This coalition agreement comes after former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed candidates and the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to secure a simple majority in the elections.

Islamabad: Pakistan’s two major political parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), have finally reached an agreement to form a coalition government in Centre. “Both the parties have agreed on a power-sharing formula as we have the required number of seats in the National Assembly (NA) to form the government,” PML-N President and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday evening during a joint press conference in Islamabad.

Following days of negotiations between the two parties, it has been decided that Sharif will be the joint candidate for both parties for the slot of Prime Minister and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari will be the joint candidate for the President’s slot, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bhutto-Zardari said, “The PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and [now] we are in a position to form the government,” Geo news reported.

Speaking on the occasion, Shehbaz Sharif asserted that his PML-N now has the “required numbers” with the PPP to be in a position to form the next government as he thanked the leadership of the two parties for the positive conclusion to the talks.

The former prime minister emphasised the unity between the two parties, noting that they were well-positioned to form the government at the Centre, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

This coalition agreement comes after former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed candidates and the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to secure a simple majority in the elections.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced the result of 265 out of 266 seats for the National Assembly after the country held general elections on February 8 to elect a government for the next five-year term, with no political party securing a simple majority, compelling parties to make alliances to form the government in Centre.

The PML-N secured 75 seats, PPP came third with 54 seats, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has agreed to support them with their 17 seats. With this coalition, they aim to navigate the challenges ahead collectively.