Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announces conditional support for Sharif to form government (document)
Islamabad:
Pakistan’s two main political parties will meet on Monday to try to bridge differences to form a minority coalition government after an unclear election result, a senior party official said, underscoring the country’s political and economic instability.
Analysts say the nuclear-armed nation of 241 million people, which has been grappling with an economic crisis amid slow growth, record inflation and rising militant violence, needs a stable government empowered to make tough decisions.
Monday’s talks will be the fifth such round since former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was appointed by his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to lead the country again.
Senator Ishaq Dar of Sharif’s party, who is leading the negotiations, said in a statement posted on social media platform X on Sunday that “the two sides have yet to agree on the final issues.”
He added that “negotiations on various proposals for power sharing are ongoing”.
The Pakistan People’s Party, led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, announced conditional support for the Muslim League-Sharif faction, saying it would vote for Sharif to form the government but would not hold cabinet positions.
“I can confirm that it has been decided in principle that the political parties will form a coalition government,” Dar told domestic broadcaster Geo TV.
Sharif, 72, served as prime minister of the South Asian country for 16 months until August, when his brother Nawaz Sharif, chairman of the Muslim League-N Sharif (PML-N), named him as the alliance’s candidate to be the next prime minister .
Pakistan narrowly avoided a sovereign default last summer with a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, but the lender’s support is set to end in March, after which a new expansion program will be needed.
Quickly negotiating new plans will be crucial for the new administration.
Pakistan’s sovereign dollar bonds fell 1.2 cents on Monday, trading network data showed, with 2024 bonds at 95.89 cents following a disputed election.
The new government is also likely to face further political tensions, with independent members of parliament backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan forming the largest group in the legislature.
The group is at loggerheads with the powerful military and claims the vote was rigged.
The caretaker government and the electoral commission rejected the accusations.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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