PML-N President and former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has been nominated as the next premier to lead a new coalition alliance formed between different parties, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

PML-N Quaid and former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif nominated his younger brother Shehbaz, 72, for the post of prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, 50, for Punjab chief minister slot.

Taking to X platform on Tuesday night, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said, “PML-N supremo 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.”

“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 added.

پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) کے قائد جناب محمد نوازشریف نے وزیراعظم اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکستان کے عہدے کےلئے جناب محمد شہبازشریف کو نامزد کر دیا ہے جبکہ وزیراعلی پنجاب کے عہدے کےلئے محترمہ مریم نوازشریف کو نامزد کیا ہے۔ جناب محمد نوازشریف نے پاکستان کے عوام اور سیاسی تعاون فراہم کرنے والی…

— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) February 13, 2024

PML-N, led by Nawaz Sharif, is the largest recognised party with 79 National Assembly seats. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) holds the second position with 54 seats and MQM-Pakistan has 17 seats. Combined, these three parties have sufficient seats to secure a simple majority in the 266-seat legislature.

On Tuesday, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari withdrew from contention for the prime ministerial position and announced that his party would endorse any nominee put forward by the PML-N.

The PPP on Tuesday announced its decision to back Sharif's party in establishing a coalition government, resolving a deadlock following inconclusive elections last week.

Bilawal Bhutto, however, made it clear that his party would refrain from participating in the federal cabinet.

Nevertheless, this alliance has quelled concerns regarding government formation, coming five days after the Feb. 8 elections which yielded a divided outcome and raised fears of renewed instability.

Independent candidates backed by jailed former premier Imran Khan have won 92 seats, making them the largest group, but they cannot form a government on their own, having run as individuals and not a party, and have ruled out alliances with PML-N or PPP.

Bilawal said that Imran Khan's independent candidates and the PML-N collectively held more seats than his party, though Imran Khan had dismissed the idea of forming an alliance with the PPP.

Maryam confirmed for Punjab CM post

Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday revealed that Mariam Nawaz will be the PML-N candidate for the Punjab chief minister slot. Addressing joint press conference along with other political leaders to announce formation of a coalition government in Islamabad on Tuesday night, Shehbaz revealed the candidate for Punjab chief minister slot.

وزیر اعظم شہباز شریف
وزیراعلیٰ مریم نواز pic.twitter.com/kW3MbqmRCv

— Badar Shahbaz 🇵🇰🇵🇸 (@BSWarraich) February 13, 2024

Numbers game

As per the Election Commission of Pakistan’s tally, the total number of general seats won by the six parties which announced their plans to form a coalition led by Shehbaz Sharif — PML-N, PPP. MQM-P, PML-Q, IPP and BAP — comes to 152, which clearly shows that these parties will easily achieve the minimum required number of 169 to form the government at the Centre after the addition of 60 women and 10 minority seats in their tally.

However, it is yet to be seen if these parties will be able to get to the next magic number of 224, which is required to obtain the elusive two-thirds majority in a 336-member National Assembly.

If the PTI-backed candidates decide to join the Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), as announced by the party, it will get a share in the women and minorities seats as well. However, since the MWM has only won a seat only from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI would only be entitled to a share in the 10 reserved seats allocated to women from that province.

سب کو چارٹر آف اکانومی کی دعوت دیتا ہوں۔ آئیں قوم کی خاطر باہمی اختلافات ختم کرکے آگے بڑھیں اور چارٹر آف ڈیموکریسی کو فروغ دیں۔

صدر پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) شہبازشریف کی نیوز کانفرنس سے گفتگو۔ pic.twitter.com/H5uWa2aECF

— PMLN (@pmln_org) February 13, 2024

Parties agree on coalition

Two main political parties that joined forces to oust Imran Khan as prime minister in 2022 said Tuesday they would form a new coalition to rule the country.

PML-N short of votes to win a ruling majority, it said it was partnering with PPP as well as a handful of smaller parties to form the next government.

Loyalists of Imran Khan, jailed on corruption charges, won the most seats as independent candidates in Thursday's elections.

"The parties present here are almost two-thirds of the house that has been elected," said Shehbaz Sharif, alongside leaders of the PPP and two other groups, and representatives from two more.

Shehbaz Sharif said the PML-N was even willing to talk to Imran Khan to include his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the next government. "Forget and forgive; forgive and forget -- come let's join hands for the betterment of the country," he said. "Sacrifice self interests, set the issue of egos aside," he added.

پارلیمان وجود میں آنے والی ہے، معیشت کو اپنے پاؤں پر کھڑا کرنا ہے، ہمیں اختلافات ختم کرکے قوم کو آگے لے کرجانا ہے۔

صدر پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) محمد شہبازشریف pic.twitter.com/bbb0Wjuexq

— PMLN (@pmln_org) February 13, 2024

- Imran Khan rules out cooperation -

The press conference followed a hectic day of behind-the-scenes negotiations and even denials by PPP that they were ready to join forces with PML-N.

Earlier, speaking during a court appearance at Adiala Jail where he has spent much of his time since his arrest in August, Imran Khan ruled out cooperation. "We will neither sit with the PML-N nor with the PPP," he told a handful of reporters covering a procedural hearing at the prison outside Islamabad.

The press conference by PML-N and PPP left a lot of unanswered questions about who would fill key positions in the next government, and made clear there was still much negotiating to be done.

Shehbaz Sharif, who served as prime minister in the last government before the National Assembly was dissolved, had said during the press conference that he wanted his older brother, three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, to return to office.

But Aurangzeb later said on X, the former Twitter, that the elder Sharif wanted his brother to lead the country. "We have decided today that we will get together and form the government to lift Pakistan from difficulty," Asif Ali Zardari, PPP co-chairman and former Pakistan president, told the press conference.

پی ٹی آئی کے پاس اکثریت ہے تو سامنے لے آئیں آئین اور جمہور کے تقاضے کے مطابق ہم اس کا احترام کریں گے۔

صدر پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ن) شہبازشریف کی مشترکہ نیوز کانفرنس سے گفتگو۔ pic.twitter.com/t7idyvU0PT

— PMLN (@pmln_org) February 13, 2024

Candidates loyal to Imran Khan took most of the seats in the polls, defying a months-long crackdown that crippled campaigning and forced them to run as independents. But despite independents winning 101 National Assembly seats, a government can only be formed by a recognised party, or coalition of parties, so they would have to join another group to become an effective bloc.

There were widespread allegations of vote-rigging and result manipulation after authorities switched off the nation's mobile phone network on election day, ostensibly on security grounds, and the count took more than 24 hours.

"We are going to challenge the election rigging in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and we will consider the alliance later," Imran Khan said Tuesday.

Earlier, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said he would like to see his father become president again. "And 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 said.