Former Pak PM Sharif's PML-N party secures support of five more independent candidates

Lahore: In a boost to the PML-N party, five newly elected independent members of Pakistan's National Assembly on Monday decided to join the party led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as he tries to form a coalition government after the election resulted in a hung Parliament.

This comes a day after one independent candidate backed by Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). In total, six independent candidates have joined PML-N.

Sardar Shamshir Mazari from NA 189, Imran Akram from PP 195, Sohail Khan from PP 240, Khizr Hussain Mazari from PP 297, and Sahibzada Mohammad Gazin Abbasi from PP 249 were among those who met Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) posted on X on Monday.

All the members expressed confidence in Nawaz Sharif's leadership and announced their decision to join the Muslim League (N), he said in the post.

"You have become a part of the caravan to beautify Pakistan and relieve the people from hardships," Shehbaz Sharif wrote.

The first agenda of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) is the economic prosperity of the country and the nation. The newly elected members of the assembly appreciated the services and passion of Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif for the country and the nation, he posted on X.

Pakistan needs Nawaz Sharif's sincere vision, development agenda and experience of service, and newly elected members of assembly talk, the post said.

Among the political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the largest party, winning 227 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 160 seats.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) is in third place with 45 seats.

In the National Assembly, independents won 101 seats, according to the preliminary results.

The PML-N led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif got 75 seats, while the PPP of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari grabbed 54 and the MQM-P secured 17 seats. Among other parties, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) won four seats, PML-Quaid, three, and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and the Balochistan National Party (BNP), two each.

To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the National Assembly.

Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of its total 336 seats, which include the reserved slots for women and minorities which will be decided later.

Going by their numerical strength, both the PML-N and the PPP are in a position to form a coalition government in the Centre. However, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif announced that all parties except PTI should join hands in the upcoming set-up.

The PML-N led by former three-time prime minister Nawaz has pitched the idea of a “participatory coalition government” to rival parties to end the logjam following the split verdict in the February 8 election.