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“HUGE CRISIS”
Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari, said he would like to see his father become president again.
“And I am not saying this because he is my father. I am saying this because the country is in a huge crisis at the moment and if anyone has the capacity to douse this fire, it is Asif Ali Zardari,” he said.
The PML-N of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif – which was widely expected to win the lion’s share of votes in the National Assembly – has previously said it was open to forming a coalition government.
Khan was ousted by a vote of no confidence in 2022 and thereafter waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the nation’s military kingmakers.
He has been buried under dozens of court cases, convicted numerous times and barred from standing for office – all he claims orchestrated to prevent his return to power.
PTI’s senior leaders were subject to sweeping arrests and the party barred from appearing on ballot papers in a crackdown analysts agree was planned by the military establishment.
Independents loyal to Khan still secured around 90 of the 266 elected seats for Pakistan’s parliament, although PTI insist its returns would have been far higher without rigging.
PTI has largely been focussed on challenging the legitimacy of the vote, rather than speaking with other parties.
PML-N and PPP had been locked in negotiations to enter government together but Bhutto Zardari said Tuesday his party had decided it would not join a coalition.
The move could effectively leave Pakistan with a minority government tasked with pulling the country out of a crushing economic crisis.
However, Shehbaz Sharif, prime minister in the previous government and brother of Nawaz, said on Tuesday the PML-N was still open to talks with other parties.
“We’ve had two meetings (with PPP), and there may be a few more. Once a decision is reached, the nation will be informed,” he told a news conference in Lahore.