As former Prime Minister and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has declared victory claiming his party secured two-third majority in the National Assembly, two major political parties – PML(N) and PPP – bagging largest seats in the lower house have reportedly agreed to form a coalition government in the best interest of the country. Their reported understanding came during a meeting of PML(N) President Shehbaz Sharif with PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Lahore on Friday. However, this initial understanding and much depends on terms of the cooperation which would become subject of discussion in their next but detailed interaction.
There is no doubt that independents have secured about one hundred seats in the National Assembly and 126 in the Punjab Assembly elections but not all of them are affiliated with the PTI and it has to be seen what decisions they make during the mandatory period of three days to join a political party after official declaration of the results. PTI also claims it is in a position to form governments at the Centre and in Punjab and the KP. Situation is clear in KP where independents have bagged 90 seats out of 113 contest in February 09 elections but this is not the case in the Punjab Assembly where PML(N) has secured 131 out of 296 general seats and the tally of the party would go up significantly as it is going to have a lion’s share of reserved seats whereas independents are not eligible for this quota.
The PML(N) would, therefore, be in a comfortable position to form its government in the country’s largest province, which is also the main support base of the party. As for Sindh, the complete result of all the 130 constituencies shows PPP leads with 84 seats followed by MQM-P 28, independents 14 and GDA and Jamaat-e-Islami two each. Therefore, PPP, with absolute majority, is in a position to form its exclusive government in the province. As usual, a coalition will have to be formed in Balochistan where no political party has secured an impressive number of seats and the strength of former ruling party BAP has been reduced to mere one. The government formation at the Centre could see interesting developments in the next few days as both the major parties (PML-N and PPP) would make hectic efforts to lure in a maximum number of independents to consolidate their position in the political bargaining. PML(N) Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif has taken a wiser move by offering other political parties to join forces with his party in forming a unity government at the Centre. Nawaz said it was important that all the parties together thought for the country first. He said the politicians, Parliament, Pakistan’s forces and the media should all play a positive role. As no political party has a clear mandate, it is but natural that they should work together not for the sake of petty personal or party gains but in the interest of the country.
It was also appreciable to hear from him that his party respects the mandate of other political parties as well as independents. However, this should not remain a mere slogan and all parties and independents enjoying majority in different assemblies be allowed to form governments as per aspirations of the people. We have been emphasizing that Pakistan is facing numerous challenges that can be addressed effectively through collective wisdom. The economy has improved somewhat due to the measures taken during the last several months and there is a need for continuity of policies and initiatives.
There are also foreign policy challenges thrown by regional and global developments and situation like India’s illegal actions in Occupied Kashmir, threat of terrorism posed by militants enjoying safe havens in neighbouring Afghanistan, need for intensifying and expanding the scope of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), urgency to cement ties with Gulf countries in view of economic difficulties, recalibration of ties with the United States and the Middle-East situation.
It is, therefore, time that political infighting comes to an end, propaganda against national institutions is stopped and all forces enter into a cooperative mode to steer the country successfully on the road to progress and prosperity.
