ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/SIALKOT: As the formation of a future government after the February 8 polls remains uncertain, the fifth round of talks between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is set to take place, with the former seeking the latter’s role in government, The News reported Sunday.
Since the elections, neither the PPP nor the PML-N have been able to secure a simple majority in the National Assembly, and they have been in talks about forming a future government since PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto announced his support for the PML-N’s candidate, Shehbaz Sharif, for prime minister.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidates emerged as the largest group, winning more than 90 NA seats, followed by the PML-N and the PPP, who won 79 and 54 seats, respectively. The latter two will need to form an alliance with other parties to reach the necessary 169 seats in the 336-member lower house of parliament.
However, the negotiations have not gone as smoothly as expected, as the PPP chairman, despite his announcement of support for the PML-N for the chief executive position, has consistently declined the party’s membership in the PML-N government.
“PPP won’t be a part of a government like Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) II,” Bilawal stated in a press conference last week.
The former foreign minister maintained this attitude at the party’s “Youm-e-Tashakur” (Thanksgiving Day) rally in Thatta yesterday to commemorate Sindh’s election triumph.
“We don’t want the prime minister’s chair or any ministry,” the PPP chairman stated, emphasizing that PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari will be the party’s presidential candidate.
His views come as senior PML-N leader Ishaq Dar, who also chairs the party’s coordination committee, has urged leaders from both parties to refrain from making any pronouncements until the conditions of the next alliance are finalised.
“The PML-N and PPP leaders are requested to adhere to the guidelines established between the committees for discussion, as it was resolved that no member or leader of the coordination committees would comment on the ongoing process of discussion and the points discussed in it,” the former finance minister said in a social media post on X.
Stressing that final points have not yet been settled between the parties, Dar said that major breakthroughs are expected in the negotiations during today’s meeting, and a formal joint declaration of both parties will be issued once the talks culminate.
Despite the PPP’s insistence on not being part of the future government, PML-N leader Irfan Siddiqui has claimed that the Bilawal-led party would ultimately become part of the federal government.
