How PML(N), PPP reached a deal to form Pakistan govt at midnight

Pakistan has a new coalition government – yet again.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)  joined hands after more than a week of frantic negotiations.

The announcement came a day after a round of talks between the top leaders of the two parties ended inconclusively on Monday.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif will return as prime minister, while PPP co-chair Asif Zardari will yet again become president.

The news was announced by PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at a press conference on Tuesday night.

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“The PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and [now] we are in a position to form the government,” Bilawal said.

Shehbaz said former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party-backed candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to achieve a simple majority in Parliament to form government in the Centre.

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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.

While Independent candidates, a majority backed by 71-year-old Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf part, won 93 National Assembly seats, the PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats in the Pakistan general polls.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), which won 17 seats, will support the government.

But how did the parties come together to form Pakistan’s new govenrment?

Let’s take a closer look:

The announcement capped off days of high drama.

According to The Express Tribune, Bilawal at a press briefing earlier on Tuesday said the PPP would vote for vote for the PML-N candidate on its own terms.

However, Bilawal then sprung a surprise at a late night press conference at Islamabad’s Zardari House when he announced the PPP would indeed support Shehbaz as prime minister.

“We pray the upcoming [coalition] government manages to overcome external and internal problems faced by the country,” Bilawal was quoted as saying by Dawn. “We are thankful to the PML-N for throwing its weight behind PPP candidate Asif Ali Zardari,” he added.

The decision was taking after the PML-N and PPP had their seventh meeting.

The parties said the decision was taken “in the nation’s best interest.”

According to the newspaper, committees of both parties thrashed out the details before the deal was finalised at the home of PML-N leader Ishaq Dar on Tuesday in the presence of the high command of both parties, according to Express Tribune.

Shehbaz Sharif, who was prime minister from 2022 to 2023, said that the journey ahead for the new government would not be easy but fraught with many difficulties and obstacles. He asserted that the coalition alliance will tackle them together, the Dawn newspaper reported.

PPP co-chairperson 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.

It aimed to benefit “you, Pakistan, and the coming generations,” he was quoted as saying by Express Tribune.

The announcement of the alliance came a day after the latest round of talks between the top leaders of the two parties ended inconclusively on Monday as both sides failed to reach a consensus on a power-sharing formula to form a coalition government.

Shehbaz Sharif, who was prime minister from 2022 to 2023, said that the journey ahead for the new government would not be easy but fraught with many difficulties and obstacles. He asserted that the coalition alliance will tackle them together, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Dawn quoted people in the know as saying that the PPP would not be part of the federal cabinet.

The post of Speaker of the National Assembly would go to the PML-N, while the Senate chairman would be from the PPP.

The PPP would also get governorships in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

‘Mandate thieves,’ says PTI

Meanwhile, in a post on X, 71-year-old Imran’s PTI hit out at the newly cemented PPP, PML-N alliance as ‘PDM 2.0’ “PDM 2.0 = #MandateThieves.”

The 8 February general elections have been controversial, with several serious allegations of widespread rigging to alter the results.

Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan said the PTI chief has termed the February 8 elections “mother of all rigging.”

Aleema met Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Tuesday.

She told reporters that the people’s mandate was “stolen” following the elections.

She also said that Imran Khan has strongly condemned the suspension of internet services, which he claimed was used to “hide the real results”.

Earlier Tuesday, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party asked for the resignation of the head of Pakistan’s Election Commission, Sikandar Sultan Raja, for allegedly failing to conduct the elections in a free and fair manner.

Imran’s party claims the victories of dozens of its candidates were converted into defeat, a charge the elections oversight body denies.

Imran is serving multiple prison terms after being sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets and marriage law violations in late January and early February during trials at a prison in Rawalpindi.

The surprisingly strong showing for Khan’s party in the recent elections were a shock for former Nawaz , who had earlier been marked out as the powerful security establishment’s preferred candidate.

With inputs from agencies