Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chief Nawaz Sharif will enter the record books when he takes the oath as the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan for a record third time in a few days after his party won Saturday’s general election by a wide margin.
Counting of votes was progressing at a slow pace with trends indicating Mr Sharif may marginally fall short of an absolute majority but will be able to make it up by getting the support of Independents and small rightist parties like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which was ahead in 11 seats.
Unofficial results indicated that his PML(N) had secured 125 out of the 272 directly contested seats of the National Assembly while the Pakistan People’s Party got 30 seats, followed closely by Independents with 29 seats and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf with 27 seats.
As most Independents are likely to join the PML(N) in the coming days to become part of the government, Mr Sharif’s party will be in a reasonable position to form the government on its own.
The PML(N) is also likely to get a major share of the 70 reserved seats for women and minorities in the 342-member House. Political sources said, however, that the PML(N) leadership wanted to take regional parties along and form a coalition.
Mr Sharif promised Sunday to bring Pakistan and India closer after his party takes over power. “Building trust with India is the one of the main agendas of the PML(N). We will be flexible to improve relations”, a senior PML(N) leader told this newspaper after the telephonic conversation between Mr Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“Nawaz Sharif told the Indian PM we will not dig out bitter things and look forward to the future”, he said. During the campaign, Mr Sharif, 63, had vowed to revive the Indo-Pak peace process that was interrupted in 1999 by then military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who had ousted him in a bloodless coup. Mr Sharif had started the peace process with then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called Mr Sharif to congratulate him on his election victory, also invited the incoming government to help negotiate an end to the Taliban insurgency that has ravaged his country for the past 12 years. On Sunday, Mr Nawaz Sharif began talks to form a new government. Fixing the shattered economy and tackling militancy are likely to be his two biggest challenges. Sartaj Aziz, a senior PML(N) official and former Cabinet minister, said Mr Sharif was talking to some Independent MPs to get them on board and in discussions to work out “a few key portfolios” in the Cabinet. He said the talks will continue in the days to come. Earlier, Mr Sharif proclaimed victory for the PML(N) while addressing a group of jubilant supporters at his home in Lahore late Saturday night, and asked people to pray that the final results would deliver an “absolute majority” for his party so that he would not have to lead a weak coalition. “The results are still coming in but we almost have confirmation about one thing — that the PML(N) has emerged the largest party in this election. I ask you to pray that the results that come in the morning will show that the PML(N) can form government without outside support, so that the PML(N) doesn’t have to seek support from anyone,” he said. PML(N) supporters took to the streets in droves to celebrate the victory. Overwhelmed, they fired in the air at several places in Lahore, violating the Election Commission’s code of conduct. Conced-ing defeat, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan said from his hospital bed: “I have seen many ups and downs in my life. But I forget the pain of this defeat when I see the enthusiasm of the youngsters. I want to thank the electorate for coming out in such large numbers. This is significant for Pakistan. The people have decided that they will play a role in Pakistan through their vote.”
Mr Khan, 60, alleged his party had been affected by rigging in Punjab and Sindh provinces. He said his party will produce a “white paper” on the alleged rigging so that such practices could be prevented in future.
Analysts said it was possible that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, leading in 12 seats, could back Mr Sharif in forming the government. To win a simple majority, a party or coalition would have to bag 137 of the 272 National Assembly seats for which polls were held.
The PML(N) was also set to form government in the most populous province of Punjab, where it was leading in 188 seats out of 297 seats in the provincial assembly.
Mr Sharif served as Prime Minister in 1990-1993 and in 1997-1999 but was ousted from office before he could complete his term — once on corruption charges and later because of the coup led by Gen. Musharraf. The PML(N) was returned to power at the national level after millions of Pakistanis braved Taliban threats and violence that claimed some 50 lives to vote in landmark polls that marked the first transition from one civilian government to another in the country’s 66-year history, that has witnessed numerous military coups.