In last month's elections, independent candidates backed by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ended up winning 93 National Assembly seats, defying all odds and the military's will. But it could not win enough seats to form a majority government on its own. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Nawaz Sharif came in second with 75 seats, followed by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari with 54 seats. This made some kind of coalition a veritable necessity.
The dissonance in Pakistani polity was evident as Shehbaz Sharif in his speech thanked his older brother Nawaz, describing him as “the one who built Pakistan”, while Imran Khan's supporters called the new alliance government a “coalition of losers”.
After weeks of political negotiations and horse-trading, an eight-party coalition was formed, which has now assumed power with Sharif as the Prime Minister; PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari would be the new president. The dissonance in Pakistani polity was evident as Shehbaz Sharif in his speech thanked his older brother Nawaz, describing him as “the one who built Pakistan”, while Imran Khan's supporters called the new alliance government a “coalition of losers”.
Disenchantment Simmering
The success of PTI-backed candidates in recent elections and the inability of the military to manage the selection process in ways it would have preferred has already cast a spell over the future stability of the ruling coalition. People defied the military to vote against the Sharif-Bhutto duopoly, and the vote was so strong that despite widespread rigging and several seats reportedly being siphoned off to PML-N and other parties, PTI-backed candidates managed to win more seats than either of the two established parties. Yet, the two dynasties are now back in power and the disenchantment continues to simmer below the surface.
