Explained: Pakistan provides a fractured mandate, how will parties form the next government?
With no political party holding a clear majority in Pakistan, forming a government has become a puzzling task. The absence of a decisive winner has sparked curiosity about the unfolding political dynamics and the steps that will shape the country's leadership.
FollowThe Pakistan election chaos is now a thing of the past after the results of all the seats in the national assembly were declared. Independent Candidates won the most number of seats which is 93 under the umbrella of Imran Khan’s PTI. This was after the political party was barred from the election after various allegations.
Pakistan National Assembly has 336 seats out of which 70 are reserved. For any party or coalition to form a government in Islamabad, the magical figure is 169. In terms of the current mandate, nearly all the major political parties are finding it hard to touch 169 seats for forming the next government.
Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) has come out as the second-largest party after winning 75 seats. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's People's Party of Pakistan managed to win 54 seats. Negotiations have already begun between Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari over a coalition government. The likelihood of the two big parties coming together once again is high.
However, PMLN and PPP coming together will mean the coalition getting towards a figure of 129 seats which is still 40 seats short. The coalition is also in talks with several smaller parties to facilitate the formation of a government. According to regulations laid down in Pakistan’s constitution, the President calls the national assembly after 3 weeks of the election.
A new speaker is elected by votes in the national assembly and then the leader of the house, Prime Minister, is chosen through at least 169 votes in the assembly. If no candidate has crossed the mark of gathering 169 MPs votes then a second round of voting is held. The process continues until a leader is not elected by the Members of the assembly.
