Post-Polls Pakistan: Imran-backed candidates to join Sunni party

Independent candidates backed by Pakistan's jailed former prime minister that won seats in inconclusive elections over 10 days ago will join the minority Sunni Ittehad Council Political Party to form a government, the party's interim chief said yesterday.

The interim chief, Barrister Gohar Khan, said at a news briefing the decision to join the minority party was so that former PM Imran Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which was barred from contesting the election, could access reserved seats in the national assembly.

Parties are allocated 70 reserved seats - 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims - in proportion to the number of seats won. This completes the National Assembly's total 336 seats. Independents are not eligible for reserved seats.

During the press conference, the leader for the Sunni Ittehad Council Political Party said it had signed a memorandum with the PTI and all direction would come from the PTI and jailed leader Khan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's two major parties were set to meet yesterday to try and bridge differences over forming a minority coalition government after the inconclusive election, a top party official said.

The talks will be the fifth such round after former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif was named by his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to lead the country again.

"Both the parties haven't yet agreed on final points," said Ishaq Dar, a senator of Sharif's party, who is leading it in the talks.

"Negotiations are underway on various proposals" for power sharing, he added in a statement on Sunday posted on social media platform X.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) party of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has announced conditional support for the PML-N, saying it will vote for Sharif to form the government, but would not take positions in cabinet.

"I can confirm that it has been decided in principle that the political parties will form a coalition government," Dar told domestic broadcaster Geo TV.