Amid hung Parliament, time for mainstream political parties to form national unity Govt
PESHAWAR (APP): Amid an existence of a hung Parliament after Election 2024, there is an opportunity for the mainstream political parties to sit together for formation of a broad based national unity government to take the country out of all existing challenges.
Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Tahrik e Insaf backed candidates that achieved majority in the National Assembly needs to set aside their political differences and sit together for a broad based national unity Govt to address the challenges of shabby economy, inflation, price hike and poverty.
“The people of Pakistan have announced their verdict on February 8 election and now great onus rest on leadership of these parties to immediately form a coalition government and take practical measures for resolution of these grave issues,” said AH Hilali; Ex Chairman Political Science Department, University of Peshawar while talking to APP.He said that a national unity government was a broad coalition government consisting of all major parties in the legislature, usually formed in case of split mandate during General Election 2024 or Emetgency Situation.
“A unity government according to the principles of consensus democracy lacks opposition, or opposition parties are too small viz a viz negligible and worked together for a betterment of masses,” he said, such government needs political reconciliation and tolerance besides leadership skills to take the collation partners on board.
He said principles of democracy were primarily based on tolerance, accommodation and respecting each other’s viewpoints and political mandates rather than implementing personal agenda through agitation and confrontation.
He said that the first session of the National Assembly (NA) may be convened within 21 days of the polling date for oath-taking of the newly elected members.
Talking to APP, Barrister Syed Noman Bokhari said that the constitution of Pakistan has given powers to the President to convene the new National Assembly session on any date between February 22-28, 2024 for oath-taking.
After the oath taking ceremony, he said that the national assembly elects speaker and deputy speaker for a five years term and later the leader of the House i.e. Prime Minister.
Barrister Noman said that a simple majority was required to form a government in centre and four provinces of Pakistan.
He said formation of the governments in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakthunkhwa and Balcohistan are easy, however, the lawmakers of national assembly need to look above party politics and sit together for a broad based coalition government.
He made it clear that the President did not have any power to invite a person or a party for the formation of government, adding the President represented the federation after the 18th constitutional amendment.
Barrister Noman said Pakistan was confronted with several challenges including a shabby economy and a single political party could not address it.
He said the coalition government was the best solution after the 2024 election to address all the challenges including economy, climate change, poverty and illiteracy and carry the ship of democracy forward.
The Election Commission of Pakistan was bound to issue official results within 14 days of the holding of the general elections, he said.
The experts said that unnecessary delay in formation of government was not in the country’s interest.
He said an agitation in streets or blocking of roads were no solution to the election related problems and asked the losing candidates to approach Election Tribunals for addressing their grievances.
Dr Hilali said that it was a good one that a consenses was being found on leadership of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, PPP and MQM Pakistan for a coalition government.
He said that protest was no solution and any candidate have reservation on election results may approach Election Tribunal for its resolutions.
Manzoorul Haq, former Ambassador said that Pakistan was passing through a critical political and economic phase since of its creation 77 years ago and it was the spirit of age that all political and religious leadership and heads of the state institutions work with harmony and cohesion in order to take the country out of existing economic quagmire.
He said the wrangling between political forces for power would serve no objective rather than destabilize the country, which has already been confronted to serious economic challenges.
They urged political leadership to sit together for initiation of a result-oriented grand dialogue to take the ship of democracy to the safe shore and make Pakistan economically strong.