The political party of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and its allies announced late Tuesday that they will form a coalition government together.
The most recent development came hours after the parties- all of them rivals of the country’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan met in Islamabad.
Former President of Pakistan People’s Party, Asif Ali Zardari, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League, including his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif attended the meeting.
At a news conference with Zardari and other politicians, Shebaz Sharif did not say who would be the joint choice for prime minister, though it is widely believed that Sharif would head the new government. In his brief remarks, Sharif said that the talks on a coalition were successful. “We have decided that we will form the government jointly,” Zardari said.
‘The elder Sharif, a three-time prime minister had nominated his younger brother for the prime minister role’, said a spokesperson for the Pakistan Muslim League.
After Thursday’s election for the National Assembly, the Pakistan Muslim League party had been in talks with Zardari and other allies.
Though candidates backed by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 93 out of 265 National Assembly seats it was not enough to form a government.
Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League and Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party won 75 and 54 seats respectively. The strong showing for Imran Khan’s party was a shock for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was marked out as the powerful security establishment’s preferred candidate.
Pakistan’s military has always cast itself as the ultimate arbitrator in who becomes prime minister. Tuesday’s move by the rivals of Imran Khan came hours after Khan’s PTI party refused to hold any talks with them.
Khan, who is currently serving multiple prison terms because of convictions on charges of corruption and violating a marriage law, was disqualified from contesting the vote.
Comments