ISLAMABAD: Following several rounds of consultations, the major political parties – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – Tuesday reached an agreement to form a coalition government in the Centre.

The understanding was reached in a meeting of the senior leadership of the two parties, including PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari followed by a joint presser, which was also joined by PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and other senior leaders of the two parties late on Tuesday.

As per the understanding, Shehbaz Sharif will be the joint candidate for the prime minister and Asif Ali Zardari for the office of the president of Pakistan while the cabinet members will be finalised through consultations.

Asif Zardari to be PPP’s candidate for presidency: Bilawal

“We, the PPP and PML-N, have achieved the required number and we are in a position to form the government,” Bilawal told the presser.

He said that the two parties are going to form a coalition government in the centre.

“Shehbaz Sharif will once again become the country’s prime minister,” Bilawal stated.

He added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independent candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to achieve a simple majority to form government in the centre.

Bilawal further said both parties would form the next government to pull the country out of the ongoing crises and expressed the hope that they would be able to deliver.

Responding a question about PML-N leader Ishaq Dar’s nomination as Senate chairman, Bilawal said various decisions were taken in the meetings but these would be announced separately by each party.

“If we look at the past, we have announced the coalition and made decisions with consensus very quickly compared to previous tenures,” he continued.

Speaking on the occasion, Asif Zardari said that he wants to assure people that their struggle is for them and for Pakistan, as well as the coming generations.

“We have come to terms on the point that we have to ensure Pakistan’s success for the coming generations,” Zardari added.

In his remarks, Shehbaz Sharif said that they had asked the PTI-backed winning candidates to prove their majority and form the government. “But they did not have sufficient numbers to form the government,” he added.

He said that after several rounds of talks between the coordination committees of the two parties, a consensus was reached finally to form the government in Centre.

“We have sufficient numbers to form the next government,” Shehbaz Sharif said.

He thanked the PPP leadership for their cooperation.

He said that it was decided that Asif Ali Zardari would be fielded as the joint candidate for the post of president of Pakistan.

According to the sources, the PML-N would nominate a candidate to contest election for speaker National Assembly while PPP would nominate a candidate for the slot of the deputy speaker.

They said the PPP would nominate a candidate for the election of chairman Senate and the PML-N would nominate a candidate for the slot of deputy chairman.

They said that the PML-N would appoint governors of Sindh and Balochistan and PPP would nominate for the position of governor Punjab.

According to the sources, the PPP would neither become part of the cabinet in the Centre, nor in Punjab.

The sources said that the PPP and PML-N would be coalition partners in Balochistan government.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024