He blamed the delay in forming the government on “a lack of seriousness on the part of the dialogue committee.”
Islamabad:
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Tuesday he expected a “deadlock” in the formation of a coalition government in Pakistan if no one was prepared to give in, a sign that the cash-strapped country is unwilling to move forward after an uncertain election result. Political unrest is likely. It will be over soon.
Bilawal’s remarks came a day after the latest round of talks between top leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday came to nothing as the two sides failed to agree on power-sharing. And finally. A plan to form a center-centered coalition government after the divisive election results on February 8.
The PPP is reportedly seeking key constitutional posts such as the president, Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker in support of the Muslim League-Sharif faction led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, Bilawal said the message from the people was that no single party could run the country and all parties had to work together.
“In a democracy, you call the process compromise, which means if parties form a coalition, there will be concessions,” the 35-year-old former foreign minister said.
The Pakistan People’s Party chief said that after the vote, all political stakeholders must reach a consensus on the way forward to save Pakistan’s democracy and parliamentary system.
“The only way out of this situation is through dialogue and compromise,” Dawn News quoted him as saying.
When asked to comment on the talks between the PPP and the Muslim League, he pointed out that more than ten days have passed since the general election and its legitimacy has been questioned.
Technically, he said, PTI is “the single largest [party]”But said it will not talk to anyone. He said on the other side is the PML-N and the PPP has decided to talk to those who come to them.
“But if I have to vote for PML-N, I will do it on my terms… I will not vote for the N alliance,” he asserted.
Bilawal blamed the delay in forming the government on “the lack of seriousness of the dialogue committee”. He said the delay had not done him any harm, but it had done harm to the country’s democracy.
“The sooner this issue is resolved, the better for stability and the incoming government,” he said. Bilawal said the BJP was “in no rush” and was sticking to its stand, adding that there would be no change.
“If others want to change their stance, progress can be made. If they are not prepared to change their stance, I foresee a dangerous deadlock,” Bilawal said, adding that it would not be good for democracy, the economy or political stability.
The election has been controversial, with several serious allegations of widespread manipulation of the results. Eleven days after the vote, it remains unclear which party will form the central government.
Although independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won the most seats in parliament, the Muslim League and PPP announced they would form a coalition government after elections resulted in a hung parliament.
However, despite multiple rounds of negotiations, a decision on PPP inclusion in the cabinet remains elusive.
Sources say PPP chairman Bilawal Zardari-Bhutto acted smartly by trying to get the Muslim League-Awami League to pull out of forming a coalition government and then become prime minister himself, with the independence of the jailed former prime minister. Form a government with the support of people. Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has now joined the Sunni Ittehad Council.
However, it will not be easy for Bilawal as PTI has rejected the possibility of supporting PPP.
To form a government, a party must win 133 of the 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.
Independent candidates – mostly backed by PTI – won 93 National Assembly seats in the election.
PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came in third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also agreed to support them with its 17 seats.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
