PML-N nominates Shehbaz Sharif as Pak PM candidate in coalition with PPP

ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have joined hands to form the government after the results of the general election in Pakistan.

Independent candidates of Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) won the most seats in the election, but they could not win a majority. It was after this that PML and PPP joined forces to form a new government. There is also a rough agreement on who should be given the key positions of Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Punjab province.

In a press conference held yesterday, it was announced that PPP and PML will unite to form the government. PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif and PPP's Asif Ali Zardari attended the press conference. PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif tops the list of prime ministerial possibilities. Shehbaz Sharif had expressed his willingness to include Imran's PTI in government formation for the betterment of the country.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto withdrew from the race for the post of Prime Minister to support the PML-L, according to the national media. Earlier, Nawaz Sharif was the leading candidate for the post of Prime Minister. But PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb said that 74-year-old Nawaz has nominated his younger brother Shehbaz as the prime ministerial candidate.

But the alliance is facing a big challenge in terms of seat sharing and getting a majority. There are 266 seats in the Pakistani Legislative Assembly. The coalition is facing the challenge of forming a government with a minimum of 133 seats to reach a two-thirds majority out of 265 seats. It is estimated that the PML-N will get a majority with 60 women seats and 10 minority seats.

Apart from PPP, parties like MQM-P, IPP, BAP also join the party with PML-N. In the recently held elections, all the parties combined to win 152 seats. The final decision on the formation of the government will depend on the decisions of 101 independent candidates, including 92 PTI-backed independents.