Shehbaz Sharif set for second term as Pak PM, Maryam Nawaz Punjab Chief Minister

Shehbaz Sharif was chosen to lead Pakistan again, bringing an end to the political stalemate following an inconclusive election.

Until Wednesday, the efforts to get the second-largest party to join the government to ensure stability were underway. Sharif was named as the coalition candidate for the next premier by his elder brother, Nawaz.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari backed the choice but did not commit to joining the government, indicating it would support a minority government from the outside. Meanwhile, independent members of parliament, backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, formed the largest group in the legislature, and were at loggerheads with the powerful military, alleging that the vote was rigged.

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Following elections in Pakistan, marred by rigging allegations, delay in results, protests, and economic crisis, Shehbaz Sharif was chosen to lead the country again. Seventy-two-year-old Sharif has served as the country’s Prime Minister for 16 months. He was named as the coalition candidate for the next premier by his elder brother Nawaz, founder and supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the largest party in parliament.

In a press conference, Shehbaz Sharif announced Maryam Nawaz, daughter of Nawaz Sharif, as the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

In an X post, Maryam said that her father did not want to run a minority coalition government, having had clear majorities in his three previous stints as premier. Their Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party controls only 80 seats in the 264-seat parliament but has been promised support by six other parties for a majority.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the second largest, backed the choice but did not commit to joining the government, indicating it would support a minority government from the outside.

Officials in both PML-N and PPP said they had formed internal committees to discuss the modalities of government formation and the agenda included getting PPP to join the administration and take cabinet positions.

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has alleged that the vote was rigged and vowed to legally challenge some results. The caretaker government and election commission have rejected those accusations.

Analysts had hoped the election would bring a solution to the crisis faced by Pakistan, but the split verdict, with a large number of independents at loggerheads with the influential military, could only mean more instability.

Pakistan recorded 47.6 per cent voter turnout in the February 8 election, which was lower than the previous one in 2018 when 52.1 per cent of voters cast the ballot.

According to a report, as many as 60.6 million voters exercised their right to vote in Pakistan’s 12th general elections (GE), showing that nearly 5.8 million more people voted in the elections as compared to 2018 when 54.8 million had cast their votes.