Political Parties to Form Coalition Governments
Leaders from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) agreed to try to form a new coalition government after two days of talks. The new government will be led by former Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif of the PML-N.
However, the new coalition government will not include the members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former PM Imran Khan. Leaders from the PPP, PML-N, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement met at the house of a leader from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid after holding a meeting.
Pakistan’s Election Commission announced that PTI-associated independent candidates won 101 seats, the PML-N won 75, the PPP received 54 seats, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and other parties also received 17 seats each.
Analysis
The agreement between both the PML-N and the PPP to form a new government was likely to assuage the concerns that the Pakistani military would get directly involved. Even if both the PML-N and the PPP form a coalition government, they will need other political parties to agree to join since they do not have enough seats to formally create a government. However, the Pakistani military will likely agree to the new government to prevent any unrest from breaking out due to delays related to the talks held.
They are also wary of the possibility that the PTI protests are growing in size and intensity, like those that occurred in May 2023 and targeted military bases. However, it is likely that the PTI will continue to protest due to the PTI disputing the election results due to allegations of vote tampering and other irregularities during voting.