After Nawaz, Bilawal favours unity govt as PTI-linked independents dominate polls

Citing independent candidates with backing of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dominating polls after unofficial vote results poured in from across the country, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday spoke out in favour of forming a unity government.

The compilation process of 2024 election outcomes is still underway for more than 48 hours and each party's position is changing every minute.

"A government should be formed with national unity to bring political stability," Bilawal said while speaking to Geo News special transmission for election 2024, adding: "I want to end the politics of hate and division."

After the recent polls, the politico said that the PPP is the only party with representation in all four provinces.

"Complete results have not been released yet [...] However, without the PPP, no government can be formed in Centre, Punjab and Balochistan."

He thanked the nationals for casting their vote in large numbers. The former foreign minister also congratulated PPP supporters and voters for exhibiting confidence in the party's leadership and candidates on the poll day.

"I cannot indulge in the old style of politics [...] We want to bring political stability in our country."

The PPP chief said that the decision for the next government will be taken by the party's central executive committee (CEC) after the announcement of the final election results.

"It is in the country's interest to build political unity as it would be difficult to resolve public issues without addressing the core national issue of political instability."

Bilawal, whose party was a key ally to the former coalition government led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) after the ousting of ex-prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan via parliamentary vote in 2022, admitted that his party could not solely form the next government without a simple majority.

"I am not in a position to make any announcement. The nation is also looking towards the decision of the independent candidates," said the politico as the independent candidates backed by the former ruling party were dominating the election results so far.

Commenting on the credibility of the nationwide electoral event, Bilawal said that he was not disappointed with the recent elections.

He, however, criticised that they were winning in Lahore with a big margin on February 8 at midnight but the situation was entirely changed in the morning.

To another question, the PPP chairman urged parties for joint efforts to form the next set-up in Balochistan province.

As per the unofficial and unconfirmed results, independent candidates backed by the Imran-led party were dominating the polls so far, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Bilawal-led party in third position on the party position chart for the National Assembly (NA) seats.

Citing the scenario, the PML-N and the PPP agreed to form a coalition government in the Centre and Punjab after PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif met PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari, inviting them to work together for Pakistan, as per Geo News citing sources.