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Pakistan’s new government: Who will be the key players?

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (C) and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) party, along with his younger brother and ex-PM Shehbaz Sharif (R) and his daughter Maryam Nawaz (L) attend a gathering with supporters in Lahore on February 9, 2024, a day after Pakistan's national elections. (AFP)
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Updated 14 February 2024
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Pakistan’s new government: Who will be the key players?

  • Nawaz Sharif has opted not to be prime minister and nominated brother Shehnaz as PM candidate of coalition government 
  • Asif Ali Zardari widely expected to become president, Maryam Nawaz Sharif could be first women chief minister of Punjab
Updated 14 February 2024
WAJAHAT ALI

ISLAMABAD: Following days of political uncertainty after general elections on Feb. 8, the party of Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and its allies have announced they will jointly form a coalition government.
According to official results, the allied parties together hold 152 general seats in the National Assembly and are expected to surpass the simple majority mark of 169 members after securing their share of reserved seats. Along with the 266 directly elected seats in the National Assembly, parties are allocated 70 reserved seats — 60 for women, 10 for non-Muslims — in proportion to the number of seats won. This completes the National Assembly’s total 336 seats. Independents are not eligible for reserved seats.
The specifics of the new government will emerge in the coming days but it is clear that former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will be in opposition, despite candidates backed by it winning the largest number of seats, 92, in the National Assembly.
The following people are expected to play a key role in the next administration:
Nawaz Sharif
Having buried a long-running feud with the country’s powerful military, most independent analysts believed three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was the front-runner to lead the country. 
However, after his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) did not win enough seats to form a simple majority in parliament — it got 79 seats — it announced it would form a coalition government with allies, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which got 54 seats. Sharif stepped aside and his younger brother Shehbaz was announced as the coalition set-up’s prime minister candidate. Analysts say the decision reflects Nawaz’s reluctance to navigate the complexities of a coalition government with a limited mandate for his PML-N.
However, despite stepping back from the top slot, Sharif, as the PML-N’s founding leader and a key figure in the coalition, is expected to wield significant influence in shaping policies and guiding the coalition’s direction from behind the scenes. 




Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif speaks at the party office of Pakistan Muslim League (N), at Model Town in Lahore, Pakistan, February 9, 2024. (REUTERS)

“If it is being deduced that Nawaz Sharif is avoiding politics by not accepting the post of Prime Minister, then there is no truth in it. In the next 5 years, he will not only do vigorous politics, but will patronize his governments in the Federation and Punjab, God willing,” his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the candidate for chief minister Punjab, said on X.
“In the three governments of Nawaz Sharif, the people gave a clear majority and he has made it clear in his election speeches that he will not be a part of any coalition government. Those who are devoted to Nawaz Sharif’s temperament know the principled stand of Nawaz Sharif. Shehbaz Sharif [Sharif’s younger brother] and I are his soldiers, bound by his orders and will work under his leadership and supervision.”

The 74-year-old chief of the PML-N returned from a four-year self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom late last year to lead his party in elections. His convictions for corruption — which he denies — and a lifetime ban from politics were overturned by courts after his return.
Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, and led a coalition government for 16 months following the ouster of Imran Khan in 2022 until parliament was dissolved and a caretaker government took over in August to prepare for national elections.




Pakistan's former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a press conference in Lahore on February 13, 2024. (AFP)

He has previously served multiple times as chief minister of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, cementing his reputation as an efficient administrator. He has worked closely with China on Beijing-funded projects in the last decade and helped Pakistan avert a financial crisis last year by striking a deal with the International Monetary Fund after tenuous, delayed negotiations for another bailout package.
Shehbaz’s expected return to the prime ministerial role may involve balancing the demands of coalition partners and ensuring cohesive governance while also leveraging his diplomatic skills and administrative experience to foster unity and progress within the multiparty setup. He will take over a country faced with a crippling economic crisis, record high inflation, slow growth and a surge in militancy.
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the widower of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is widely expected to become the new president. 




Pakistan's former President Asif Ali Zardari (3R) of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) casts his ballot to vote during the country's national elections at a polling station in NawabShah of Sindh province on February 8, 2024. (AFP)

Zardari, previously behind the scenes of Pakistani politics, came into the political centerstage after the assassination of his wife in 2007, leading him to the presidency of Pakistan from 2008-2013. Known for political maneuvering, he is expected to play a pivotal role in the new set-up and ensure that the PPP party’s interests are well-represented.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, plays an influential role in the PML-N party, and has been presented by her father as his political heir-apparent. She is senior vice president of the party.




Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Pakistan's former Prime Minister and leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) party Nawaz Sharif waves to her supporters during an election campaign rally at Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on January 22, 2024. (AFP)

She is now set to chart a new course in her political career, potentially becoming the first woman chief minister of Punjab, arguably the most important political appointment in the country after the PM. However, Maryam’s lack of prior administrative experience presents challenges, but analysts say these can be overcome with the support of an experienced advisory team, which includes veteran politicians from the Sharif dynasty, including her father and uncle. 
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the 35-year-old son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, was the country’s foreign minister until a caretaker government took over late last year. He became co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party in 2007 when he was still a teenager after his mother was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack at a rally.




Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari, Chairman of Pakistan People's Party speaks during a press conference regarding parliamentary elections, in Islamabad on February 13, 2024. (AP)

Bhutto-Zardari ran one of the most prominent campaigns in Feb. 8 elections, appearing throughout the country, saying he was focusing the country’s huge youth population and addressing impacts of climate change, which have wreaked havoc in his southern Sindh province. His adept handling of diplomatic affairs as foreign minister has bolstered his reputation as a capable leader and he is expected to be a major player in the new coalition.

Topics: elections 2024 Nawaz Sharif Shehbaz Sharif Maryam Nawaz Sharif Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

Pakistan joins Muslim world in sending condolences ahead of Pope’s funeral on Saturday

Updated 25 April 2025
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Pakistan joins Muslim world in sending condolences ahead of Pope’s funeral on Saturday

  • Over 128,000 people have already paid last respects to Francis, whose coffin will be closed at 1800 GMT in ceremony attended by senior cardinals
  • Francis will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus, people will be able to visit the tomb from Sunday morning
Updated 25 April 2025
Falak Mahmood Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan joined the Muslim world in sending condolences as the Vatican made final preparations Friday for Pope Francis’s funeral and the last of the huge crowds of mourners filed through St. Peter’s Basilica to view his open coffin.
Over 128,000 people have already paid their last respects to Francis, whose coffin will be closed at 8:00pm (1800 GMT) in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals.
Many of the 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs attending Saturday’s ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, are expected to arrive later Friday in Rome.
“Pakistan conveys its heartfelt condolences on the passing of His Holiness, Pope Francis, a revered spiritual figure and a worldwide advocate for peace, interfaith dialogue and compassion,” the foreign office said. 
“His Holiness demonstrated unwavering commitment to fostering unity among world religions, advocating for the oppressed and promoting the inherent dignity of all humankind. Pakistan deeply values his tireless efforts to enhance mutual respect and understanding among diverse cultures and faiths.”
The foreign office said the pope’s legacy was marked by “profound humility, selfless service and a unifying vision for humanity,” which would serve as an inspiration for generations to come. 
“At this moment of profound sorrow, Pakistan stands in solidarity with our Catholic brothers and sisters worldwide and with all those touched by the extraordinary life of service.”
Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St. Peter’s under tight security with drones blocked, snipers on roofs and fighter jets on standby. Further checkpoints will be activated on Friday night, police said.
Vast crowds of people on Friday morning packed Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue leading to the Vatican, for the third and final day of the pope’s lying-in-state.
For a second night in a row, the Vatican kept St. Peter’s open past the scheduled hours to accommodate the queues, only closing the doors between 2:30am (0030 GMT) and 5:40am Friday.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin of the late Pope Francis on Friday, April 25, at 8:00 PM, ahead of the papal funeral on Saturday morning.
The Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope died on Monday aged 88, less than a month after spending weeks in hospital with severe pneumonia.
The Argentine pontiff, who had long suffered failing health, defied doctors’ orders by appearing at Easter, the most important moment in the Catholic calendar.
It was his last public appearance.
Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed those on the fringes of society in his 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
He used his last speech to rail against those who stir up “contempt... toward the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants.”
After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be driven at a walking pace to be buried at his favorite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The hearse will pass down Rome’s Fori Imperiali – where the city’s ancient temples lie – and past the Colosseum, according to officials.
Big screens will be set up along the route on which to watch the ceremony, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said.
Francis will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.
People will be able to visit the tomb from Sunday morning, as all eyes turn to the process of choosing Francis’s successor.
With inputs from AP

Topics: Pope Francis

Families heartbroken as Pakistan closes airspace for Indian planes, land border shut

Updated 25 April 2025
Reuters
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Families heartbroken as Pakistan closes airspace for Indian planes, land border shut

  • Militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir has triggered diplomatic crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi
  • Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and India were weak even before the latest measures were announced
Updated 25 April 2025
Reuters

KARACHI: A 79-year-old Pakistani man, Ali Hasan Baqai, lamented about not being able to meet his siblings living in India as he sat with his wife and grandchildren at his house in Pakistan’s Karachi, hours after Pakistan closed its air space for Indian airlines on Thursday.
The move came in retaliation to a raft of actions by India after a deadly militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi says Pakistan is involved in. Pakistani officials have rejected the accusations.
The latest diplomatic crisis was triggered by the killing of 26 men at a popular tourist destination in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, in the worst attack on civilians since the 2008 Mumbai shootings. The tit-for-tat announcements took relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars, to the lowest level in years.
Whenever relations deteriorate between Pakistan and India, elderly Baqai is besieged with a feeling of longing for his siblings and his birthplace on the other side of the border with India.
“I was planning to visit India. My sisters there were also planning to travel to Pakistan. But all of a sudden this attack happened. We could not even think of it. The situation was absolutely normal but suddenly the situation turned bad,” Baqai told Reuters Television.
Ali was born in 1946 in Delhi, India, a year before the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. He was last able to visit Delhi in 2014. Two of his sisters, along with his mother, passed away in the subsequent years. His three brothers died in India last year.
“If we don’t get a chance and the borders are closed for a long time, the only way left is we go to Dubai and meet each other there,” he said.
“You can’t meet your relatives. We can neither go there, nor can they come. It has become a mockery now. There is no hope left.”

Topics: Pakistan India Ties Pakistan India

Roadside blast kills three paramilitary troops in Pakistan’s volatile southwest

Updated 36 min 48 sec ago
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Roadside blast kills three paramilitary troops in Pakistan’s volatile southwest

  • The blast appeared to target bomb disposal personnel of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in the Marget coalfield
  • No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on Baloch separatist militants
Updated 36 min 48 sec ago
Saadullah Akhtar

QUETTA: A roadside blast killed three paramilitary troops and injured four others in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Friday, a local administration official said.
The blast in Margat area, home to coal mines and located some 60 kilometers from the provincial capital of Quetta, appeared to target the Frontier Corps paramilitary force’s bomb disposal personnel when they were clearing the route.
Balochistan, which shares a porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists who have targeted security forces protecting mining fields, laborers and truckers transporting minerals.
“An improvised explosive device (IED) was planted along the route being used for the transportation of coal from the Marget coalfield which exploded when the bomb disposal wing of the Frontier Corps was busy in security clearance of the route,” Quetta Deputy Commissioner Saad bin Asad told Arab News.
“Three soldiers of the BD wing were killed and four wounded in the attack.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on ethnic Baloch separatist militants, who frequently target security forces, Chinese nationals, ethnic Punjabi commuters and laborers in the restive province.
The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper. Successive Pakistani governments have denied the allegations and said they only worked for the uplift of the region and its people.
The latest attack comes a day after three people, including two women, were killed when a vehicle was hit by a powerful explosion in Balochistan’s Kalat district. Last month, the Baloch Liberation Army separatist group hijacked a train with hundreds of passengers aboard near Balochistan’s Bolan Pass, which resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.
Pakistan accuses the neighboring Afghanistan and India of supporting separatist militants in Balochistan, an allegation denied by New Delhi and Kabul.

Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to enhance trade and connectivity in push to reset ties

Updated 25 April 2025
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Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to enhance trade and connectivity in push to reset ties

  • Ties with Kabul have been strained over a spike in militancy and a deportation drive against Afghan nations
  • Pakistani deputy PM and special envoy to Kabul visited Islamabad last week in an attempt to resolve issues
Updated 25 April 2025
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to enhance trade and connectivity during a visit to Kabul by top officials from Islamabad, the foreign office said on Friday, amid a push by the two neighbors to reset soured relations.
Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have been strained by a spike in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan, following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021. Islamabad says anti-Pakistan militants carry out cross-border attacks using safe havens in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Another source of tension has been Pakistan’s decision to expel undocumented Afghans and those who had temporary permission to stay, saying it can no longer cope. Since November 2023 when Islamabad first launched the deportation drive against illegal foreigners, over 900,000 Afghans have left the country. The Afghan government has condemned the “unilateral measures” to forcibly deport tens of thousands of Afghans. Afghans have also reported weeks of arbitrary arrests, extortion and harassment by authorities as Islamabad has accelerated the deportation drive since April, a charge officials deny.
Amid these tensions, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and special envoy to Kabul, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, went to Afghanistan on a one-day visit last week widely seen as an attempt to resolve outstanding issues of contention.
“During the visit, the deputy prime minister [and] foreign minister held meetings with the acting Afghan prime minister, acting Afghan deputy prime minister and acting Afghan foreign minister,” Shafqat Ali Khan, a Pakistani foreign office spokesperson, told reporters at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.
“Both sides held extensive discussions on a range of issues including peace and security, people-to-people contacts and agreed to enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation to the mutual benefit of people of both countries.”
Pakistan remains at loggerheads with two of its main neighbors, India and Afghanistan, while Islamabad’s relations with Iran have also seen friction in recent weeks over the killing of eight Pakistani laborers in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both Pakistan and Iran last year exchanged strikes against what they called militant hideouts, but quickly moved to de-escalate tensions.
This week, an attack on tourists in India’s Himalayan territory of Kashmir has sparked a new crisis between nuclear armed neighbors India and Pakistan, with New Delhi blaming militants with “cross-border linkages” for the killings, which Islamabad denies. Both nations have announced tit-for-tat measures to downgrade ties in the aftermath of the violence.
The tensions have come as Pakistan navigates a tricky path to economic recovery, seeking to boost trade by enhancing connectivity with regional countries and attract foreign investment from allies in the region and beyond.
In this regard, Dar on Thursday held a telephonic conversation with Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Seyedov Bakhtiar Odilovic and apprised him of his discussions with Afghan officials about a tri-nation railway line project involving Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The deputy prime minister shared his discussions in Kabul regarding Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway line project and hoped that the three countries would soon sign the framework agreement for this important regional connectivity project,” the foreign office spokesman said at the briefing.
The project is part of Pakistan’s efforts to position itself as a key trade and transit hub, connecting the landlocked Central Asian states to the global market.

Topics: Pakistan Afghanistan Afghan Refugees in pakistan Pakistan afghan trade

‘Out of the question’ Pakistan’s Nadeem will attend Bengaluru meet, Indian javelin hero Chopra says

Updated 25 April 2025
Reuters
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‘Out of the question’ Pakistan’s Nadeem will attend Bengaluru meet, Indian javelin hero Chopra says

  • Chopra had earlier announced world’s top throwers, including Olympian Nadeem, had been invited to first Neeraj Chopra Classic on May 24
  • Tuesday’s attack in Kashmir prompted heavy criticism of Chopra’s decision to invite Nadeem even though he was unlikely to attend
Updated 25 April 2025
Reuters

NEW DELHI: India’s Olympic javelin gold medalist Neeraj Chopra said it was now “completely out of the question” that rival Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan will attend his meet in Bengaluru next month following Tuesday’s deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Relations between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have plummeted to their lowest level in years after the killing of 26 tourists on Wednesday.
A day before the attack, Chopra had announced that the world’s top throwers, including Paris Olympics champion Nadeem, had been invited to the first Neeraj Chopra Classic on May 24, an event he hoped would pave the way for a Diamond League meet in India one day.
However, the attack in Kashmir prompted heavy criticism of Chopra’s decision to invite Nadeem, even though it was unlikely the Pakistan thrower was going to attend.

“There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse,” Chopra, who won gold in Tokyo and silver in Paris, said in a social media post on Friday.
“The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another — nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events.
“After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad’s presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question.”
Media reports said Nadeem, Pakistan’s first individual Olympic gold medalist, had opted not to attend the Bengaluru meet, which clashed with his training schedule for the Asian Championships in South Korea next month.
The soured relations between the two countries also spilled over to the sports world earlier this year when India’s cricket team refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.

Topics: Arshad Nadeem  Neeraj Chopra Pahalgam attack

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