Decisions finalised on all matters including new Pakistan Cabinet: PTI spokesman

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been allotted 28 reserved seats for women and five for non-Muslims by the election commission, taking the cricketer-turned-politician's party's tally to 158 in the National Assembly -- just 14 short of the number required for simple majority.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry told reporters that the party has finalised decisions on all matters of the government including the Cabinet.

"We have requested the opposition to [start] a new tradition and work with the government," said Chaudhry said ahead of the inaugural session of the 15th National Assembly.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, nominated by the largest party in the National Assembly to be the country's next prime minister, is expected to take oath on August 18.

"The nation has banked its hopes on Imran Khan, and we have also put our trust in him," Chaudhry was quoted as saying by Geo News.

PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters the party will do its best to deliver on the public's expectations.

"We will work day and night to resolve the country's problems," Qureshi, widely expected to be the next foreign minister, vowed.

He added that decision on where Khan would reside after becoming prime minister would be made soon.

Meanwhile, in a surprise move, the PTI has reached out to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) just ahead of forming the new government at the Centre and three provinces, inviting their leaders to Imran Khan's swearing in ceremony.

A PTI delegation, including former K-P CM Pervez Khattak, Speaker of the National Assembly-in waiting Asad Qaiser, Fawad Chaudhry and Omar Ayub Khan met outgoing Speaker Ayaz Sadiq yesterday.

Parliamentary leaders of all political parties were invited to attend the oath-taking ceremony, a PTI press release said.

"The purpose of the meeting (with) Ayaz Sadiq is to invite PML-N leaders to attend the oath-taking ceremony, the statement said.

"The PTI attaches importance to forging working relations with PML-N and other parliamentary parties," it said.

Later, Ayaz Sadiq told reporters that the PTI team had extended the invitation to attend the oath-taking ceremony without elaborating if PML-N leaders would attend.

He said that PTI leaders had also assured cooperation in redressing the Opposition's reservations regarding general elections.

The PML-N and PPP have questioned the outcome of the July 25 elections, alleging that vote rigging took place.

They also assured to cooperate for smooth parliamentary proceedings in addition to resolving controversies over the July 25 elections, he said.

PML-N sources told the Express Tribune that Sadiq discussed the matter regarding attending the Prime Minister's oath-taking event with PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore.

The former Punjab Chief Minister, it is learnt, had expressed willingness to allow party leaders to attend the event.

Insiders said that a final decision would be taken after Shehbaz met former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif who is lodged in the Adiala Jail after he was sentenced in a corruption case.

Shehbaz, the report said, was willing to develop a workable relationship with the new PTI-led coalition government at the Centre and in Punjab, but the elder Sharif believed that the Opposition should not allow new government to settle down.

A meeting between the two Sharifs is expected on August 17, a day before Khan's swearing-in.

Separately, a PTI delegation comprising Asad Qaiser, Shafqat Mehmood, Fawad Chaudhry, Omar Ayub Khan and others met veteran PPP leader Khursheed Shah, the report said.