In the 2013 elections,
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led by former cricketer
Imran Khan emerged as the largest party in the province with 48 seats. While this was a considerably higher number than the second largest party, (
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), with 16 seats), it was still 15 seats short of a majority government. To overcome this,
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf formed a coalition government with
Jamaat-e-Islami and the
Qaumi Watan Party, giving them 15 extra seats. As well as this, 9 out of the 14 independents elected joined
PTI, giving them a comfortable majority in the assembly. Following this,
Pervez Khattak was elected as
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, securing 84 out of 124 votes. However, in 2017, PTI ousted QWP from the ruling coalition over allegations of corruption. There was considerable mistrust with the other alliance partner, JI, during the tenure as well. It, too, left the coalition with less than 40 days to go in the government's tenure. With just a few weeks remaining till the assembly completed its term, PTI expelled 20 of its MPs over allegations of horse-trading in the
senate elections. A move which made the party's government susceptible to a
no-confidence motion, but the incumbent opposition refrained from doing so. == Pre-election violence ==