Pakistan's former premier, Nawaz Sharif, announced that he and his allies would jointly form a coalition government, ending any hopes of Imran Khan's party gaining power.
The announcement was made late on Tuesday, which ended the uncertainty since last week after no party won a simple majority in the country's parliamentary elections. The latest development also comes after the parties met in Islamabad.
The meeting was attended by the Pakistan People's Party of former President Asif Ali Zardari and by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League. It included the latter's younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022.
During a news conference with Zardari and other lawmakers, Shehbaz did not say who would be the joint choice for prime minister. However, it is widely expected that Sharif himself would head the new coalition government. In his remarks, the former prime minister said that the discussions on a coalition were successful, as per ABC News.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Muslim League, Marriyum Aurangzeb, said that Sharif, who is a three-time prime minister, had nominated his younger brother for the lead role. The party had been talking with Zardari and other allies after the election on Thursday for the National Assembly or lower house of the parliament.
While the candidates that were backed by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party were able to win 93 out of the 265 National Assembly seats, it was not enough to form a government. On the other hand, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League and Zardari's Pakistan People's Party won 75 and 54 seats respectively.
Khan's party's surprisingly strong showing in the election came as a shock for Sharif, who was marked out as the powerful security establishment's preferred candidate following his smooth return to the country last October.
Former Prime Minister Khan is currently in prison and was barred from running in the latest elections. He announced on Tuesday that the independent candidates associated with his party would join the lesser-known Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen party, which was only able to win one seat in parliament, according to CNN.
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Imran Khan's Party
He also ruled out the possibility of creating a coalition with the Pakistan People's Party or the Pakistan Muslim League. Khan's PTI party also made claims of wide-scale rigging in the recent election and issued a statement saying that he was warning against the misadventure of forming a government with stolen votes.
Members of Khan's party also contested the vote as the Election Commission and Supreme Court stripped his party of its electoral symbol. It helps illiterate voters find candidates on the ballot. Officials also imposed other legal barriers that were said to have stifled his party's efforts.
Under the constitution, Pakistani President Arif Alvi will convene the inaugural National Assembly session before Feb. 29, 2024. This is so that lawmakers can be sworn into their new positions. The parliament will then elect the new prime minister at a later date, said NPR.
Zardari, speaking about how the coalition was formed, said that they were looking at everything and decided to sit together as allies. He added that they had contested elections against each other but it did not mean that they would fight forever.
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