Pak polls: Wheeling & dealing kicks off to muster seats to form coalition govt

Islamabad/Lahore, Feb 10: The wheelings and dealings for the formation of a coalition government in Pakistan have kicked off with major stakeholders engaging in crucial talks after the general elections appear to have produced a hung Parliament.
Efforts to form a unity government gained momentum after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who seems to enjoy the backing of the powerful military, on Friday appealed to rival political parties to join hands to pull Pakistan out of its current difficulties.
Springing a surprise, independents backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the lion’s share of 101 seats in the National Assembly in Thursday’s election.
The group was followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 73 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 54, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) with 17 and other seats going to smaller parties, as the result of 255 seats out of 265 was announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 in the National Assembly. Election to one seat was postponed after the death of a candidate.
Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of its total 336 seats, which include the reserved slots for women and minorities.
Votes are still being counted after the general election which was marred by allegations of rigging, sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdown.
Khan, 71, in an AI-generated audio-video message on Saturday claimed victory in the general elections.
He thanked the people for voting for PTI and also asked them to ensure the sanctity of their votes was not hijacked by the establishment.
PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan said the party had already started the consultation process on its fut¬ure course of action. However, he added, physical meetings have not been possible since most elected candidates are either in jail or underground.
He warned that any attempt to derail the people’s decision would have “deadly consequences”, adding that power-wielders must learn to respect the people’s choice.
He said PTI had emerged as a leading political force in the Centre, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, but efforts were underway to manipulate the results in the Centre and Punjab to establish governments of their choice.
“We will exercise all legal and constitutional rights to frustrate all bids to tamper with the election results.” Hasan said the PTI founder would never strike a deal with the powers that be until the ascendency of democracy is established and accepted in a true sense. He added that PTI would use legal and constitutional means to block the undue “interference of non-political forces” in political affairs.
Sharif, 74, the three-time former Prime Minister and the PML-N supremo, in his so-called victory speech, has already indicated that he is ready to join hands with the independents “to steer the country out of the crisis”.
Even if Sharif’s PML-N and the PPP led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari get a majority of the remaining seats of the results yet to be announced they will still require support from other winning parties/independents to form a government. (PTI)