ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES
Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the support from the PPP and other parties and said all the parties had come together because they needed to tackle numerous challenges, particularly the economy.
The country of 241 million people is grappling with an economic crisis amid slow growth and record inflation, along with rising militant violence.
It narrowly averted a sovereign default last summer with a US$3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, but the lender’s support ends in March, following which a new, extended programme will be needed.
Negotiating a new programme, and at speed, will be critical for the new government.
Analysts had hoped the election would bring a solution to the crises faced by Pakistan, but the split verdict, with a large number of independents at loggerheads with the influential military, could only mean more instability.
The new political alliance has a nearly two-thirds majority in the new parliament, Sharif said, adding that this would lead to more certainty in policy-making.
Khan, a celebrity cricket star-turned-politician, is in jail on charges of corruption and revealing state secrets, and his party was barred from contesting the election, forcing members to run as independents.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has alleged that the vote was rigged and vowed to legally challenge some results. The caretaker government and election commission have rejected those accusations.