ISLAMABAD: Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned of a dangerous stalemate on Tuesday as his political faction resumed tense negotiations with the majority party in the National Assembly to reach a power-sharing agreement for forming the next coalition administration.
Ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) agreed in principle to join forces to govern the center after the indecisive February 8 national polls, which resulted in a split mandate.
The PML-N emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly with 75 seats, followed by the PPP with 54. However, neither party secured a simple majority in the house, leaving them unable to form a government independently.
The PML-N and PPP each formed separate committees to negotiate the power-sharing deal after the latter announced it would support the PML-N candidate for the prime ministerial slot but would not participate in the federal cabinet.
Despite five rounds of talks, no conclusive agreement has so far been reached.
“Questions are being raised about Pakistan’s political situation,” Bhutto-Zardari said during a media interaction in the federal capital. “Questions are being raised about the legitimacy of the election. The sooner the process of government formation is completed, the better it would be.”
However, he said Sharif’s party had reached out to the PPP for government formation, adding he would vote for them on his own terms.
“The delay is due to the non-seriousness of the [PML-N] dialogue committee,” he continued. “I am not the one suffering from it. Pakistan is suffering. The democracy of Pakistan is at stake. The sooner this issue is resolved, the better it will be in terms of stability for the upcoming government.”
“We are not in a hurry; we stand by our position,” Bhutto-Zardari said without specifying details. “If someone else wants to change their position, progress can be made. If not, I see a very dangerous stalemate ahead.”
He said such a situation would not be good for democracy, political stability, economy or the federation.
A day earlier, the representatives of the two parties met amid speculation that they were going to reach a consensus before the first session of the newly elected parliament was summoned before the end of the month.
“The negotiations are underway positively and another round of talks will be held in the morning [Tuesday],” Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, a PML-N representative in the negotiations, told reporters after the negotiations on Monday.
Asked about the PPP’s inclusion in the federal cabinet, he said: “Some issues like its inclusion are already settled.”
The PPP, however, said there was ample time available to finalize the coalition, adding the conversation about the party joining the federal cabinet was never part of the meeting agenda.
“The PPP is sticking to its stance that it will not ask the PML-N for ministries,” its representative, Qamar Zaman Kaira, told the media.
