PTI reaches 'magical number' to form govt at Centre

ISLAMABAD: After days of political wheeling and dealing to win over independents and small coalition partners, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has acquired the required number to get its chief Imran Khan elected as the next prime minister of the country, ARY News reported.

The PTI has reached a simple majority with 173 seats in the lower house of the parliament with the support of independent members and small coalition partners and is in a comfortable position to form the government.

Moreover, cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan’s party claims to have secured 157 seats in the Punjab Assembly to comfortably form the provincial government in the province.

Party insiders say the PTI chief has yet to finalise a person for the coveted post of the chief minister of the country’s biggest and politically important province.

They say he is likely to unveil the name of a nominee for the slot within the next 48 hours.

– Numbers Game for PM slot – 

As per procedure, if a party has a clear majority or the magical number of 172 votes, it can easily elect the Leader of the House in the National Assembly.

The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 115 seats in the 2018 general elections but fell short of a clear majority in the 342-member house.

According to the Constitution, if the PTI chief manages to secure 172 or more votes in the first round, the president is bound to call him to take the oath as the country’s next prime minister.

In case, he doesn’t get the required number, then there will be a second round of voting between the top two contestants for the slot. In this round, the winner will not need at least 172 votes but the contender who gets the majority of votes will be elected leader of the lower house.