Imran Khan’s Party Begins Coalition Talks

Imran Khan’s party said it has begun talks with independents and small parties to form a coalition government after a resounding triumph in Pakistan’s general election, as rival parties planned protests over alleged vote rigging.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) won 115 seats in Wednesday’s ballot, short of the 137 needed for a simple majority but a surprisingly strong showing that helped fuel suspicion of rigging, AFP reported.

The latest tally, which was released early Saturday after long delays, showed the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in distant second place with 64 seats.

Khan’s party has begun reaching out to potential coalition partners to form a government, according to spokesman Fawad Chaudhry, a task that analysts said should be straightforward.

“We have contacted small parties and independent members, they will soon meet party leaders in Islamabad,” Chaudhry said late Friday, adding that the process was likely to take about 10 days.

Chaudhry’s comments followed an announcement by rival parties vowing to launch a protest “movement”, after foreign observers voiced concerns about the contest.

More than a dozen parties calling themselves the All Parties Conference (APC) promised to protest over the results.

  Divided Opposition

However the group remained divided with some parties pledging to boycott joining the National Assembly and others calling for a new vote.

The PML-N announced its support for the group but stopped short of saying it would boycott the new parliament.

And the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which was notably absent from the APC, said in a separate announcement that it rejected the results, but vowed to try to convince the other parties to participate in the parliamentary process.

Retired general and analyst Talat Masood said the APC may succeed in sparking pockets of unrest but did not see the movement upsetting stability at the national level.

“Opposition parties are divided and they are not genuinely in a mood to form any major opposition. I don’t think they have the stamina and the support of the people for going for a big movement,” said Masood.

The protests announcement late Friday came as the United States, the European Union and other observers aired reservations over widespread claims that the powerful military had tried to fix the playing field in Khan’s favor.

Khan’s victory represents an end to decades of rotating leadership between the PML-N and the Pakistan PPP that was punctuated by periods of military rule.