Page 71 - Pakistan

Shehbaz may become next Pak PM as coalition set to cross majority mark

Shehbaz Sharif is expected to become Pakistan's new prime minister as the coalition of leading political parties led by him is set to comfortably cross the simple majority mark to form the next government, ending speculation about the future of the administration after elections produced a split mandate. Shehbaz Sharif along with Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan Peoples Party, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) met at the residence of Shujaat Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) for a consultative meeting and Tuesday night and agreed on government formation. Today we have united to tell the nation that we all accept the split mandate. I am thankful to Zardari and Bilawal (Bhutto) that they decided for their party to vote for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), he said and thanked the other gathered leaders as well. PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that party supremo Nawaz Sharif has nominated the party president a

Israel-Hamas war: Panic rises in Rafah as UN warns of a slaughter

PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, who was widely expected to be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan, has instead nominated his brother, former PM Shehbaz Sharif to lead the next coalition government.

Balochistan comes to standstill as parties protest against rigging in polls

Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has come to a standstill and has been facing unrest with several political and nationalist parties launching an indefinite blockade of all national highways from Wednesday against alleged rigging of the election results. Four political parties, including the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), National Party (NP), Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), and Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), have been jointly holding protests since Saturday in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan province against the outcome of the February 8 polls. Khushal Khan Kakar of the PKMAP told the media on Wednesday that the blockade would continue until the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered a recount in all those constituencies where massive alleged rigging has taken place in the province. The Baloch people are angry and frustrated over the electoral injustice done in the name of free and fair elections, Kakar said. Since Saturday, the province has been ..

Nawaz nominates brother Shehbaz for Pak PM, daughter Maryam for Punjab CM

PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb made the announcement on social media platform X

Imran's party forms special committees to strategise govt formation

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party has established special committees to strategise the government formation at the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Participants during the party's core committee meeting agreed to early completion of the nomination process for important government and parliamentary positions according to the recommendations and strategies proposed by the committees, Dawn News cited a statement as saying on Monday.

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'Imran's party to sit in Pak Oppn as he rules out joining coalition'

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. The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by ...

Shehbaz affirms Nawaz Sharif to become Pakistan's PM for record fourth time

Pakistan's former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for a record fourth time. "I had said that Nawaz Sharif would become prime minister for the fourth time. And I maintain today that he is going to be the PM for the fourth time," Shehbaz told a press conference at the party's headquarters here on Tuesday. When asked whether he was no more favourite to grab the top post, he said: "My candidate for the PM slot is Nawaz Sharif." The now 74-year-old leader, Nawaz Sharif first took power in 1990 but was forced out three years later by corruption allegations -- a theme that has dogged his career. He came to power for the second time in 1997 and held the prime minister's post till 1999 when he was deposed in a military coup after plotting to sideline army chief of staff Pervez Musharraf. More than a decade later he was back in power in 2013, but fresh graft allegations emerged when his

PPP's Bilawal Bhutto withdraws from Pakistan's prime ministerial race

Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday withdrew from the race for the prime minister, saying that his party would support Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's candidate for the premier's slot without being part of the government. The decision of Bilawal came hours after Pakistan's former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for a record fourth time. Addressing a press conference after the meeting of Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) high-powered Central Executive Committee (CEC), held under his leadership, Bilawal said that his party failed to get a mandate to form a government in the federation.

Has Pakistan's military finally lost its influence over country's fate?

In often dysfunctional Pakistan, citizens have typically seen the army as a functional and trustworthy institution

Pakistan's old guard parties near coalition deal to thwart Imran Khan

The parties of the Sharif and Bhutto clans "agreed in principle to save the country from political instability," according to a statement posted on X last night

Imran Wins. Army defeated. Instability ahead in Pakistan

The general election in Pakistan is a watershed moment in its patchy democratic history. Never before have the Pakistani people defied the Army so openly by voting against the parties it supported

What's likely to come after Pakistan polls for markets and military?

It's harder to see a scenario where Khan's PTI forms a government given the military's opposition to it, analysts say

Pakistan polls: PTI-backed Qadir jumps ship, joins PML-N after victory

'Waseem Qadir, the successful independent candidate from National Assembly Constituency NA-121 Lahore, officially announced his joining of Pakistan Muslim League (N),' said PML-N in a post on X

Pak parties intensify efforts to form coalition govt after split verdict

Political parties in Pakistan on Sunday intensified their efforts for the formation of a coalition government after it became clear that the cash-strapped country faced a hung Parliament after general elections. The general elections were held on Thursday, but the unusual delay in the announcement of results vitiated the atmosphere as several parties cried foul play and some resorted to protests. Former prime minister and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif received the backing of the powerful Pakistan Army on Saturday for his call for a unity government to pull Pakistan out of its current difficulties. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced the results of 264 out of 265 contested seats. The result of NA 88 was withheld by the ECP due to complaints of fraud and it would be announced after redressing the grievances of the aggrieved. Election to one seat was postponed after the death of a candidate.

Army in control

Pakistan's political chaos is likely to continue

Pakistan polls: MQM-P denies discussions with PML-N on forming next govt

MQM-Pakistan Convener, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the polls have created a challenging situation in Pakistan and stressed that all parties must play their part in moving the country out of crisis

Pakistan former PM Imran Khan's party says it aims to form government

Gohar Khan, the chairman of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) party who also acts as the former prime minister's lawyer, called on "all institutions" in Pakistan to respect his party's mandate

Jailed ex-Pak PM Imran Khan gets bail in military installation attack cases

The court said there was no justification to keep Khan, 71, under arrest as all accused in May 9 cases were on bail

My govt would try to improve ties with neighbouring countries: Nawaz Sharif

In an indirect goodwill message to India, Pakistan's former premier Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that his government would try to improve relations with the neighbouring countries. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) technically emerged the single largest party in the National Assembly despite the fact that the number of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supported independent candidates was higher than any political party. "We would improve ties with the world and with our neighbours and try to solve all issues with them (neighbours)," the 74-year-old former three-time premier said. He asked his supporters if they agree with his point of view (regarding ties with neighbours), and hundreds of supporters present to hear him apparently backed him with a roar. While Sharif stopped mentioning India directly in his speech, the use of word "neighbours" could hardly be missed as Sharif in his previous tenures also tried to mend ties with India. However, terror attacks on Indian defence ..