Lahore, Feb 12: In a boost to the PML-N party, another newly elected independent member of Pakistan’s National Assembly on Monday decided to join the party led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as he tries to form a coalition government after the just-concluded election resulted in a hung Parliament.
This comes a day after one independent candidate backed by Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
In total, two independent candidates in the lower House have joined the PML-N.
Sardar Shamshir Mazari from NA 189, Imran Akram from PP 195, Sohail Khan from PP 240, Khizr Hussain Mazari from PP 297, and Sahibzada Mohammad Gazin Abbasi from PP 249 were among those who met Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) posted on X on Monday. All the members expressed confidence in Nawaz Sharif’s leadership and announced their decision to join the Muslim League (N), he said in the post.
“You have become a part of the caravan to beautify Pakistan and relieve the people from hardships,” Shehbaz Sharif wrote.
The first agenda of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) is the economic prosperity of the country and the nation. The newly elected members of the assembly appreciated the services and passion of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif for the country and the nation, he posted on X.
PTI to sit in opposition
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party will not join hands with rival PML-N or the PPP to form a coalition government and would sit in the opposition despite having a majority in the newly elected Parliament, party leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has said.
Independent candidates, mostly affiliated with Khan’s PTI, secured the most parliamentary seats in last week’s general election. However, PTI does not have enough seats in the 266-member National Assembly to form a government on its own.
“We don’t feel comfortable with both (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party) of them. There will be no talks with anyone to make a government or to make a government together with them. It is better to sit in the opposition than to make a government [with them], but we think we have the majority,” Gohar Khan told Dawn News.
In an unusual move, a senior leader of Pakistan’s Jamaat-i-Islami Party on Monday forfeited his seat in the Sindh province that he won in Thursday’s elections, saying it was not him but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party-backed candidate who has won from the constituency he contested.
Addressing a press conference, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that he took the unusual step to highlight the alleged rigging in many constituencies during the February 8 polls. (PTI)
