Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz on Friday said the party will form a government in Punjab, where it leads the seats tally in the provincial assembly as per the election results so far.
Hamza, the son of PML-N president and former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, made the announcement during a press conference in Lahore.
Thanking the public for voting for PML-N, Hamza noted the party has emerged as the biggest in Punjab after winning the most seats in the provincial assembly, and will therefore form a government in the province.
“PML-N has emerged as the biggest party in Punjab [in the elections], and we will form a government in Punjab. We will fight back if any obstacles are [hurled in our way],” he said.
Preliminary poll results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan show the PTI leading the National Assembly tally with 110 seats, whereas the PML-N trails behind with 63 NA seats. In the Punjab Assembly, meanwhile, PML-N leads with 127 seats.
Hamza reminded the public that the PTI was allowed to form its own government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 2013 elections.
He slammed the ECP for the delay in election results, and mocked its Results Transmission System (RTS) software which, according to the electoral body, faced a technical glitch during the vote count.
“The RTS [system] failed despite Rs21 billion invested in it,” he remarked, adding that it was the first time in the country’s history that election results had been delayed by more than a day.
Hamza resolved that the PML-N will continue to fulfill its constitutional duties under the leadership of Nawaz and Shehbaz.
“Despite our reservations [over the results], we want democracy to flourish in Pakistan,” he said.
