LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have agreed to form a coalition government in the Centre and Punjab as results of some constituencies continue to trickle in on the third day.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif met PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari and invited them to work together for Pakistan. Shehbaz also met the PPP top leaders at the residence of Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
He discussed the future government formation with Zardari and also conveyed Nawaz Sharif’s message, said the sources. Shehbaz Sharif met PPP’s top leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in Lahore, sources said, as the next government set-up is in discussions.
The leaders, after deliberations, decided that they would hold another meeting once the numbers game was clear, the sources said. They added that the PML-N leader will meet JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman later. The prime minister’s slot was not in discussions, but it will be in later meetings, the sources added.
Sources said that Shehbaz Sharif is due to hold separate meetings with Muttahidda Qoumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Dr Khalid Maqbool and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to help form a broad-based coalition government.
MWM, PkMAP offer PTI-baked candidates to use their party platform
Meanwhile, Muttahidda Wahdatul-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai have invited the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed independent winners to join their respective parties to form the next federal government by electing party chairman Gohar Khan as prime minister.
Achakzai said in a statement that his party had been kept out of parliament because “they don’t like our faces.” He added that he knew that the election results would not be announced in his favour, therefore, he did not bother to stay up the whole night.
PTI-backed independent candidates sprang a big surprise by taking the nearly 100 National Assembly seats in Thursday’s elections. The candidates contested the elections as independents because the party was denied its electoral symbol because of its intra-party election controversy.
Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas declared allegiance to the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan during a press conference.
Addressing concerns about the speed of election results, he emphasised that their support was unconditional and not contingent on favours. Abbas stated, “Our party aligns with the vision of Imran Khan. We stand ready to fulfil his aspirations; we make no demands of our own.”
