Pakistan to form coalition government after contentious election

The center-left Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday night proposed former premier Shehbaz Sharif as their candidate for prime minister. Sharif previously served as prime minister from 2022 to 2023. Millions of citizens participated in the country’s Feb. 8 parliamentary elections, but no one party won enough seats in the National Assembly to form a government. The Peoples Party won 54 seats and the Muslim League won 75 seats, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf—the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan—won the most seats at 93. The parliament is scheduled to vote by Feb. 29 on a new prime minister.

Has anyone opposed the coalition government? Khan on Tuesday claimed in a social media post that the election was rigged. He is expected to ask the International Monetary Fund to audit the country’s elections, the former leader’s lawyer Ali Zafar said Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State on Feb. 9 released a statement condemning election interference and calling for the claims to be investigated. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Onize Ohikere’s report on The WORLD and Everything in It podcast about how Christians are persecuted in Pakistan.