ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said after the support of Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), the number of seats of PTI and its allies in the National Assembly had crossed 180.
In a twitter message, Fawad Chaudhry said in the 342-member Lower House of the Parliament, they required the support of 172 lawmakers to form the government in the Centre.
بی این پی (مینگل) کی حمائیت کے بعد پاکستان تحریک انصاف اور اتحادیوں کا قومی اسمبلی میں نمبر 180 کو کراس کر گیا ہے، 342 کے ایوان میں حتمی اکثریت کیلئے172 ارکان کی حمائیت درکار تھی
— Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 9, 2018
Earlier on Wednesday, PTI and BNP-M signed a six-point momentum of understanding (MoU) following bilateral talks led by the Vice Chairman PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the BNP-M Chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal from both sides.
Under the MoU, BNP-M will support PTI Candidates for the positions of Prime Minister, and Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. The Chairman PTI Imran Khan has already been nominated for the Prime Minister Office; however, names for the slots of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lower House are yet be revealed.
Prior to BNP-M, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) also evolved consensus with PTI to support the latter in the formation of the governments in the Centre and Punjab.