New Delhi: With his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)-backed independents emerging as the largest entity after the national elections in Pakistan, jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has named Omar Ayub Khan, former Minister of Economic Affairs and grandson of former President Ayub Khan, as the candidate for the prime minister’s post.
According to the figures released by the Election Commission of Pakistan, PTI-backed independents won 92 of the 266 directly-elected seats in the National Assembly, while former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 75 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, won 54.
Imran Khan’s decision to name Omar Ayub Khan as the PTI-backed prime ministerial candidate comes even as Nawaz Sharif named his brother and also a former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the PML-N’s candidate for the post. Nawaz Sharif has said that he himself is not interested in becoming the prime minister of a minority-led coalition government.
According to Pakistani media reports, PTI leader and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said that that Imran Khan has chosen Omar Ayub Khan for the prime minister’s post. He made the announcement while addressing the media after holding a meeting with Imran Khan in Adiala jail where the latter is incarcerated.
Contesting as a PTI-backed independent candidate, Omar Ayub Khan won the National Assembly constituency NA-18 Haripur in Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by securing 192,948 votes. He defeated PML-N’s Babar Nawaz Khan who bagged 112,389 votes.
Who is Omar Ayub Khan?
Born on January 26, 1968, Omar Ayub Khan is the grandson of Field Marshal Ayub Khan who was the President of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969. It was under Ayub Khan that Pakistan lost the war that it had waged against India in 1965.
Omar Ayub Khan is the son of late Gohar Ayub Khan, a politician and former army officer who was a member of the PML-N. In 2002, Omar Ayub Khan secured a position in the National Assembly representing Haripur as a candidate of PML-Q, emerging victorious with 81,496 votes over Pir Sabir Shah. Subsequently, he joined the federal cabinet under Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as the Minister of State for Finance, serving from 2004 to 2007.
In the 2008 Pakistani general election, he contested for the National Assembly seat from Haripur again as a PML-Q candidate but did not succeed, receiving 50,631 votes and losing to Sardar Muhammad Mushtaq Khan. After joining PML-N in 2012, he ran in the 2013 Pakistani general election for the same constituency but faced another defeat, securing 116,308 votes and losing to Raja Aamer Zaman.
He made a political comeback in 2014 when he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Haripur in a by-election as a PML-N candidate. During this tenure, he also served as the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs. However, his position was challenged in 2015 when the constituency election was invalidated due to voting irregularities and rigging.
In February 2018, he shifted allegiance to the PTI and successfully contested the 2018 Pakistani general election, securing 172,609 votes and defeating Babar Nawaz Khan for the National Assembly seat from Haripur. On September 11, 2018, he was appointed Federal Minister for Power in then Prime Minister Imran Khan's federal cabinet. Following a cabinet reshuffle in April 2019, he assumed the additional responsibility of the Ministry of Petroleum, previously held by Ghulam Sarwar Khan.
In a subsequent cabinet reshuffle in mid-April 2021, Prime Minister Imran Khan transferred Omar Ayub Khan from the Ministry of Energy to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
So, what are the chances of Omar Ayub Khan becoming the prime minister?
Imran Khan has given the go-ahead to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)-backed candidates to form a coalition government with the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) party. This was confirmed by PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan on Tuesday. The MWM, with which the PTI-backed independents have been given the green signal to form a coalition government, has won only one seat in the elections held this month.
The MWM supported the PTI in the 2013 Pakistani general elections and the 2024 Pakistani general elections and it is the first religio-political organisation supported by Imran Khan and his party. Why the MWM has emerged as a key player in the government formation process is because the 92 victorious independent candidates have been barred from rejoining the PTI after the party was denied the cricket bat election symbol by the country’s poll panel. However, they are allowed to join other political parties and the MWM has come as an option for them.
Together, the PTI-backed independents and the MWM have 93 seats in total of the 266 elected seats. To establish a government, a party or coalition must secure a straightforward majority of 134 seats out of the 266 contested seats in the National Assembly. This coalition can be composed of various parties or may include independent candidates, who emerged victorious. Independents have the option to either formally align themselves with a party seeking to form a government or forge an alliance while retaining their distinct individual identity.
Now, here comes the catch. Apart from the 266 elected seats, there are 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly, including 10 seats for religious minorities and 60 for women. These seats are to be filled by proportional representation among parties with more than 5 percent of the vote. Even if the PTI-backed independents and the lone MWM candidate are taken into account, they will get only over 20 reserved seats. That brings the total to a little over 113 seats. This is why a third party, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), is being brought into the picture. Though the JI has not won a single seat, it can have reserved seats filled in case it has more than 5 percent of the vote share.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Imran Khan has reportedly agreed to hold talks with its rival PPP for forming a coalition government at the Centre. "The ties between the two political parties will be taken forward,” Geo News quoted PTI party sources as saying.
This development comes two days after Zardari expressed a willingness to engage in talks with PTI to advance the reconciliation process in the country. Zardari had stated during a joint press conference of six parties that they desired the inclusion of the PTI in the reconciliation process. He emphasised the importance of involving not only PTI but also every political entity in the reconciliation process. Zardari articulated a vision of collective efforts on economic, defence, and other shared agendas, expressing a desire for the success of leaders like Nawaz Sharif and other allies to contribute to the overall success of Pakistan and its people.
It is worth mentioning here that if the PPP has any stake in power, Zardari is widely tipped to become the President again after incumbent President Arif Alvi steps down.
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