Islamabad: The talks between Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ended on an inconclusive note on Saturday despite making “significant progress” as Bilawal rejected the power-sharing formula presented by the other party, according to local media reports.
Bilawal, the PPP chairman, on Sunday, said he had rejected a power-sharing formula wherein the prime minister’s office would be shared between two parties and declared that former president Asif Ali Zardari would be the PPP’s candidate for president. However, PML-N leader Ishaq Dar said there could be more formulas for forming the federal government, reported Dawn.
The two parties decided to meet again on Monday to finalise the power-sharing formula. A brief announcement issued by the PML-N after the meeting said that there had been “significant progress” in talks with both sides, stressing the need for a “strong democratic government”.
During Saturday’s meeting, the PML-N was represented by Ishaq Dar, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, whereas those representing the PPP included former Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah, Saeed Ghani, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Nawab Sanaullah Zehri. “The proposals put forth by both parties were thoroughly discussed, and while substantial progress was achieved, further deliberations are required to finalise the matters at hand,” a joint statement read.
In the last meeting on Thursday, representatives of both parties sought more time to assess the proposals discussed in the first meeting. This came after PPP assured PML-N of its support in the government and the next PM on the condition that it would receive key constitutional offices, like that of the president. A PPP office-bearer, privy to the talk on government formation, said the party has decided to seek the posts of National Assembly (NA) speaker and Senate chairman.
However, the PML-N appears reluctant and wants to keep the NA speaker’s office with it, the PPP leader added. The PPP has sought top offices in both houses of Parliament as the party feared that under the PML-N, parliament “would not be able to gain its lost prestige”.
What was the power-sharing formula?
Addressing a Thanksgiving Day procession in Sindh to celebrate the PPP’s win in the province, Bilawal said, “I was told (by PML-N) that let us be the prime minister for three years and then you can take the premiership for the remaining two years. I said no to this. I said I do not want to be a prime minister like this. If I become the prime minister, it would be after the people of Pakistan elect me.”
Bilawal reiterated that the party had decided that it would move forward with “those who have asked for its votes” and would not seek any ministries, while his father would be the nominee for the presidential slot. “To control the fire spreading in the country, we have decided that Zardari will be our candidate for the presidential election. And when he takes up the post, he will put out this fire, and will save the Centre and the provinces,” he added.
Independent candidates – a majority backed by 71-year-old jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – won 93 of the 265 National Assembly seats contested in the February 8 election. The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has also agreed to support them with their 17 seats.
According to reports, the PPP has asked PML-N to give it “some space” in Punjab as a precursor to any support in the government formation. The PML-N emerged as the single largest party in Punjab after the general elections with 137 general seats. The party has already nominated Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, as the new chief minister.
Allegations of poll rigging
Meanwhile, the PTI has demanded the establishment of a judicial commission to probe allegations of poll rigging after an explosive statement by Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha saying that the candidates who were “losing” the elections “were made to win” in the city. Before resigning from his post, he claimed that 13 candidates from Rawalpindi were forcefully declared winners.
Chattha resigned from his office after “accepting responsibility” for the manipulation of poll results. “I am taking the responsibility for all this wrongdoing and telling you that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice are also completely involved in this,” he said, adding that “stabbing the country in its back does not let” him sleep.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has strongly rejected the allegations of Chattha regarding the chief election commissioner, saying that no commissioner of any division was appointed as a “DRO, RO or presiding officer, nor do they ever play a direct role in the conduct of elections”. Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir also rejected the claims of manipulation of poll results made by Chattha.
(with PTI inputs)
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