New Pak government likely by March 2; presidential election before March 9: Report
power-sharing deal already inked, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report on Friday. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has agreed to form a new government after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament.
Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz, decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. The party has clarified that the three-time former prime minister did not want to lead a government in which the PMN-L does not have a majority in Parliament.
Both parties won fewer seats than candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Quoting sources, The News International reported that serious consideration is being given to the proposal to hold the presidential election before March 9 as the newly elected assemblies across the country will take oath by February 29 and a new government be in place by March 2.
Incumbent President Dr Arif Alvi's five-year tenure officially ended in September of last year. However, the dentist-turned-politician, who was a senior member of Khan's PTI before being appointed to the post in 2018, continued to
