Saudi King Salman, crown prince congratulate Imran Khan on polls victory

Saudi King Salman, crown prince congratulate Imran Khan on polls victory

Islamabad (Staff Report): Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have telephone Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and congratulated him on his party’s recent electoral victory, the Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday.

The Saudi ambassador in Islamabad was the first envoy to call on Imran Khan after last month’s general elections. Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki praised the PTI chief’s victory speech in which he had offered to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Malki also said the Saudi Crown Prince intended to visit Pakistan soon in a bid to strengthen bilateral relations.

Khan’s political party outperformed its rivals in the July 25 general elections. After the Election Commission of Pakistan distributed the reserved seats for women and minorities among parties on the basis of their respective electoral performances on Saturday, the PTI got 158 seats and were only 14 seats short of a simple majority in the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Khan is widely believed to become the next prime minister of the country and hopes to take the oath to the highest political office in Pakistan on Aug. 18.

On Friday, PTI Senator Faisal Javed said that Imran Khan will take the oath as prime minister on August 18.

President Mamnoon Hussain has summoned a session of the National Assembly on August 13 during which newly-elected members will take oath of their office. Elections for the speaker, deputy speaker and the leader of the House will take place after the MNAs-elect take oath.