Pakistan’s parties strike deal on coalition government, says ex FM

ISLAMABAD : Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Tuesday (Feb 20) that his party had reached an agreement with the largest party in the country’s national assembly to form a coalition government.

The agreement between Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif ends days of uncertainty and negotiations after the Feb. 8 elections produced a hung national assembly.

Bhutto Zardari confirmed at a late night press conference that former Premier Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz, will be the coalition’s candidate for prime minister, and his father Asif Ali Zardari will be their candidate for the country’s president.