*ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has acquired the requirednumber to get its chief Imran Khan elected as the next prime minister ofthe country.*

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

Moreover, cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan’s party claims to havesecured 157 seats in the Punjab Assembly to comfortably form the provincialgovernment in the province.

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

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

As per procedure, if a party has a clear majority or the magical number of172 votes, it can easily elect the Leader of the House in the NationalAssembly.

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

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