Tag: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz

Maryam Nawaz becomes first-ever woman Chief Minister of a province in Pakistan

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Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on February- 26, became the first-ever woman Chief Minister of a province in Pakistan when she was elected to head the Punjab province, describing it as an ‘honour’ for every woman in the country.

Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, won the chief ministerial elections amidst a walkout by lawmakers of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

In her maiden speech at the provincial legislature, Maryam thanked God, her father, Nawaz Sharif, uncle Shehbaz Sharif and the lawmakers who voted for her.

Maryam said that she was happy to sit in the seat where her father used to sit. “My father trained me how to run the office,” Maryam, considered the political heir of Nawaz Sharif, said.

“Today, every woman of the province is proud to see a woman Chief Minister,” she said and hoped that the tradition of female leadership would continue in the future as well.

The PML-N leader said she had seen hard times like imprisonment but was thankful to her opponents for making her strong.

“But I will not seek revenge,” she said, indirectly referring to former Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.

Maryam received 220 votes and won the chief ministerial elections for the politically crucial Punjab province, home to 120 million people. She defeated Rana Aftab of the PTI-backed SIC, who received no votes as his party boycotted the election.

“The votes have been counted according to which Maryam has obtained 220 votes, and SIC candidate Rana Aftab Aftab secured zero votes,” said newly-elected Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan while presiding over the session.

To win the Chief Minister’s election, a candidate needs to win the backing of the majority, which is 187 members in the House that currently has 327 seats, according to Geo News. The newly-elected Chief Minister, Maryam, enjoyed the support of the majority in the House.

The PTI-backed SIC’s 103 members have taken oath from its total 113 lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly. Ms. Maryam was backed by PML-N allies, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), and the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP).

The walkout by at least 103 SIC members— including the PTI-backed independent lawmakers— was staged after the SIC nominee for Chief Minister, Mr. Aftab, was not permitted to speak at the point of order.

“In today’s session, only elections will be held for the Chief Minister. You cannot speak in today’s session,” Speaker Khan told the SIC candidate as he tried to speak up.

The speaker eventually moved forward with the proceedings to elect a new leader of the House after efforts to bring back the boycotting lawmakers went in vain, according to Dawn newspaper.

Before boycotting the session, the opposition chanted slogans of “Queen of Mandate Thieves” as the PTI claimed that Maryam had lost his seat with a margin of over 800 votes in the February 8 polls besides the party’s over 100 Punjab Assembly seats that had been stolen. It decried that the irony is a “defeated” candidate has become Chief Minister.

Taking a swipe at the walkout by the SIC lawmakers, Maryam said, “Today, I am upset that the respectable members of the opposition benches are not present here […] I wish they would be a part of the political and democratic process.” She said that despite several challenges and difficulties, her party members and the PML-N never left the ground empty.

“If the opposition was present today, and if they had protested during my speech, I would have been happy,” she said.

Meanwhile, the PTI nominee for the chief ministerial post, Mr. Aftab, said, “It seems as if dictatorship persists even today,” according to the report.

Speaking to the media in Lahore as the Punjab Assembly voted for the new leader of the House, Mr. Aftab said, “I am a political worker […] the way I had to pass from there [the assembly], this is shameful for me, and it is also a moment of reflection for all politicians.” He added that the PTI wanted justice as per the law and Constitution to take “this manoeuvred democracy forward”.

Maryam paid a visit to her mother’s grave at Jati Umra before going to the Punjab Assembly, where the election for the post of Chief Minister took place.

In a post on X, the PML-N said Maryam also visited the graves of her paternal grandparents.

“For the first time in the history of our nation, a woman will become the CM Punjab. Maryam Nawaz Sharif will be the first woman to take the oath as CM Punjab!” the PML-N said in a post on X earlier in the day.

Senior PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah, while speaking to the media outside the Punjab Assembly, has said that Maryam will carry her father, Nawaz Sharif, and uncle Shehbaz Sharif’s legacy as Punjab Chief Minister, Geo News reported.

Terming the need to address prevailing political instability as the “biggest challenge”, Mr. Sanaullah said that everyone, including the bureaucracy, would cooperate with Maryam during her term as the Chief Minister.

Maryam is considered the political heir of the 74-year-old PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who surprisingly nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, 72, as his party’s prime ministerial candidate.

The PML-N clinched both speaker and deputy speaker offices in the Punjab Assembly.

In a marathon session of the Punjab Assembly on February 24, the lawmakers elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the House and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy.

The PML-N won 137 seats, while independents backed by 71-year-old Khan’s PTI party won 113 in the Punjab Assembly. Separately, 20-odd independents, not PTI-backed, have already joined the PML-N.

The PTI-backed independent candidates have joined the SIC to get reserved seats for women and minorities besides saving their elected members from being forced to change their loyalty by the military establishment.

However, the SIC may not get reserved seats for women and minorities, leaving the PML-N with a simple majority in Punjab.

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Asif Ali Zardari | Return of the survivor

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In the blood-smeared history of Pakistani politics, top leaders rarely emerge from prison unscathed. Deposed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was imprisoned and hanged in Rawalpindi district jail. His daughter Benazir Bhutto was in jail and had to leave the country, seeking medical treatment. She came back and got assassinated. Imran Khan is currently in jail and only the future will tell how his story will unfold.

But there is one leader who emerged stronger after multiple jail terms — Asif Ali Zardari, the undisputed leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the current head of the Zardari-Bhutto dynasty.

With a bit of help from destiny, Mr. Zardari, who had spent 11 years in jail in the past, could be the next President of the country as his party has sealed a deal with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which will hold the post of Prime Minister. This is not the first time Mr. Zardari’s destiny is being changed dramatically. On a wintry evening on December 27, 2007, an assassin’s bullet ended the life of Benazir Bhutto. Within hours, Mr. Zardari, who was then in Dubai with their three children, Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa, was on a flight to Pakistan.


Also read: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari | His mother’s son 

At a meeting, of the central executive of the PPP in Naudero, Sindh, Mr. Zardari asked son Bilawal to read a ‘political will’ from Benazir that declared that “my husband Asif Ali Zardari” would lead the party in her absence. Bilawal was too young at 19 to inherit her legacy and, therefore, Mr. Zardari would take the reins. No one had heard of such a political will, not even Benazir’s old secretary Naheed Khan. Yet, the rule of Mr. Zardari was established over the PPP.

Mr. Zardari, a polo player from a family that was known for owning the Bambino cinema of Karachi, came into national limelight after his 1987 wedding to the then ‘daughter of the east’ Benazir Bhutto. The wedding was a memorable affair and was attended by political guests from different parts of South Asia and Europe.

Within months, the hands of destiny would alter the life of the couple when Gen. Zia ul Haq’s aircraft, Pak-1, mysteriously crashed in Bahawalpur, catapulting Benazir to her first prime ministerial stint. Benazir’s first (1988-’90) and second (1993-’96) tenures as PM were tumultuous as they coincided with the end of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, end of the Cold War and the intensification of the Kashmir crisis and cross-border terrorism in South Asia.

Two murders

In 1996, two murders took place that would shape the course of the Bhutto-Zardari destinies. On September 20, Murtaza Bhutto, elder brother of Benazir, was shot dead outside 70 Clifton, the residence where Zulfikar Ali Bhutto once lived. During the 1980s, the elder brother had led an international terrorist organisation called Al Zulfikar and lived for years in Syria and Libya, seeking revenge against Gen. Zia. The youngest of the Bhuttos, Shahnawaz, a leading commander of Al Zulfikar, was allegedly murdered in Nice, France, in 1985.

When Benazir became PM in 1988, Murtaza felt disinherited and developed a visceral dislike for his brother-in-law. On December 16, 1996, Mr. Zardari and Murtaza ended up flying in the same aircraft from Islamabad to Karachi. It was reported later that Murtaza’s body guards “kept glaring” at Mr. Zardari throughout the flight. That experience so terrified Mr. Zardari that instead of going to his house, he went to his father Hakim Ali Zardari’s house to seek safety. Two days later, Mr. Zardari, also known as ‘Mr 10 Percent’ because of corruption allegations, held a meeting with top officials to complain about Murtaza, which added to the allegations of his complicity in the murder of Murtaza.

The killings marked the beginning of the end of Benazir’s second term, which was replaced by a caretaker government in November 1996, paving the way for the 1997 election after which Nawaz Sharif became PM. Mr. Zardari first went to jail in 1990 on corruption charges and then again after the second term of Benazir, and was released in 2004. Mr. Zardari carved a political niche for himself within the party, starting with 1990 when he was elected to the National Assembly (NA) for the first time. He contested and won from jail and his release was one of the major issues for the PPP under Benazir and he later became Minister of Investment after Benazir returned to power in 1993.

As Benazir returned to Pakistan after nearly six years of exile in October 2007, Mr. Zardari gave her staff instruction to keep her safe as she was attacked within hours of her arrival. The military government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf blamed Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, for the attack but the evidences from the spot were allegedly cleared by authorities, creating a strong suspicion about the incident that took place on October 18, 2007. Mr. Zardari tracked his wife on live TV from Dubai and screamed orders to keep her safe. She was downstairs in the armoured bus that was specially prepared and therefore survived. On December 27, however, the assassins succeeded, prompting Mr. Zardari to take up the leadership role.

Mr. Zardari proved his survival instincts when he completed his five-year term as President of Pakistan. His tenure was jolted within months by the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and internal political tumult led by Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Mr. Khan built his movement on the anti-American sentiment that flourished in Pakistan because of the drone attacks against Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but Mr. Zardari maintained a cautious silence on the issue of U.S.-Pakistan collaboration.

Backroom player

After his presidential term was over, Mr. Zardari indulged in backroom negotiations to maintain the party unity and presented himself as a veteran who is open to reconciliation. As the Imran Khan government came to a halt after his hurried February 24, 2022 visit to Moscow that coincided with the launch of Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine, Mr. Zardari once again found the playfield open for himself.

The election of 2024 has been controversial and marred by dramatic in-camera allegations of rigging. However, Pakistani politics is no stranger to rigging and Mr. Zardari himself knows it best as the election of 1997, which brought Nawaz Sharif to power, was bitterly criticised by his party at that time for alleged rigging. It remains to be seen if Imran Khan, who is in jail will, concede defeat and allow the new coalition government to start afresh, addressing the several challenges Pakistan is facing, including economic woes.

At the time of 2013 election, former Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had asked the country to vote for reconciliation, ending the war with the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan’s present security situation is precarious as it deals with internal volatility and worsening ties with the Taliban in Kabul and Iran, with which it exchanged missiles in January. It’s doubtless that in the new formation, Mr. Zardari would stay as the tallest leader. But the challenges he would face may well be the toughest of his 33-year old political career.

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Shehbaz Sharif to be Pakistan PM, Zardari to be President

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In a breakthrough that could end the political uncertainty in Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government after intense negotiations following a fractured poll verdict.

In a joint news conference late Tuesday night at Zardari House in Islamabad, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, 72, will assume the role of the Prime Minister once again.

Similarly, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will be the joint candidate for the president’s office.

Also Read | The illusion of change in Pakistan

“The PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and (now) we are in a position to form the government,” Mr. Bilawal told reporters without revealing the number of lawmakers they have in the National Assembly after the February 8 elections.

To form a government, a party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly or the lower house of Parliament.

He said former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed independent candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to achieve a simple majority in Parliament to form a government in the Centre.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (C) speaks during a press conference in Islamabad. File
| Photo Credit:
AFP

Mr. Bilawal hoped that the news of the political alliance with the PML-N to form a coalition government would lead to a positive market response as the cash-strapped country faced a hung Parliament after the elections.

Independent candidates – a majority backed by 71-year-old Mr. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party — won 93 National Assembly seats.

OPINION | Pakistan in turmoil: On the Pakistan elections and results 

The PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.

Speaking at the press conference, Mr. Shehbaz asserted that his party now has the “required numbers” with the PPP to be in a position to form the next government as he thanked the leadership of the two parties for the positive conclusion to the talks.

The former prime minister emphasised the unity between the two parties, noting that they were well-positioned to form the government at the Centre.

Mr. Shehbaz, who led a coalition government for 16 months before the elections, also said that he had asked the PTI-backed winning candidates to prove their majority and form the government, but they didn’t have sufficient numbers.

The PML-N stalwart also thanked Mr. Zardari for his cooperation. Mr. Shehbaz said that both parties decided that Mr. Zardari would be fielded as the joint candidate for the post of President.

Responding to a question about whether the PPP was getting any portfolios, Mr. Shehbaz said that the Bilawal-led party has not demanded any ministry from the first day, The News International reported.

“Parleys take place between two parties and issues are resolved through (mutual consultation). It doesn’t mean that we accept their demands or they accept ours; they have their views but reaching a middle point is the real political success,” he said.

The former prime minister added that the decisions on the “offices” would be made mutually later under the guidance of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and the PPP’s top leadership, the report said.

Mr. Shehbaz also thanked the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, who will be part of the next government.

He vowed the upcoming coalition government would restore the country’s economy and fight against the menace of terrorism.

The PML-N leader said that the alliance would bring economic progress and development to the country. He said they would take measures to increase agricultural and industrial production in the country.

Mr. Shehbaz stressed that the previous unity forged during the 16-month government paved the way for their current collaboration, united in their commitment to addressing the concerns of the Pakistani people.

“We will not disappoint the people of Pakistan,” the president of the PML-N said.

The details were not provided but sources said that PPP was still reluctant to be part of the government as it agreed to have its president, chairman senate, and governors in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and chief minister in Balochistan.

The PML-N would have complete charge of the federal government with the prime minister and speaker. It will also get governors in the Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

The two also agreed to form a coalition government in Balochistan with an equal share in the cabinet.

Meanwhile, in a post on X, 71-year-old Khan’s party hit out at the newly cemented PPP, PML-N alliance as ‘PDM 2.0’ “PDM 2.0 = #MandateThieves.” The announcement of the alliance came a day after the latest round of talks between the top leaders of the two parties ended inconclusively on Monday as both sides failed to reach a consensus on a power-sharing formula to form a coalition government.

Mr. Shehbaz said that the journey ahead for the new government would not be easy but fraught with many difficulties and obstacles. He asserted that the coalition alliance will tackle them together, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Mr. Zardari, who was president from 2008 to 2013, has said the struggle of the political alliance bidding to make the next government is for the sake of the country and future generations.

Also Read | Pakistan’s election commission forms high-level committee to probe poll rigging allegations

The February 8 general elections have been controversial, with several serious allegations of widespread rigging to alter the results.

Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan said the PTI chief has termed the February 8 elections “mother of all rigging”.

Ms. Aleema met Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Tuesday. She told reporters that the people’s mandate was “stolen” following the elections. She also said that Imran Khan has strongly condemned the suspension of internet services, which he claimed was used to “hide the real results”.



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Imran Khan’s party to sit in Opposition in Pakistan’s Parliament; to protest against poll rigging

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Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to sit in the Opposition in Parliament while launching a countrywide protest against alleged rigging in the elections after its efforts to form the next government failed.

The major political parties in Pakistan have stepped up efforts to form a federal government after the February 8 elections delivered a split verdict.

While Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed independent candidates dominated the election results, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) claimed to have enough numbers to form the government as some independents joined the Nawaz Sharif-led party post-polls.

PTI leader Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif announced on February 16 that following the instructions of PTI founder Khan, the party has decided to sit in the Opposition both at the Centre and in the key province of Punjab.

The decision came a day after the party had named Umar Ayub Khan as its candidate for the Prime Minister and Aslam Iqbal as Chief Minister for Punjab.

Talking to the media on Friday night [February 16] after visiting the Qaumi Watan Party in Islamabad, Mr. Saif said that the party decided to sit in the Opposition in the Centre and Punjab under the instructions of party founder Khan.

“We decided to sit in Opposition despite the reality that if we received seats according to our votes and the results were not changed then maybe today we might have been in the Centre with 180 seats. We have the evidence that our candidates won,” he said.

The party, which also issued a white paper against alleged rigging on Friday, has decided to kick off its demonstrations from February 17.

A PTI source said that the party’s incarcerated founder has tasked former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser with engaging political parties to muster support for the protest drive.

A PTI delegation led by Mr. Qaisar met the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) on Friday, while a meeting with Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Mehmood Khan Achakzai is scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Mr. Qaiser-led delegation also met Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Mian Muhammad Aslam and discussed the post-election scenario. The delegation sought JI’s support for joint protests against the alleged rigging.

It was not clear if the party would participate in the election of the Prime Minister and Punjab Chief Minister after the decision to join the Opposition ranks.

Khan’s party claimed that at least 85 seats won by it in Parliament were snatched in the “biggest voter fraud” in the country’s history and announced plans to hold “peaceful” nationwide protests on Saturday against alleged rigging.

PTI’s core committee met on Friday and finalised the plans for the nationwide protest campaign on the call of the party’s founder Khan.

The meeting urged the whole nation to come out of their houses against the “massive rigging”. The meeting also sought the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Independent candidates — a majority backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) — won 93 of the 265 National Assembly seats that were contested in the February 8 election.

However, PTI’s two main rivals appear on course to form a coalition government after former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) formed a post-poll alliance on Tuesday.

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. To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly. Khan declared on Friday will not seek political vengeance upon returning to power.

“We will not take any political revenge, but we will take the country and the nation forward for the sake of the development of the country and the nation,” he stated, as conveyed by PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan following a 30-minute long meeting with Imran Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

PTI’s Information Secretary Raoof Hasan and other leaders including Sher Afzal Marwat, Rehana Dar, Shoaib Shaheen and Salman Akram Raja, who challenged their election results before various forums, addressed a press conference in Islamabad.

Mr. Hasan said that 2024 would be remembered due to the “biggest voter fraud” in Pakistan’s history against the party and its candidates.

“According to our estimates, out of 177 [National Assembly] seats which were supposed to be ours, only 92 have been given to us. And 85 seats have been taken away from us fraudulently,” he said.

Editorial | Pakistan in turmoil: On the Pakistan elections and results 

He said that the party was taking constitutional and legal steps to counter the rigging and get its right. “We have verified data about 46 seats and it is being compiled for 39 seats,” he said.

Mr. Hasan also highlighted the discrepancies between Form 45 and Form 47, which respectively deal with counting in each polling station in a constituency and the overall count of all polling stations.

Mr. Hasan claimed there was a huge difference in the numbers of votes polled for National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. He said that the number of rejected votes, in certain cases, exceeded the margin of victory.

Separately, Mr. Hasan affirmed the party’s readiness for dialogue with the establishment, emphasising that the purpose of contacting political parties is not to form an electoral alliance but to bring all political forces together on a unified platform.

Speaking on the Express Tribune newspaper, Mr. Hasan highlighted that PTI’s founder has consistently advocated for engaging with all political parties. He emphasised that if political parties engage in positive politics, there is no harm in holding meetings and fostering collaboration.

“The purpose of contacting political parties is not at all an electoral alliance; our aim is that all political parties come together on one platform,” stated Mr. Hasan during the programme.

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PML-N nominates Shehbaz Sharif as Pakistan’s Prime Minister

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In a surprise development, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday nominated its president Shehbaz Sharif as the prime ministerial candidate of Pakistan instead of the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif.

Taking to X, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, 74, has nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, 72, a candidate for the slot of prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, 50, for chief minister of Punjab province.

“Nawaz Sharif has thanked the political parties which provided support to the PML-N (in forming the upcoming government) and expressed hope that through such decisions Pakistan will come out of crises,” she said.

The development comes a few hours after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari withdrew from the prime ministerial race, saying his party would support ex-premier Nawaz without being part of the new government.

Despite independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party springing a surprise by winning the most seats in Parliament, questions were looming over what the next government of Pakistan will look like five days after the general elections.

None of the three major parties, the PML-N, the PPP, or the PTI have won the necessary seats in the February 8 general elections to secure a majority in the National Assembly and, therefore, will be unable to form government on their own, leading to a hung Parliament.

PML-N reportedly enjoys the backing of the powerful Pakistan Army.

Addressing a press conference here after the meeting of the PPP’s high-powered Central Executive Committee (CEC), held under his leadership, Bilawal has said the reality is that his party does not have a mandate to form a federal government.

“Due to this, I will not be putting myself forward for the candidacy of the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” the 35-year-old former foreign minister said, adding that PML-N and the independents have greater numbers in the Centre.

Earlier in the day, former Prime Minister Shehbaz reaffirmed that Nawaz will become the Prime Minister for a record fourth time.

“I had said that Nawaz Sharif would become Prime Minister for the fourth time. And I maintain today that he is going to be the PM for the fourth time,” Shehbaz told a press conference.

Shehbaz said he has spoken to Bilawal and his father Asif Ali Zardari and thanked them for their support to Nawaz Sharif.

“We hope that together we will be able to get Pakistan out of all political and economic crises, Inshallah,” he posted on X.

The PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have also held a meeting on Tuesday on government formation.

Both parties agreed to move forward with mutual cooperation and Shehbaz Sharif thanked the MQM-P, which has 17 lawmakers in Parliament for its support.

Bilawal noted that Imran Khan’s PTI had refused to form a coalition with the PPP which left the PML-N as the only party that had invited the PPP to join the government.

Khan on Tuesday dismissed the idea of forming a coalition government with any of the main political parties in Pakistan and termed them as the “biggest money launderers” being brought to power.

The 71-year-old Khan, also the founder of PTI, was speaking with journalists at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Khan and many of his party colleagues are lodged in jail for many months in connection with convictions in multiple cases.

“There can be no alliance with PML-N, PPP, and MQM,” he said, adding that he had directed PTI Information Secretary Raouf Hasan to bring together all parties except the three parties.

Khan also warned his political rivals against the “misadventure” of forming a government with “stolen votes”.

Khan, in a message on his official X handle, posted from jail through his family, said: “I warn against the misadventure of forming a government with stolen votes. Such daylight robbery will not only be a disrespect to the citizens, but will also push the country’s economy further into a downward spiral.” Khan, said, “PTI will never compromise on people’s will, and I have categorically instructed my party against engaging with any political party that has robbed people’s mandate, including PPP, PMLN & MQM.” Earlier, Bilawal said the PPP has decided that “we may not be a part of the government but we will engage with political parties on the issue of votes and the election of prime minister.” He said that the PPP would help to form a stable government without being part of it.

“To that end, the PPP will be willing to support the case of important votes – a candidate of the PM of Pakistan – and issue to issue basis to ensure that the government is formed and political stability is restored,” Bilawal said.

Bilawal said he would like to see his 68-year-old father Asif Ali Zardari become the president once again. Zardari, husband of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto was the president from 2008 to 2013.

“I am not saying this because he is my father. I am saying this because the country is in a huge crisis at the moment and if anyone has the capacity to douse this fire, it is Asif Ali Zardari,” he asserted.

In response to a question, Bilawal said all political forces needed to think about the country and end the politics of division. “They must not just think about themselves […] this way the enemies of the country would want to benefit from this crisis.” “It takes two to tango,” he said.

To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) getting 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagging 17 seats.

Other parties got 17 seats while the result of one constituency was withheld.

Meanwhile, a senior official of Khan’s party said it will use the platform of two rightwing religious parties in its bid to form government in the Centre as well as in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has decided to join Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) to form the government in the Centre and Punjab and Jamaati-e-Islami (JI) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” PTI Information Secretary Hassan said while addressing a press conference.

Hassan said the PTI was redoubling its efforts to make a government in the Centre and Punjab.

However, it is believed that by joining the two parties, the PTI will not be able to gather enough strength to form either the federal or provincial government in Punjab. PTI can form a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even without the support of any other party.

In a setback to PTI, a Pakistani court on Tuesday dismissed more than 30 petitions filed by Khan’s party-backed independent candidates who challenged the “sham victory” of top PML-N leaders, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

The Lahore High Court while dismissing the petitions asked the defeated PTI-backed candidates to move to the Election Commission of Pakistan for the redressal of their grievances. 

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As Pakistan goes to elections, farmers want climate change action, not words

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Tending to his wilting wheat crop after months of drought and smog, Pakistani farmer Aamer Hayat Bhandara said his biggest hope for the general election is that whoever wins makes good on a flurry of campaign promises to tackle climate change. Pakistan goes to polls on February 8.

The two frontrunners – the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – have both proposed similar climate policies in their manifestos, highlighting growing concern about the effects of global warming after devastating 2022 floods.

Changing climate patterns

“The smog and absence of rain for three consecutive months robbed crops of sunlight…and caused rust — or fungal infection — on wheat,” said Mr. Bhandara, 38, a farmer in Punjab province and co-founder of the Agriculture Republic think-tank, which represents small- and medium-scale farmers.

He said changing climate patterns had shortened winters and stretched summers, with heatwaves impacting his rice and corn crops, while untimely rains and hailstorms have battered his wheat harvests. That made the parties’ promises for climate action – from boosting renewable energy to investing in early warning systems for floods and heatwaves – welcome reading for him and other farmers at the sharp end of climate change.

“The pledges are wonderful,” Mr. Bhandara said. “Heightened climate action not only holds the potential to ease economic pressures but also to generate employment opportunities.” He added, however, that “the crux of the challenge is to translate these policies into action”.

Pakistan produces less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but ranks 8th among countries most vulnerable to extreme weather linked to climate change, according to the latest edition of the Global Climate Risk Index.

Homes are surrounded by floodwaters in Sohbat Pur city, a district of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, Aug. 29, 2022.
| Photo Credit:
AP

The floods in 2022 killed more than 1,700 people, displaced 8 million and destroyed about a million homes and livelihoods across the country of 220 million – fuelling calls for the Government to prioritise the fight against climate change.

Politicians promise to fight climate change

Outlining his party’s plans to overhaul Pakistan’s development model to stabilise its troubled economy, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told Reuters this month his strategy would put “the threat of climate change front and centre”.

He said the PPP also aims to ensure global funds exceeding $10 billion pledged last year to help Pakistan rebound from the floods are used to fight climate change.

Similarly, the PMLN has vowed to use the funds to implement the Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework, dubbed 4RF, a recovery strategy to build long-term climate resilience and adaptation developed with international organisations.

The party’s proposals also include strict enforcement of environmental protection laws, upgrading brick kilns to fight air pollution, and planting native tree species to curb the use of fertilisers, reduce soil erosion and save water, among others.

Party president Shehbaz Sharif has described climate change as a “development, economic, human and national security issue”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), left in disarray by the jailing and election ban on its leader Imran Khan last month, has not released its manifesto yet.

Implementation is key, say activists

Economists warn that a lack of adequate measures to fight the effects of climate change could deal another blow to a cash-strapped economy already grappling with historic inflation and an unstable rupee.

A 2022 World Bank report highlighted Pakistan’s staggering financial requirements to combat climate-induced disasters, estimating a $300 billion gap in available funds.

Without urgent action, climate change could shave off one-fifth of GDP, it said.

But Ahmad Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer and activist, said the frontrunners’ election manifestos neglected the economic effects of climate change. “The transformative effects that [the] climate crisis brings to our economy such as the effects on the market economy of agriculture, coastal resources, energy, forestry, tourism, and water are overlooked,” he said. Authorities often fail to implement their policies, he added.

Despite Government pledges to boost clean energy, Pakistan’s renewable energy growth has lagged — rising from 0% of total power generation capacity in 2010 to 5.7% in 2023, while the global average went from 2% to 12% over the same period.

Part of the challenge stems from the fact that critical sectors such as agriculture, water, transport, energy, urban development and forestry fall under provincial government control.

“Climate governance necessitates a tailored, province-specific approach rather than a federal, one-size-fits-all strategy,” Mr. Alam said by phone from the city of Lahore.

Others have voiced concern that the party manifestos pay scant attention to communities displaced by climate-related disasters or those in climate hotspots including low-lying coastal areas and mountainous regions threatened by glacial melting.

‘We risk losing everything’

But environmental activists and farmers have broadly welcomed the focus on climate issues for the first time in this year’s election campaign.

In a village near Chichawatni in Pakistan’s cotton-growing belt, farmer Jawwad Nawaz, 32, said the PMLN’s manifesto represents “a lifeline for the agricultural community”, adding that he hopes the proposed policies translate into tangible support for farmers.

Lahore-based climate activist Mawra Muzaffar said she had seen progress in Sindh province under the PPP that showed what could be achieved — from growing mangroves to importing electric buses. The PMLN’s vows to boost the use of clean energy in agriculture through solar panels are realistic and feasible, she said. “Moreover, it talks about a 10% reduction in carbon emissions, which if achieved will be very important,” she added.

In his village in Pakpattan district, Bhandara said the success of such policies must go hand-in-hand with climate adaptation measures for farmers.

His think-tank, and Digital Dera, a tech startup, is calling for the establishment of a national fund for research, innovation, resilience, and financial security for farmers. “Farmers need support for adaptation, and the Government must bear the cost of these measures,” he said, calling for urgent action to implement such policies.

“We can’t afford to waste time when it comes to climate change…Otherwise, we risk losing everything – including our food security and livelihoods,” he said, before hurrying off to meet an election candidate visiting his village.

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