Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Friday night announced that it will sit in opposition in the Centre and Punjab province as attempts to form the next government continue in the country, Dawn reported.

The decision was announced by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's barrister Ali Saif, a day after the party had named Umar Ayub Khan as its candidate for the prime minister and Aslam Iqbal as chief minister for Punjab.

“We decided to sit in opposition despite the reality that if we received seats according to our votes and the results were not changed then maybe today we might have been in the Centre with 180 seats. We have the evidence that our candidates won,” he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

In the elections held on February 8, Independent candidates - a majority of whom were backed by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf - won 93 of the 265 National Assembly seats.

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N won 75 seats while Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) came third with 54 seats.

Both PML-N and PPP then announced a post-poll alliance on Tuesday. Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) with its 17 seats have also agreed to support them.

To form a government in Pakistan, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.