Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif, is poised to become Pakistan’s next prime minister as their coalition, comprising major parties, is set to secure a clear majority after elections produced a split mandate.
In a surprise move, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Shehbaz instead of party supremo Nawaz for the PM post. Earlier, Shehbaz, along with Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of MQM-P, convened at PML-Q’s Shujaat Hussain’s residence, agreeing on government formation.
Speaking about it, Shehbaz said, “Today we have united to tell the nation that we all accept the split mandate. I am thankful to Zardari and Bilawal (Bhutto) that they decided for their party to vote for the PML-N.”
Shehbaz, 72, who was prime minister after the Imran Khan-led government was ousted in April 2022, said the other parties that joined hands with the PML-N enjoyed “almost 2/3 majority” of the Parliament after the elections. He also said that the new government would pull the country out of trouble.
“Now our war is against the country’s challenges. The first challenge is the economy. We have to stabilise it which is a tall task. Nations move forward when their leadership unites and decides to end conflicts and take the nation forward to eliminate problems,” he said.
The Election Commission of Pakistan’s data reveals that six parties – PML-N, PPP, MQM-P, PML-Q, IPP, and BAP – who are planning to form a coalition has secured 152 general seats. They are likely to reach the required 169 seats for a government, with additional 60 women and 10 minority seats.
However, the challenge remains to achieve the 224 seats necessary for a two-thirds majority in the 336-member National Assembly, posing a significant hurdle for the coalition.
Why six parties agree to for coalition government?
Zardari speaking alongside Shehbaz said that a coalition government is the need of the hour. He said, “We have decided to form a coalition government and pull the country out of the economic crisis,” and further added that the new government would also try to reconcile with everyone including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, PPP chairman Bilawal addressing a press conference after the meeting of its high-powered Central Executive Committee (CEC), which was held under his leadership, said his party failed to get a mandate to form a government in the federation.“Due to this, I will not be putting myself forward for the candidacy of the prime minister of Pakistan.”
He said the PPP decided to form a committee to engage with other political parties for the formation of government and political stability.
“The PPP has decided that we are unable or not in a position to join the federal government ourselves, nor are we interested in taking ministries in such a setup. We also don’t want to see political chaos in the country. We don’t want to perpetuate the crisis in the country,” he said.
“The PPP has decided that we ran this election on a manifesto based on issues of public importance […] we want to restore political stability and want to end this environment of political toxicity.
“To that end, the PPP will be willing to support the case of important votes – a candidate of the PM of Pakistan – and issue to issue basis to ensure that the government is formed and political stability is restored,” Bilawal said.
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Published: 14 Feb 2024, 01:42 PM IST
