ISLAMABAD, Feb 21:
In a breakthrough that could end the political uncertainty in Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition Government after intense negotiations following a fractured poll verdict.
In a joint news conference late Tuesday night at Zardari House here, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, 72, will assume the role of the Prime Minister once again.
Similarly, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will be the joint candidate for the president’s office.
“The PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and (now) we are in a position to form the Government,” Bilawal told reporters without revealing the number of lawmakers they have in the National Assembly after the February 8 elections.
To form a Government, a party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly or the lower house of Parliament.
He said former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed independent candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to achieve a simple majority in Parliament to form a Government in the Centre.
Bilawal hoped that the news of the political alliance with the PML-N to form a coalition Government would lead to a positive market response as the cash-strapped country faced a hung Parliament after the elections.
Last week, the PML-N in a surprise move announced that the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif nominated his younger brother Shehbaz as a candidate for the slot of Prime Minister. Nawaz, 74, was earlier confident to secure a record fourth term. However, his party failed to win enough seats to form a Government on its own.
Independent candidates – a majority backed by 71-year-old Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party — won 93 National Assembly seats.
The PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.
Speaking at the press conference, Shehbaz asserted that his party now has the “required numbers” with the PPP to be in a position to form the next government as he thanked the leadership of the two parties for the positive conclusion to the talks.
The former Prime Minister emphasised the unity between the two parties, noting that they were well-positioned to form the government at the Centre.
Shehbaz, who led a coalition Government for 16 months before the elections, also said that he had asked the PTI-backed winning candidates to prove their majority and form the Government, but they didn’t have sufficient numbers.
The PML-N stalwart also thanked Bilawal and Zardari for their cooperation. Shehbaz said that both parties decided that Zardari would be fielded as the joint candidate for the post of president.
Responding to a question about whether the PPP was getting any portfolios, Shehbaz said that the Bilawal-led party has not demanded any ministry from the first day, The News International reported.
“Parleys take place between two parties and issues are resolved through (mutual consultation). It doesn’t mean that we accept their demands or they accept ours; they have their views but reaching a middle point is the real political success,” he said. (PTI)
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