Pakistan Election: Situation Fluid Due to Delayed Results, Speculation Rife over Next PM

As the results of the Pakistan national elections trickle in, multiple scenarios are emerging as to who would eventually become the country’s next Prime Minister, reports ETV Bharat’s Aroonim Bhuyan. The Election Commission of Pakistan extended the deadline for declaration of the final results till 10 am today.

New Delhi: With the final results of the Pakistan National Elections getting delayed by hours on end, the speculations are now rife about who will eventually form the government in India’s western neighbour.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had earlier set a deadline of 2 am on Friday for the final results to be declared after the country went to the polls on Thursday. However, it was later extended to 10 am on Friday as the country’s Interior Ministry suspended internet services for security reasons.

At the time of filing this report, former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)-backed independent candidates were leading, having won 57 seats in the 342-member National Assembly.

Former PM Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had won 42 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by former PM Benazir Bhutto’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had won 34.

This has sparked off speculations as to who would get to form the government. Several scenarios are emerging and have grabbed the attention of experts. Khan has been jailed for three criminal cases and has been barred from contesting the elections after his party was denied the cricket bat election symbol.

As such PTI members are contesting the elections as independents. After being denied the cricket bat symbol, several have used Khan’s photo in place while others are using various different symbols.

This is where the question arises: if the PTI-backed independents emerge as the biggest entity, can they form the government?

“See, the Chief Election Commissioner had issued a statement ahead of the elections that the PTI-backed independents cannot join the party back even if they win,” Ehsan Ahmed Sehar, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Nawa-i-Ahmedpur Sharqia Pakistan and Patron of All Pakistan Regional Newspapers Society, told ETV Bharat.

“However, if they emerge as the majority, they will be allowed to form the government,” Sehar added. In that case, the question arises as to who will become the PM then.

Senior PTI leader Gohar Ali Khan has claimed that his party-backed candidates are in a position to form a government on their own and would not need to form a coalition government either with the PML-N or the PPP.

“We are not in contact with PPP or PML-N,” Geo News quoted Barrister Gohar as saying. He claimed that PTI-backed candidates were winning 150 National Assembly seats and would be able to achieve the required number of seats to form the government at the Centre.

Sehar opined that in such a scenario, Barrister Gohar will consult Imran Khan, who is behind bars, to decide on who can be the prime ministerial candidate.

The other scenario that is emerging is of the PML-N and the PPP forming a coalition government. In that case, the race for the PM will be between former PM and Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto, Sehar added.

“Nawaz Sharif has already said that he would not like to be the PM in a coalition government. His daughter Maryam Nawaz has said that her party leader will give a speech once the final results are out,” Sehar said.

Sharif, interestingly, had contested from two seats – Mansehra and Lahore. While he lost the Mansehra seat to PTI-backed independent candidate Ghazanfar Khan, he retained his traditional bastion of Lahore.

However, a third scenario is now emerging with PPP leader, former Pakistan President and Bilawal Bhutto’s father Asif Ali Zardari arriving in Islamabad on Friday. According to Sehar, Zardari has invited all independent candidates, including those backed by the PTI, for a meeting.

“Zaradari had said ahead of the elections that his son will be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan,” Sehar said. However, till the final vote is counted, nothing concrete can be arrived at.