Islamabad:
In a surprise development, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday nominated its President Shehbaz Sharif as Pakistan's prime ministerial candidate in place of party supremo and three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Speaking to 50, for chef. Minister of the Province of Punjab.
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“Nawaz Sharif thanked the political parties who extended support to the PML-N (in forming the next government) and expressed hope that Pakistan will come out of the crises through such decisions,” she said.
The development comes hours after Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari withdrew from the prime ministerial elections, saying his party would support former Prime Minister Nawaz without being part of the new government.
Although independent candidates backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party pulled off a surprise victory by winning the most seats in parliament, questions loomed over how Pakistan's next government would manage five days will look like after the general election.
None of the three major parties, the PML-N, the PPP or the PTI, won the necessary seats to secure a majority in the National Assembly in the February 8 general elections and will therefore not be able to win to form a government on its own. , which led to a hung parliament.
PML-N reportedly enjoys the support of the powerful Pakistani army.
Addressing a press conference here after the meeting of the highly empowered Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the PPP held under his leadership, Bilawal said the reality is that his party has no mandate to form a federal government.
“Because of this, I will not stand for the candidature of the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” the 35-year-old former foreign minister said, adding that PML-N and the independents have a larger number of members at the Centre.
Earlier in the day, former Prime Minister Shehbaz reconfirmed that Nawaz Sharif will become Prime Minister for the fourth time.
“I had said that Nawaz Sharif would become prime minister for the fourth time. And I continue to maintain today that he will become prime minister for the fourth time,” Shehbaz told a news conference.
Shehbaz said he spoke to Bilawal and his father Asif Ali Zardari and thanked them for their support to Nawaz Sharif.
“We hope that together we can get Pakistan out of all political and economic crises, Inshallah,” he wrote on X.
The PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also held a meeting on government formation on Tuesday.
Both sides agreed to continue mutual cooperation and Shehbaz Sharif thanked the MQM-P, which has 17 lawmakers in Parliament, for its support.
Bilawal noted that Imran Khan's PTI had refused to form a coalition with the PPP, leaving the PML-N the only party that had invited the PPP to join the government.
Khan on Tuesday rejected the idea of forming a coalition government with one of Pakistan's main political parties, calling them the “biggest money launderers” to come to power.
The 71-year-old Mr Khan, who is also the founder of PTI, spoke to journalists at the high-security Adiala prison in Rawalpindi. Khan and many of his party colleagues have been in prison for months due to convictions in several cases.
“There cannot be an alliance with PML-N, PPP and MQM,” he said, adding that he had instructed PTI information secretary Raouf Hasan to bring together all parties except the three parties.
Khan also warned his political rivals about the “misfortune” of forming a government with “stolen votes”.
Mr Khan said in a message on his official Such daylight robbery will not only amount to a lack of respect for citizens, but will also push the country's economy further into a downward spiral.” Khan said, “PTI will never compromise on the will of the people and I have categorically instructed my party not to associate with any political party that has deprived the people's mandate including PPP, PMLN and MQM .” Earlier, Bilawal said the PPP has decided that “we may not be part of the government, but we will work with political parties on the issue of voting and the election of the Prime Minister.” He said the PPP would help form a stable government without being part of it.
“To this end, the PPP will be willing to support the cause of important voices – a candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan – and put forward a basis to ensure that the government is formed and political stability is restored,” Bilawal said.
Bilawal said he would like to see his 68-year-old father Asif Ali Zardari become president again. Zardari, husband of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was president from 2008 to 2013.
“I'm not saying this because he's my father. I say this because the country is currently in a huge crisis and if anyone has the ability to extinguish this fire, it is Asif Ali Zardari,” he claimed.
Replying to a question, Bilawal said all political forces should reflect on the country and end the politics of division. 'They shouldn't just think about themselves […] In this way, the country's enemies would want to take advantage of this crisis.” “It takes two to tango,” he said.
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 whom are backed by the PTI, have won 101 seats, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.
Other parties received 17 seats, while the result of one constituency was withheld.
Meanwhile, a senior official from Khan's party said it will use the platform of two right-wing religious parties in its bid to form a government at the Center as well as in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party has decided to join Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) to form the government at the Center and Punjab and Jamaati-e-Islami (JI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” , said PTI Information Secretary Hassan. while addressing a press conference.
Hassan said the PTI was redoubling its efforts to form a government at the Center and Punjab.
However, it is believed that by joining the two parties, the PTI will not be able to muster enough strength to form the federal or provincial government in Punjab. PTI can form a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even without the support of any other party.
In a setback for PTI, a Pakistani court on Tuesday dismissed more than 30 petitions filed by Khan's party-backed independent candidates challenging the “sham victory” of top PML-N leaders, including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.
While dismissing the petitions, the Lahore High Court asked the defeated PTI-backed candidates to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan for redressal of their grievances.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)