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, a day after polling in the general election, July 26, 2018. REUTERS More than a dozen TV channels in Pakistan, based on official but partial counts, were projecting - using their own, undisclosed methodologies - that Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is getting as many as 119 seats of the 270 National Assembly seats that were contested. The remainder in the 342-seat Lower House of Parliament includes reserved seats for women and minorities. Voting for two seats was postponed after one candidate died during the campaign and another was disqualified. But before even half the votes were counted, Khan's leading rival Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League - the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif - rejected the vote, generating fears that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government. Television projections give his party hardly 61 seats. In a tweet on his official page, Sharif said "our democratic process has been pushed back by decades," adding that "had the public mandate been delivered in a fair manner, we would have accepted it happily." Complaints have also emerged from the independent Human Rights Commission, which issued a statement saying that in some places women were not allowed to vote. In other areas, it said, "polling staff appeared to be biased toward a certain party," without naming the party. In the days before Wednesday's election, leading rights activist I.A. Rehman called the campaign "the dirtiest" in his country's troubled journey toward sustained democracy. Analysts have expressed concern that disgruntled losers could create instability for the incoming new government, which will face mounting challenges - including a crumbling economy, a crippling debt and a raging militancy. Pakistani security personnel gather at the site of a suicide attack near a polling station in Quetta, July 25, 2018. Getty As voting got underway on Wednesday in the southwestern city of Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital, militants sent a suicide bomber to a crowding polling station to carry out a deadly attack that killed 31 people. The election, in which Pakistanis voted for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and the four provincial assemblies, marked only the second time in Pakistan's 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another in the country of 200 million people. Yet there have been widespread concerns during the election campaign about manipulation by the military, which has directly or indirectly ruled Pakistan for most of its existence. The military had deployed 350,000 troops at the 85,000 polling stations. In a tweet on his official account, Pakistan's military spokesman Gen. Asif Ghafoor called accusations of interference "malicious propaganda." Baluchistan also saw the worst violence during campaigning earlier this month, when a suicide bomber struck at a political rally, killing 149 people, including the candidate Siraj Raisani. Another 400 were wounded. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack. Baluchistan has been roiled by relentless attacks, both by the province's secessionists and Sunni militants who have killed hundreds of Shiites there. Throughout the night and into Thursday, Khan supporters celebrated outside party offices countrywide. Most of the revelers were young men, who danced to the sound of beating drums draped in Tehreek-e-Insaf party black and green-colored flags.<doc-sep>Those files, an avalanche of millions of leaked confidential documents from a law firm in Panama, included several pieces of information that incriminated Pakistan’s prime minister at the time, Nawaz Sharif. Evidence began to build that Mr. Sharif had stolen millions of dollars from public coffers in Pakistan to buy expensive apartments in London, under the names of his children. Mr. Khan capitalized on this and called for Mr. Sharif to resign. The Supreme Court removed Mr. Sharif from office, and just two weeks ago, right before the election, Mr. Sharif and his daughter were imprisoned. Few would disagree that corruption is out of control in Pakistan. But many observers here saw something in Mr. Sharif’s downfall that was more selective, possibly more sinister. The widespread suspicion was that Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence services had pressured the judiciary to take out Mr. Sharif, clearing a path for Mr. Khan to take over. Mr. Sharif had clashed with the army chiefs, even some of those he had chosen, many times. He was a thorn in their side. Mr. Khan, on the other hand, was someone the military bosses seemed to think they could work with. Analysts said he shared their worldview, in which Pakistan would kowtow less to the United States and talk more with the Taliban and other extremist groups. In the prelude to the election, the military seemed to push even harder for Mr. Khan. Human rights groups, academics and members of other political parties said security officers threatened politicians to defect to Mr. Khan’s side. Several did. That does not mean that Mr. Khan was not genuinely popular. He was, especially among young men who lionized him as a sports hero. As elections loomed, a Khan wave swept Pakistan. His face was everywhere — on banners, lampposts and torn flags flying from the sputtering rickshaws that flit in and out of traffic. His supporters were the most energized and confident. His party’s symbol: a cricket bat.<doc-sep>
Imran Khan has also extended invitations to former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and to his oath-taking ceremony on 11 August. | Photo Credit: ANI Islamabad: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) confirmed that Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan will take oath at the President House in Islamabad. The announcement was made after a party meeting was held at Khan's Bani Gala residence, Geo News reported. Earlier, Khan had expressed his desire to take oath either at the D-Chowk or Parade Ground in the national capital. According to sources, the oath of the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan will be administered by President Mamnoon Hussain, adding that the location of the ceremony will not be shifted irrespective of anyone's wishes. "We will soon announce the good tidings of ten million jobs," PTI leader Naeem-ul-Haque told the media in the national capital, adding that the golden era of the country will start once their government comes into power. He also said that PTI had garnered as many as 153 seats in the Punjab assembly and that the cabinet will soon be announced by Khan. Khan has also extended invitations to Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Navjot Singh Sidhu to his oath-taking ceremony on 11 August. Sidhu has already accepted the invitation and will attend the swearing-in ceremony. Calling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief as 'a man of character', Sidhu said Imran Khan can be trusted. "It is a great honour and I accept the invitation. Men of genius are admired, men of power are feared but men of character are trusted. Khan Sahab is a man of character. He can be trusted," Navjot told ANI. PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry has said the party has also asked the Foreign Office (FO) to inform it whether foreign heads of state, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could be invited for August 11 event, the Dawn reported.