Political leaders belonging to the former alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), as well as some new faces, announced their bid on Tuesday night to form the next government in a coalition setup.
Last week, the PPP and PML-N began hectic efforts to hammer out some sort of power-sharing formula in the national and Punjab assemblies after PTI-backed independent candidates emerged to the top in the National Assembly polls, with at least 93 seats.
The announcement by the former allies in the previous government was made in an Islamabad press conference at the home of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid chief Chaudhry Shujaat attended by a who’s who of politicos, including PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party’s Aleem Khan and Awn Chaudhry.
Notably missing was PDM and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman.
“We have decided to sit together and form the government. God willing we will take Pakistan out of difficulty,” Zardari made the announcement as he kicked off the press conference.
“We have to do reconciliation and the PTI is included in that. It is not that we don’t want the PTI to enter reconciliation. It should and every other political force should, come and talk with us. Our economic and defence agenda should be common. We should move forward with our commonalities and then make the house of Sharif and others successful so we can make
Pakistan successful.”
Zardari said he and other political leaders were aware of the level of the country’s debt and were aware of future debt repayments as well as issues affecting the nation.
“Looking at everything, we have thought and decided to sit together. We have contested elections against each other but despite that, it is not necessary that [we fight] forever. Opposition happens in elections. It was electioneering opposition, not ideological opposition.” Zardari said the leaders could sit together, talk together and run the country together.
Shehbaz said the political leaders together with him had gathered to tell the nation that election campaign politics of opposition was over with the imminent formation of the Parliament.
“Now our war is against the country’s challenges. The first challenge is the economy. We have to stabilise it which is a tall task. Nations move forward when their leadership unites and decides to end conflicts and take the nation forward to eliminate problems.”
To a question about whether Zardari would be the next president, Shehbaz said: “We won’t disappoint you.”
MQM- P leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui addressing the press conference said that no interest could be greater than serving Pakistan for any party at the moment.
“With mutual cooperation, we will strengthen democracy and support Shehbaz Sharif. We have supported him before and will do so in future,” he said.
Aleem said that Pakistan was going through an extremely difficult phase with inflation impacting the poor and the economic crisis aggravating.
Shortly after the joint press conference, PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said Nawaz nominated Shehbaz for the post of the country’s prime minister and Maryam for Punjab’s chief minister. PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzaib said that the party supremo Nawaz Sharif has nominated Shahbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz for prime minister and chief minister Punjab slots respectively.
