Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters block the Peshawar-Islamabad highway while protesting against the election results in Peshawar (French)
Pakistan is witnessing hectic negotiations behind closed doors to form a coalition government after the failure of the competing parties in the elections - which were held 4 days ago - to achieve a decisive victory and win an absolute majority enabling any of them to form the government.
The final results announced yesterday, Sunday, showed that the independents won 101 seats, while the Muslim League won 75 seats, the Pakistan People's Party won 54 seats, and the United Qaumi Movement won 17 seats, and 10 small parties won the remaining 17 seats, with two seats remaining vacant.
Senior Pakistani politicians are scheduled to meet today in the capital, Islamabad, to resume difficult negotiations to form a coalition government.
Today's meeting comes after officials from the Muslim League-Nawaz Sharif party and the Pakistan People's Party said that the talks between them were disrupted due to a dispute over choosing who will head the government.
A leader close to Nawaz Sharif in the League Party explained, “The two sides are interested in forming a coalition, but there is no breakthrough yet, as both parties want the position of prime minister.”
The League Party has not determined its candidate for prime minister, but officials say the choice will be between Nawaz Sharif (74 years old), who was prime minister three times in the past, and his younger brother Shehbaz (72 years old), who held the position for 18 months until August last year.
As for the Pakistan People's Party, it is committed to nominating Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the son of a political family. If the former foreign minister (35 years old) succeeds, he will become the youngest prime minister of Pakistan since his mother, Benazir Bhutto, was in office.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Party - led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - and the Pakistan People's Party said in a statement late on Sunday that they were committed to "putting the nation's interest and well-being above all else and leading Pakistan away from political instability and onto the path of prosperity and resilience."
Forming a successful alliance between them would limit the influence of independent candidates supported by the Tehreek-e-Insaf led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is currently imprisoned on corruption charges.
Analysts say that some candidates who previously belonged to the PTI party may join either party, and although Khan's supporters ran in the elections as independent candidates after the court ruled to dissolve his party, there is no legal impediment to them joining another party.
Others believe that independents could form a coalition with a smaller party to block any candidate for the position of prime minister. Many former PTI members who did not win seats are also appealing the election result in court, which could further disrupt coalition talks.
Analysts expected that Pakistan would face a state of political uncertainty for weeks after elections whose results were inconclusive, with dozens of possible appeals before the courts and rival parties entering into negotiations to form potential coalitions.
Source: Agencies