PPP, PML-N Strike Power-Sharing Deal In Pakistan; Shehbaz Sharif To Be PM Again

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have struck a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government led by ex-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, a move that could effectively keep their arch-rival Imran Khan out of power after the controversial elections.

Both the PML-N and the PPP won fewer seats in Parliament than candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan in an election mired in controversies, including vote rigging. Khan, who could not contest the February 8 elections due to his convictions in some cases, including that of corruption, has been barred from holding any public office for 10 years.

At a joint news conference here late Tuesday night after marathon negotiations, 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.

Last week, the PML-N, in a surprise move, announced that the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif has nominated his younger brother Shehbaz as a candidate for the slot of prime minister. Nawaz, 74, was earlier confident of securing a record fourth term. However, his party failed to win enough seats to form a government on its own.

“I had offered the independent candidates to form the government first as nobody had a clear mandate; now we have the required number,” Sharif said. “It would not be an easy ride. We will work together to bring this country on the path of development and progress,” Shehbaz Sharif, also the president of the PML-N said.

"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 elections.

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

Bilawal said Imran Khan's PTI party-backed independent candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council failed to achieve a simple majority in Parliament to form a government.

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.

Independent candidates - a majority backed by 71-year-old Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf 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.

Reacting sharply to the move by the PML-N and the PPP, Imran Khan's party on Wednesday rejected their attempts to form a coalition government, warning that robbing its public endorsement by the 'mandate thieves' will result in the worst political instability.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed as a “publicity stunt” a petition seeking new elections over alleged irregularities in the February 8 polls, clearing the way for the formation of the coalition government.

The apex court also imposed a fine on the petitioner, Retired Brigadier Ali Khan, over his failure to appear before the court.

Shehbaz, who led a coalition government for 16 months before the elections, 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.

Zardari, who was president from 2008 to 2013, has said the struggle of the political alliance bidding to make the next government is for the sake of the country and future generations.

Shahbaz Sharif, who met with some of the newly elected members of the party's National and Provincial Assembly on Wednesday said the PML-N will serve the people with the same passion and faith they have shown in the party.

"The mandate of Feb. 8 is unity and cooperation," Shahbaz Sharif said in a post on X.

The coalition government is the manifestation of the unity and cooperation of the people, he said, adding that the people want unity and cooperation by ending chaos.

He has indicated that the decisions on the appointments to top offices would be made mutually later under the guidance of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and the PPP’s top leadership.

Shehbaz also thanked the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, who will be part of the next government.

He vowed the upcoming coalition government would restore the country’s economy and fight against the menace of terrorism.

"We will not disappoint the people of Pakistan,” he said.

Though details were not provided, sources said that PPP was still reluctant to be part of the government as it agreed to have its candidate as the President, Chairman of the Senate, and governors in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and chief minister in Balochistan.

The PML-N would have complete charge of the federal government with the prime minister and speaker. It will also get governors in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

The two also agreed to form a coalition government in Balochistan with an equal share in the cabinet.

On Wednesday, the PTI posted its official reaction on its X handle which said, the party “completely rejected the attempts to create a spectacle of PDM-2 in the country by collecting the people's rejected mandate thieves.” “Enslavement of the nation by robbing the public mandate will result in worst political instability,” it said, adding, “Despite the unjust imprisonment of Imran Khan, the taking away of election symbols and not being allowed to campaign, the people have given a clear majority of 180 seats to Tehreek-e-Insaf.” “Respect the vote,” the party urged its rivals.