Won’t reach any compromise with PPP to form govt in Punjab: Haque

ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Naeem-ul-Haque on Friday said his party will not reach any compromise with PPP to form the government in Punjab.

The provisional, official poll results today show the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), headed by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, in lead.

In an informal conversation with the media in Islamabad, Haque expressed his confidence in PTI's strong prospects to form the provincial government. The party has so far bagged 118 seats, giving close competition to rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) which is in the lead with 127 seats. 

The party remained firm on its former stance to not form an alliance with the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). 

"We have required numbers to form the government in Punjab. We are also in touch with the independent candidates, with whom we will form the government," the PTI leader said. 

Accepting PML-N's lead in the province, Haque said majority of the candidates who had won seats in the Punjab Assembly were in support of his party.  

The PTI leader also announced that his party would make a formal announcement to form the government in the next few days.

Speaking about an All Parties Conference (APC) called by PML-N and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Haque said he hoped APC would not demand a re-election. The PTI leader went on to point out that his party had defeated political heavyweights in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and also won a significant number of seats from Sindh's economic hub, Karachi. 

"We emerged as Sindh's second-largest winners," he observed, adding that the public had clearly announced its mandate in the polls.