Two major Pakistan political parties said they had reached a formal agreement to form a coalition government, ending ten days of intense negotiations after an inconclusive national election did not return a clear majority. The agreement between Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif ended days of uncertainty and negotiations after the Feb. 8 Pakistani elections produced a hung national assembly. A late night press conference in Islamabad announced that former premier Shehbaz Sharif would be the coalition’s candidate for prime minister. Zardari added that his father Asif Ali Zardari will be the alliance’s candidate for the country’s president.
This new coalition is on the heels of a lot of uncertainty and protest around the election, marred with violence and accusations of poll rigging. Taken with actions surrounding the previous Prime Minister, as well as escalating tensions about military control, and the Pakistani governmental relationship, how politicians seemingly need to be in-line with the military, and it paints a very… shady picture. Seemingly, it is align, or find themself in a position such as the previous Prime Minister, Imran Khan, ousted from power (though the narrative seems to change depending where you go) and put in prison on escalated charges. The prime running party in Pakistan was the former prime minister’s Pakistan Tehereek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which secured the most parliamentary seats in last week’s nationwide election. Independent candidates affiliated with this party was how it was truly presented however, as the party’s cricket bat symbol, used to identify them, was barred from appearing on the ballot, prompting accusations of “pre-poll rigging”. Regardless, even with the majority, they still did not secure enough votes to land them the majority needed to create a functioning government. None of the three major parties of the country won the necessary 169 seats to have a majority in parliament and, therefore, were unable to form government on their own, leaving it unclear up until now what was to happen. Also, their leading and preferred and popular Prime Minister Candidate is still in prison.
This connects to discussion we have had in class on the fragility of democracy, and how complicated multi-party/chaired democratic systems can become, as well as its often fragility to external groups. Democracy can be incredibly fragile at times, and this feels like a situation where it is quite so. It was also a situation here of unprecedented change. If the PTI-backed candidates had succeeded in forming a government, it would have ushered Pakistan into an unprecedented era – one in which the ruling party was seemingly at odds with the military, while its leader remained behind bars. It also shows how complicated and different, especially considering different perspectives. On the one hand, you can hold up Imran Khan as a stand-up guy representing the people, and trying for change in Pakistan. And on the other, you can show him as a guy accused of some remarkably shady dealings who was ousted from power but is still trying to find a way back. I read quite a few articles about this topic, and they portrayed some areas very differently depending on the source and perspective in interesting ways. Issues like these can have many sides you don’t expect, and news sources are not always unbiased. What you think depends on who you listen to, and what you believe. It also showcases the immense impacts that history, and especially the history of colonialism shifting borders, has on a state, especially one with a history of instability tied to that.