Former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, will return to the top job (file photo)
Islamabad:
According to media reports on Friday, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party have signed a power-sharing agreement and are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold presidential elections before March 9.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, will be supported by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, It was agreed to form a new government after February 8. Elections resulted in a hung parliament.
Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top job after his brother Nawaz decided to nominate the PML-N chief as prime minister. The party clarified that the three-time former prime minister does not want to lead a government where the Awami League does not have a majority in the parliament.
Both parties won fewer seats than candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“International News” quoted sources as saying that the proposal to hold a presidential election before March 9 is being seriously considered. The country’s newly elected parliament will be sworn in on February 29 and the new government will be inaugurated on March 2.
The five-year term of current President Dr. Arif Alvi officially ended last September. However, the dentist-turned-politician, who was appointed as a senior member of Khan’s PTI in 2018, remained in office even after the expiry of his constitutionally mandated term.
The PML-N, PPP and their allies hope to hold presidential elections before March 8, before the current term of the Senate ends, and Senate elections after the president is elected.
Senior PPP leader Senator Farooq H Naek said in an interview that according to Article 41 of the Constitution, combined with the Second Schedule of the Constitution, the presidential election must be held within 30 days after the general election.
The report quoted him as saying, “This means that the presidential election will be held before March 9.”
President Alvi, 74, agreed to carry out his duties until a successor is named because parliament was dissolved in August and elections could not be held within constitutional time limits.
PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, 68, may return to the presidency after Bilawal’s party and the Muslim League-N (PML-N) agreed earlier this week He was nominated as a joint candidate to the constitutional office in return for helping Shehbaz Sharif form a government under a power-sharing agreement at the Centre.
To form a government, a party must win 133 of the 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.
The power-sharing deal was finalized after no party secured a simple majority in the February 8 elections, forcing parties to join forces to form a government and denying Imran Khan’s PTI a chance to return to power.
Sherbaz Sharif and Bilawal say they have the support they need to form a coalition government.
In the polls, independent candidates backed by Mr Khan’s PTI won the most National Assembly seats (92), followed by the PML-N (79) and the PPP (54).
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League (N) Chairman and Prime Minister-designate Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met delegations of MQM, Muslim League (Q) and Balochistan People’s Party to discuss the situation and politics in the country issues related to cooperation.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to save the country from economic threats,” Shahbaz Sharif said, vowing to move forward with unity to serve the people.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
