Election 2024 led to some surprising results, with no political party able to get a clear majority. And so it was a given that we would get a coalition government and a hung parliament of some sort. Amid calculations of who joins whom to form government, almost all parties made some strategic announcements yesterday. The PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif said his party is ready to sit in opposition if PTI-backed candidates can establish their majority in the lower house of parliament, saying that the PML-N would "accept them happily if they fail to [form government] then we will use our constitutional and legal right” to form the government. Shehbaz Sharif also said the PML-N has a majority in Punjab and will form a government there. On the other hand, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said that the PPP has decided to support its political competitor PML-N’s candidate for the prime minister’s slot, but is not interested in taking federal ministries in the setup. However, the PPP is eyeing constitutional positions like the president, speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Senate. Throw in governorships – and the PPP will have worked out a very sweet deal for itself if this does come about.
As for the PTI, Imran Khan has directed his party to join hands with religious party Majlis-e-Wahdat-Muslimeen (MWM) to form its governments in centre and Punjab. PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan said that Imran, while ruling out the prospects of any talks with the PML-N, PPP and MQM-P, had directed the party to form a coalition with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over reserved seats.
How the PML-N will rule the country being a minority government is for the party to figure out. While the PPP may have chosen the best option for itself, the PML-N will be in a difficult position as the entire responsibility for tough economic decisions, economic reforms and governance will be theirs while the PPP will be enjoying constitutional positions with zero responsibility. Although it was initially unclear whether the PPP would be sitting on opposition benches or treasury benches, some PPP leaders have said the party will be on the treasury side. The matter will hopefully be clarified further today and the next few days. A more positive look at the PPP’s choices would be that, instead of acting like a disruptive force, the party will be a constructive force that does not want to see political chaos in the country.
Political experts had already said that it would be a difficult decision for the PPP to form an alliance with the PML-N again, like the PDM government in 2022. To make a distinction from PDM, the PPP has taken a way out for itself. There is an opinion that Bilawal’s campaign was that of an opposition leader. Ideally, he would have wanted to be the leader of the opposition. But due to PTI’s rigid stance of not even wanting to talk to the PPP, PML-N or the MQM, everyone’s options are limited unless a new election is held. The PTI has been claiming two-third majority. However, the reality is a hung mandate.Ideally, now would be the time for the PTI to leave its divisive politics aside and learn to co-exist with other political parties instead of closing all doors to negotiations with political rivals. If the PPP and PML-N can take difficult decisions despite being nervous about the future, the PTI could have extended an olive branch to other parties and formed a government if it wanted to. Unfortunately, it seems that we will be witnessing another weak government in the centre due to the polarization in our politics.