Pakistan's Power-Sharing Pact

Pakistan's two dynastic parties announced a power-sharing agreement that is set to return Shehbaz Sharif to the premiership after an election this month failed to produce a decisive winner.

The army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said they had settled days of negotiations on securing a majority to form a coalition government that will also include several smaller parties.

Candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan won the most seats but were forced to stand as independents following a sweeping crackdown on the party.

The PML-N and PPP will put forward former leader Sharif as prime minister and Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as president.

"The Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz have attained the numbers and we will form a government," said PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Zardari and Bhutto, at a late-night press conference in the capital Islamabad.

"We are hopeful that Shehbaz Sharif will soon become the prime minister of the country and the whole of Pakistan should pray that the government should be successful.”

Sharif, seated next to Bhutto, added: "After 76 years, we find ourselves dependent on loans, and overcoming this situation is easier said than done. There are significant challenges that we are facing ... We have to take Pakistan out of these challenges."

The two parties combined in 2022 to oust former leader Khan in a no-confidence vote before sharing power in a shaky coalition that also saw Sharif at the helm, until the National Assembly was dissolved in August ahead of elections.

The National Assembly must convene for the first time by February 29, when the coalition can be formally approved.