Nawaz nominates Shehbaz for PM

The two major Pakistan parties that joined forces to oust Imran Khan as prime minister in 2022 said yesterday they would form a new coalition to rule the country after an election last week failed to produce a decisive winner.

At a joint press conference, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said they would join with smaller parties to form the next government.

"The parties present here are almost two-thirds of the house that has been elected," said PML-N President Shebaz Sharif, alongside leaders of the PPP and two other groups.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said that party supremo Nawaz Sharif has nominated Shehbaz Sharif for the post of the country‍‍`s prime minister, reports Dawn online.

She added that PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz was nominated for the post of Punjab‍‍`s chief minister.

However, Shehbaz Sharif, 72, would likely lead a government like the one he headed after Imran Khan was voted out of power in April 2022.

Shehbaz Sharif along with Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) met at the residence of Shujaat Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) after a consultative meeting yesterday.

"Today we have united to tell the nation that we all accept the split mandate. I am thankful to Zardari and Bilawal that they decided for their party to vote for the PML-N," he said and thanked the other gathered leaders as well.

To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) getting 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagging 17 seats.

Other parties got 17 seats while the result of one constituency was withheld.

Shehbaz Sharif said the new government would pull the cash-strapped country out of trouble.

"Now our war is against the country‍‍`s challenges. The first challenge is the economy. We have to stabilise it which is a tall task. Nations move forward when their leadership unites and decides to end conflicts and take the nation forward to eliminate problems," he said.

Earlier, Zardari said at the same press conference that a coalition government would be set up.

"We have decided to form a coalition government and pull the country out of the economic crisis," he said and added that the new government would also try to reconcile with everyone, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of jailed former prime minister Khan.

He promised to deliver the country out of these troubles and lead on to the road to prosperity.

Earlier in the day, PTI leader Imran Khan, speaking in Adiala Jail, accused both the PML-N and PPP of corruption, reports AFP.

"We will neither sit with the PML-N nor with the PPP," he told a handful of reporters covering a procedural hearing at the prison outside the capital Islamabad.

"We are going to challenge the election rigging in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and we will consider the alliance later," said Khan, clutching a string of prayer beads.