The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is likely to join the federal cabinet despite publically stating on Tuesday that the party will only support Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate for prime minister, Geo has reported on Wednesday.
A day earlier, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto said that his party will only support PML-N in government formation and will not take ministries.
In a press conference following the two-day Central Executive Committee meeting of the PPP, Bilawal stated that the party is open to offering support on specific issues and crucial votes for the Prime Minister candidate of Pakistan, aiming to facilitate government formation and restore political stability.
“The PPP has decided that while we are not in a position to join the federal government ourselves, nor will we be interested in taking ministries in such a set-up, we also do not want to see political chaos in the country. We do not want to see perpetual crisis in the country,” he said.
Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairman of PPP, announced in a press conference later the same night, the formation of a six-party alliance for the next coalition government. He stated that they had decided to form the government together.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that his party is not interested in being part of the government in the centre. He also said that the PPP didn’t get a mandate and that “I’m not a candidate for Prime Minister.”
The PPP Chairman said that PPP is not in a position to form a government at the centre, adding that PTI has said that it will not hold any talks with PPP, and PML-N is the only party that invited us to join the government at the centre.
“We have decided that we are not in a position to be a part of the federal government. The former foreign minister said that we will not take ministries into the federal government, but we will vote for PML-N’s candidate for prime minister.
He further said that we want the government formation to be completed soon and the country to come out of the crisis.
The founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has told media that senior leader of his party and member of the provincial assembly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Ali Amin Gandapur, will be the chief minister of the province.
According to the results of general elections, PTI-backed candidates have a simple majority in the KP province. Imran Khan also said that his party is ready to talk with all parties except the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).
The general elections of February 8 pulled many surprises, the least of which was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) managing to win the largest number of seats despite not having a symbol or even a party.
But another surprise was the poor performance of supposed front runners, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Although the party managed to get 79 seats, it still fell way short of expectations.
So what is the party thinking now? More importantly, what is party head Nawaz Sharif, welcomed back in October 2023 with much fanfare, going to do?
According to veteran journalist Nusrat Javed, Nawaz is not going to do much. Talking on Public TV, Nusrat Javed said that Nawaz has shut himself off from nearly everyone and can only be enticed to come out for meeting major players, including Asif Ali Zardari. Nusrat Javed said that Nawaz is no longer interested in becoming a Prime Minister once again. “Mujhay kyon bullaya” is the mantra, said Nusrat Javed.
However, a party insider told DAWN that Nawaz is still very much in the running for become the Prime Minister for a fourth term. “As of now, Nawaz Sharif has not been ruled out as a candidate for the PM’s slot. Since the PML-N has to lead the federal coalition, many within the Maryam Nawaz camp feel why shouldn’t [the elder Sharif] take the driving seat,” the insider told DAWN.
The party’s senior leader and one of Nawaz’s close aided, Khwaja Asif, has said that the former Premier is not disappointed with the results of the election in which PML-N did not manage to get a simple majority, leaving it at the mercy of a buoyant PPP for forming the government.
Talking on Geo News, Asif said, “We are aware of the shortcomings but will fulfil our promise of giving relief to the masses after coming into government.”
He also expressed caution about the power-sharing formula that is being talked about, with PML-N ruling for three years and then PPP taking over for the remaining two. “It would be unwise to hand over the government to another party after bringing stability,” he remarked.
So there you have it. What the PML-N ultimately decides to do is still unclear. Perhaps we will know more as the days unfold.
President Arif Alvi won’t administer the oath to the new prime minister because a successor will be elected before the premier’s election.
Members of the newly elected National Assembly (NA) might take their oath on February 26, three days before the deadline to convene the house for its first session, with a similar ceremony happening the next day.
The members, who have been elected for both houses, would no longer be members of the provincial assembly if they took the oath in the national legislature.
Parliamentary insiders informed The News on Monday evening that they must conduct the election for the Senate’s 53 members, chairman/deputy chairman, and subsequently the president of the country, before March 8. They emphasised the limited time available for organising the presidential poll.
The sources said that if the election of the president is held a week earlier, incumbent Arif Alvi will not administer the oath but the new president will. The sources pointed out that once the members of the national and provincial assemblies take the oath, they will be eligible to cast their vote first for Senate elections.
As the general elections are over and results tabulated, 27 women candidates have emerged victorious in the February 8 polls, 11 more than in the 2018 elections.
This time, 882 women candidates contested for national and provincial assembly seats. Among them, 312 women contested for the NA, and 570 for provincial assemblies. This shows a notable rise in the number of women participating as candidates in the 2024 elections.
111 political parties had nominated 275 women candidates to contest the elections for general seats, making up 4.6 percent of the total of 6,037 candidates they have fielded.
In 2018, 183 women ran for seats in the National Assembly (NA), but only eight of them managed to win. Among the winning women, four secured seats in Sindh, three in Punjab, and one in Balochistan. None of the women candidates won a general seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This time a record 27 women have been elected from all five assemblies — 12 from NA, 11 Punjab Assembly, two from the Sindh Assembly, and one from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
In a recent press conference, interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar strongly defended the delay in announcing election results, citing security concerns as the primary reason.
He was asked during the press conference by a journalist, “Probably this is your last press conference, on a lighter note: who told you how long you’ll be Caretaker Prime Minister?”
To this PM Kakar said, “I am disappointed after giving you a chance. Do I have cancer? As this is my last press conference according to you.”
While discussing the disruption in mobile services, Kakar emphasized, it was a necessary measure to ensure the safety of voters and prevent terrorist attacks.
“We could afford delay, but terrorist attacks, we could not […] delay does not mean rigging,” Kakar, whose government was appointed to oversee the country through elections until an elected set-up takes charge, said during a post-election press conference.
Kakar’s remarks came amidst mounting criticism from various political parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), who protested the delay in election results, labeling it as potential rigging.
More than three days have passed since polling day and the complete election results are still pending, with one seat yet to be decided.
The prime minister informed journalists that in 2018, the entire result-gathering process took 66 hours; however, in 2024, it was completed in 36 hours. The official Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) deadline is around nine hours.
The premier compared Pakistan’s election process to that of other countries, citing instances of delayed results in Sweden and Indonesia, suggesting that such delays are not uncommon in large-scale elections.
In response to criticism from foreign governments, Kakar asserted that Pakistan would conduct its investigation if necessary, rather than succumbing to external pressures.
“These friendly countries, unfortunately, frame their initial assessment on the fabricated and fractured information available on social media and the digital space,” he said.
“A responsible government should take time and then have a position; that would have been better. If we have to investigate, we will not do it on the demand of the United States, United Kingdom, or the EU,” he further added.
Kakar noted that Pakistan has its law and will deal with it accordingly. “We did not ask a judicial inquiry on Capitol Hill riots. It is not for us to demand it and it is not for them. For me, the demand of a PTI individual than the US, UK, and EU combined.”
Acknowledging the possibility of irregularities, Kakar assured that appropriate forums were available for addressing complaints.
To a question, PM Kakar said that the upcoming elected parliament would decide about the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections. “There should be an open discussion on EVMS.”
Two days back, expressing his annoyance over the delayed election results, President Dr Arif Alvi had said that the country would have been spared the ongoing crisis if the EVMs had been used during the February 8 general elections.
Remember 'our' long struggle for Electronic Voting Machines. EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) BUT it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed. Totals of every candidate would have been…
It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP’s new Election Management System (EMS) fell flat despite the commission’s tall claims. Taking to his X handle, the president had said: “Had EVMs been there today, my dear beloved Pakistan would have been spared this crisis.”
Chairman of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, Jahangir Tareen has announced that he is resigning from the party leadership and is leaving politics. Tareen took to X (former Twitter) and thanked everyone for supporting him and also congratulated his opponents.
Tareen lost both the seats he was contesting on this year: in Lodhran and Multan. His party won two seats to the National Assembly won by Aun Chaudhry and Aleem Khan.
On the other hand, Jamat-e-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq (JI) has also resigned from his party position. The JI chief had also lost his seat in the election.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) chief Parvez Khattak has denied reports of him leaving politics.
The senior politician confirmed that the news regarding his retirement from politics is wrong. He further said that he just wants a little break from politics.
Parvez Khattak resigned from his party position on Monday afternoon after he, his family and most of the party suffered defeat in general elections 2024.
I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this election and want to offer my congratulations to my opponents. I have immense respect for the will of the people of Pakistan. Therefore, I have decided to resign from my position as Chairman IPP and step away from politics…
We realise that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Rana Sanaullah’s loss in February 8 general elections must be quite a shock but his Twitter (now X) account has gone off in an unexpected direction.
Unlike PML-N leader Khwaja Saad Rafique, who used his account to gracefully concede defeat and congratulate his opponent Sardar Latif Khosa, Rana Sanaullah has decided that he wants to troll journalists.
The account has, till now, picked a Twitter fight with Meher Bokhari, shared a song by the late Indian rapper Sidhu Mosewalla, and targeted legal analyst Reema Omer for praising Geo’s election coverage.
It has also sent snarky replies to Hamid Mir and Gharidah Farouqi, while also tweeting multiple times against media channels.
Rana Sanaullah has distanced himself from the the account, telling Geo’s Shehzad Iqbal that he doesn’t run the account, instead a team runs it.
I mean, a few people who are self-proclaimed seniors or somehow manage to sit left or right and have zero credibility are using different platforms to manipulate audiences, misleading people every time because of personal agendas, and ignoring the crucial time period. And yet… pic.twitter.com/6dtnjKhc6l
رانا ثنااللہ اور مسلم لیگ ن کے اکاؤنٹ سے جیو پر الزامات
رانا ثنااللہ کا اپنے ہی اکاؤنٹ کو نہ ماننے پر اسرار مگر رانا ثناللہ اپنے ذاتی اکاونٹ سے اسی اکاونٹس کے ٹوئٹس کو ری پوسٹ کرتے رہے ہیں جسے وہ لاتعلقی کا اظہار کر رہے ہیں
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have discussed the possibility of their parties appointing prime ministers for half of a five-year term as part of a power-sharing plan.
The idea of appointing a prime minister for half the term was discussed during their first huddle on Sunday following the February 8 elections as part of their efforts to form a coalition government in the Centre and provinces, according to sources privy to the development.
In 2013, PML-N and the National Party (NP) in Balochistan worked together to create a power-sharing plan. Under this plan, two chief ministers from the two parties took turns holding office for half of the five-year term.
In Sunday’s meeting, the PPP and PML-N agreed to work together for the political stability of Pakistan after the general elections.
