Sharif in talks to form Pakistan government

LAHORE — Pakistan election winner Nawaz Sharif was in talks on Sunday to form a new government, with fixing the shattered economy and tackling militancy likely to be his two biggest challenges.

Partial, unofficial results from Saturday’s election represented a stunning comeback for the wealthy 63-year-old tycoon who was deposed as prime minister in a 1999 military coup and spent years in jail and exile.

Sharif appears to have done well enough to rule out the prospect of a weak coalition, as the party of former cricket star Imran Khan achieved its own breakthrough on an anti-corruption platform that resonated with younger voters.

Imran’s party also looked set to take over the provincial government in the restive northwest, where he has vowed to end US drone strikes.

Taleban violence marred the election campaign with attacks killing more than 150 people, including 24 on polling day itself.

It remains unclear whether Sharif will preside over any substantive policy change in the war on militants. While he has voiced support for peace talks with the Taleban, he has been less vocal against US drone strikes than his main rival Imran Khan, and is considered a pragmatist with whom Washington can work.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama congratulated Pakistan on Sunday on its parliamentary elections and said Washington was ready to work “as equal partners” with the government that emerges.

“My administration looks forward to continuing our cooperation with the Pakistani government that emerges from this election as equal partners in supporting a more stable, secure, and prosperous future for the people of Pakistan,” he said in a statement.

Pakistan, which has had three coups and four military rulers, is marking the first time that one elected civilian administration will hand power to another after a full term in office.

TV projections suggested no single party would win an absolute majority in the 342-seat national assembly.

But Sharif’s centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was well ahead with more than 115 of the chamber’s 272 directly elected seats, according to various projections by private channels and as many as 128 according to Geo TV.

Sartaj Aziz, a senior PML-N official and former cabinet minister, said Sharif was in talks on Sunday with some independent MPs to get them on board and in discussions to work out “a few key portfolios” in the cabinet.

The election was defined by the tanking economy, an energy crisis that causes power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, the unpopular alliance in the US-led “war on terror” and chronic corruption.

Sharif has vowed a pro-business agenda to revive the feeble economy for what will be his third term as prime minister, a record in Pakistan, following two tenures in the 1990s.

Asked how his time in prison and exile had changed him, Aziz said it had “matured him” and “made him more thoughtful”.

Imran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) was neck and neck with the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party on around 30 to 25 seats, a remarkable achievement given that it only won one seat previously, in 2002.

Besides the national assembly, voters also elected four provincial assemblies and Imran’s party emerged on top in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, putting PTI on track to form a government on the frontline of the war against the Taleban.

Imran welcomed the high turnout as a step forward for democracy but alleged vote-rigging in a televised statement from the hospital bed where he is laid up with a fractured spine following a fall at an election rally last week.

“They placed election staff and administration officials for rigging at various places. Rigging was done in Punjab, in Karachi it was visible to everyone and in Sindh also,” he said.

Imran declared he would go into opposition and said that if his party forms a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they would turn it into a “model province”.

“I want to assure that the change has come in Pakistan, whatever others say. The foundation of a new Pakistan has been laid,” he said.

The Bhutto clan’s PPP, which led the outgoing coalition, was heavily defeated over its record of ineffectual administration over the past five years.

Flanked by his brother and daughter, Sharif gave a victory speech late on Saturday to hundreds of jubilant supporters at PML-N headquarters in Lahore.

“We should thank Allah that He has given PML-N another chance to serve you and Pakistan,” he said, after nearly 60 per cent of the 86 million electorate.

“I appeal for all parties to come to the table and sit with me and solve the country’s problems,” Sharif said.

Pakistan’s largest domestic observer mission, The Free and Fair Election Network, said Sunday that the polls were “relatively fair” despite some irregularities and violence at the polling stations.

• Pakistan