Political Leaders Wrangle over Premiership after Inconclusive Pakistan Vote
Pakistan’s two largest political parties are wrangling over who will take the prime minister’s job after an inconclusive election last week forced them to join forces to gain a majority in a parliament dominated by independents backed by Imran Khan.
The squabbling is likely to deepen concerns about the stability of the nuclear-armed nation which is mired in an economic crisis and battling a surge in militant violence.
Pakistan’s benchmark share index fell 2.1% on Monday, its first day of trading after the results.
In a statement late on Sunday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – who won the largest number of seats after the independents – and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said they were committed to “putting the nation’s interest and well-being above everything” and “to steering Pakistan away from political instability and towards a path of prosperity and resilience”.
A successful coalition between both parties would decrease the leverage of candidates supported by Khan, a former prime minister who has fallen foul of the influential military and is now in jail for corruption, and who won 93 of the 264 seats that were contested in the election.
