Coalition govt: PPP, PMLN meet today for fifth time

The fifth round of talks between the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party is set to take place today (Wednesday) as the two parties are inching closer to shape the Coalition government.

No party was able to secure a majority to form a government in the recently concluded General Elections in Pakistan early in February.

It terms of number, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent candidates emerged as the largest group by winning more than 90 seats in the National Assembly, followed by the PML-N and the PPP’s 79 and 54 seats, respectively.

The series of talks began after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto announced to support the PML-N’s candidate, Shehbaz Sharif, for the prime minister’s post, however, they failed to progress with the government since then.

They needed to secured 169 seats in the 336-member lower house of parliament to form a government.

However, the negotiations have not been so seamless as the PPP chairman, despite his announcement regarding support to PML-N for the chief executive slot, has repeatedly turned down the possibility of the party’s inclusion in the PML-N’s government.

It is worth mentioning here that, Bilawal has repeatedly said that “PPP won’t be a part of a government like Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) II”.

The former foreign minister once again publicly reiterated this stance during PPP’s “Youm-e-Tashakur” (thanksgiving day) rally in Thatta.

Meanwhile, senior PMLN leader Ishaq Dar has hinted at a significant development expected in talks between the coordination committees of his party and the PPP on Monday.

“Consultation on various proposals was underway till yesterday,” Dar stated in a post shared by PML-N on X, suggesting ongoing deliberations between the parties.

He further remarked that while progress had been made, both sides had yet to finalise key points of agreement.

“We are working towards consensus on critical issues,” Dar added.