{"id":59700,"date":"2024-02-13T19:35:05","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T19:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/pdm-leaders-renew-coalition-in-a-bid-to-form-government\/"},"modified":"2024-02-13T19:35:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T19:35:05","slug":"pdm-leaders-renew-coalition-in-a-bid-to-form-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/pdm-leaders-renew-coalition-in-a-bid-to-form-government\/","title":{"rendered":"PDM leaders renew coalition in a bid to form government"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Political leaders belonging to the former alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), as well as some new faces, announced their bid on Tuesday night to form the next government in a coalition setup.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the PPP and PML-N began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1813447\">hectic efforts<\/a> to hammer out some sort of power-sharing formula in the national and Punjab assemblies after PTI-backed independent candidates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1812974\">emerged to the top<\/a> in the National Assembly polls, with at least 93 seats.<\/p>\n<p>PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1813918\/pti-to-ally-with-majlis-wahdat-i-muslimeen-in-punjab-and-centre-with-jamaat-i-islami-in-kp\">announced<\/a> a coalition with the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen in the Centre and Punjab. \u201cAnd in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for reserved seats, we will form a coalition with the Jamaat-i-Islami,\u201d he said at a press conference today after meeting imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan at Adiala Jail.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement by the former allies in the previous government was made in an Islamabad press conference at the home of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid chief Chaudhry Shujaat attended by a who\u2019s who of politicos, including PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N Senator Ishaq Dar, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party\u2019s Aleem Khan and Awn Chaudhry.<\/p>\n<p>Notably missing was PDM and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  w-full  w-full  media--stretch  media--embed  \">\n<p><div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"Asif Zardari, Shehbaz Sharif, Khalid Maqbool and Chaudhry Shujaat&#039;s Joint Press Conference |DawnNews\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TZ95OyFzg4s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe have decided to sit together and form the government. God willing we will take Pakistan out of difficulty,\u201d Zardari made the announcement as he kicked off the press conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to do reconciliation and the PTI is included in that. It is not that we don\u2019t want the PTI to enter reconciliation. It should and every other political force should, come and talk with us. Our economic and defence agenda should be common. We should move forward with our commonalities and then make the house of Sharif and others successful so we can make Pakistan successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zardari said he and other political leaders were aware of the level of the country\u2019s debt and were aware of future debt repayments as well as issues affecting the nation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking at everything, we have thought and decided to sit together. We have contested elections against each other but despite that, it is not necessary that [we fight] forever. Opposition happens in elections. It was electioneering opposition, not ideological opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zardari said the leaders could sit together, talk together and run the country together.<\/p>\n<p>Shehbaz said the political leaders together with him had gathered to tell the nation that election campaign politics of opposition was over with the imminent formation of the Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow our war is against the country\u2019s challenges. The first challenge is the economy. We have to stabilise it which is a tall task. Nations move forward when their leadership unites and decides to end conflicts and take the nation forward to eliminate problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the next task on the agenda was to solve the country\u2019s economic issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday we have united to tell the nation that we all accept the split mandate. I am thankful to Zardari and Bilawal that they decided for their party to vote for the PML-N,\u201d he said and thanked the other gathered leaders as well.<\/p>\n<p>Shehbaz said the other gathered parties with him represented \u201calmost 2\/3 majority\u201d of the Parliament after elections.<\/p>\n<p>He said if PTI-backed independents could form the government then they were welcome to do so and the gathered group would accept it, otherwise, the \u201coverwhelming majority\u201d of the group also had the right to do so.<\/p>\n<p>Shehbaz requested his brother Nawaz Sharif to accept the office of the prime minister and also said that PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz will be the Punjab chief minister candidate after the party\u2019s consultations.<\/p>\n<p>To a question about whether Zardari would be the next president, Shehbaz said: \u201cWe won\u2019t disappoint you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shehbaz called for an end to \u201cissues of ego\u201d and personal conflicts, adding that the need was for \u201crevolutionary steps\u201d to rescue the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCome and I again invite the Charter of Economy to everyone. Come, move forward and let\u2019s together promote the Charter of Democracy and end the things we said against one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the enemies of the nation should be shown that it was united.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForgive and forget. Let us have this charter of reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Siddiqui said that no interest could be greater than serving Pakistan for any party at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith mutual cooperation, we will strengthen democracy and support Shehbaz Sharif. We have supported him before and will do so in future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Siddiqui said everyone must put aside their political interests and move ahead with a common approach to serve the country.<\/p>\n<p>Aleem said that Pakistan was going through an extremely difficult phase with inflation impacting the poor and the economic crisis aggravating.<\/p>\n<p>He said everyone had to step up for difficult decisions beneficial for the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am hopeful the upcoming government of Shehbaz Sharif will efficiently take such decisions and end the miseries of the poor,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>He said he was thankful to Shujaat for inviting all political leaders for important discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the joint press conference, PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said Nawaz nominated Shehbaz for the post of the country\u2019s prime minister and Maryam for Punjab\u2019s chief minister.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"ppp-to-not-join-federal-cabinet-bilawal\" href=\"#ppp-to-not-join-federal-cabinet-bilawal\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>PPP to not join federal cabinet: Bilawal<\/h2>\n<p>Just hours earlier today, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said his party would lend support to the incoming government in the case of important votes \u2014 such as the election of the prime minister \u2014 and on \u201cissue to issue basis\u201d but would not join the federal cabinet.<\/p>\n<p>The remarks came after a two-day-long meeting of the PPP\u2019s Central Executive Committee (CEC), which was presided over by Zardari.<\/p>\n<p>In a press conference today, Bilawal said the PPP\u2019s CEC meeting discussed the current situation of the country, the threats to political stability and the concerns regarding Pakistan reaching a crisis point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe PPP\u2019s principal decision is to take Pakistan out of the current crisis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reality is that the PPP does not have a mandate to form a government in the federation and due to this I will not be putting myself forward for the candidacy of the prime minister,\u201d Bilawal said, adding that the PML-N and independents had greater numbers to form a government in the Centre.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the PTI had announced that it would not engage in dialogue with the PPP and hence it ruled out the possibility of an independent-led government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe PPP has decided that we are unable or not in a position to join the federal government ourselves and will we be not interested in taking ministries in such a setup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we also don\u2019t want to see political chaos in the country,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n<p>Bilawal also recalled that his party ran for the Feb 8 polls on a manifesto based on issues of public importance and wanted to restore political stability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo that end, the PPP will be willing to support the case of important votes \u2014 a candidate of the PM of Pakistan \u2014 and issue to issue basis to ensure that the government is formed and political stability is restored,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In that context, Bilawal continued, the PPP had decided to form a committee to engage with other political parties on an \u201cissue-to-issue basis\u201d such as the premiership, budget and legislation.<\/p>\n<p>However, the PPP leader said he wanted to see his father as the president. \u201cAnd 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 can douse this fire, it is Asif Ali Zardari,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n<p>Further, Bilawal stressed that his party had concerns pertaining to the election results but had decided to accept them \u201cin the larger interest of the country\u201d. He said PPP members had specifically highlighted concerns on a level playing field with Asif Ali Zardari and the latter had assured that these complaints would be addressed.<\/p>\n<p>In response to a question regarding the PTI\u2019s stance on dialogue with other political parties, Bilawal said the Imran-led party was making decisions that were not favourable for democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSaying that we will not talk with anyone, okay don\u2019t do it. But why did people vote for you? They voted for you to resolve their problems [\u2026] a political force must listen to others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The former foreign minister further stated that all political forces needed to think about the country and end the politics of division. \u201cThey must not just think about themselves [\u2026] this way the enemies of the country would want to benefit from this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes two to tango,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In this scenario, Bilawal said the PPP had today once again decided to raise the slogan of \u201c<em>Pakistan khappay<\/em>\u201d only for the sake of the country and in the interest of the people.<\/p>\n<p>In a social media post later in the day, the PPP announced the names of the members of its six-member committee tasked with contacting and coordinating with political parties.<\/p>\n<p>The committee comprises Qamar Zaman Kaira, Murad Ali Shah, Saeed Ghani, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri and Shuja Khan.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"will-gladly-sit-in-opposition-benches-if-independents-form-govt-shehbaz\" href=\"#will-gladly-sit-in-opposition-benches-if-independents-form-govt-shehbaz\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Will gladly sit in opposition benches if independents form govt: Shehbaz<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier today, Shehbaz said his party would \u201cgladly sit in the opposition benches\u201d if independent candidates were able to form a government.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, Shehbaz said that the PML-N had emerged as the \u201cbiggest political party\u201d after the February 8 polls.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging that independent candidates had garnered more votes, he said, \u201cIf you count independent candidates, then obviously their number is greater. You cannot dispute the facts. But in political parties, the PML-N is number one, followed by the PPP and so on and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He further said that since the results of the polls had been released, it was now time to move onto to the \u201cnext phase\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf independent candidates, who call themselves PTI sponsored or non-PTI sponsored, if they can form a government then go ahead. The president will not give them an invitation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf independent candidates, who call themselves PTI sponsored, [\u2026] if they can show a majority, then we will gladly sit in opposition benches and play our constitutional role,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if they cannot, then other political parties have the right to form a government,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the legal and democratic way to do things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to move forward like this and finalise the upcoming phase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll political factions need to put their differences aside and join hands to help tackle the challenges, of which Pakistan has several,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on allegations of rigging by political parties, he asked: \u201cIn which elections have there not been rigging allegations?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shehbaz said that on election night, on the basis of a mere 10-12 per cent of results, there was a \u201cone-sided\u201d declaration that independents were winning and parties were losing, which was \u201cinappropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn one hand there are allegations of rigging [but] then independents are winning and we are losing. This is contradictory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that when PTI came to power in 2018, his party did not hold long marches, protest the results or call for civil disobedience. Rather, they worked dutifully as the opposition for the betterment of Pakistan, he said.<\/p>\n<p>He further commented that despite political differences, the opposition was more than willing to meet with then-prime minister Imran Khan on several issues, including on Kashmir and Covid-19, but alleged that Imran \u201cmade every effort to avoid meeting\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He further noted that his government was the one to \u201csave democracy in Pakistan\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about the possibility of a new deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said: \u201cLet there be no doubt about it, given the point where our economy is at the moment, we will have to go for another IMF package and without delay, whether [it is] a coalition or some other arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During his media talk, Shehbaz was also asked about party supremo and older brother Nawaz Sharif\u2019s prospects of becoming premier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still stand by my words that Nawaz Sharif will become prime minister for the fourth time,\u201d Shehbaz said as he recalled the string of achievements during the elder Sharifs\u2019 tenure.<\/p>\n<p>He further stated that during the tenure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, he made utmost efforts to decrease corruption.<\/p>\n<p>In a response to questions regarding inducting \u201cturncoats\u201d into the PML-N, Shehbaz said PTI hurled abuses at his party during its election campaign. \u201cDespite that, Nawaz Sharif said that PTI-backed independents should be given their constitutional right to form a government if they want to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if people want to join the PML-N out of their own will, what is the problem in that?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Political leaders belonging to the former alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), as well as some new faces, announced their bid on Tuesday night to form the next government in a coalition setup. Last week, the PPP and PML-N began hectic efforts to hammer out some sort of power-sharing formula in the national and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/02\/132316306aa1d2e.jpg?r=235301","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}