Pakistan's majority parties struggle to form coalition government

19/2/2024 19:12

        Pakistan's two major parties are set to meet on Monday to try and bridge differences over forming a minority coalition government after an inconclusive election, a top party official said, underscoring its political and economic instability.
        
        Analysts say the nuclear-armed nation of 241 million, which has been grappling with an economic crisis amid slow growth and record inflation, along with rising militant violence, needs a stable government with the authority to take tough decisions.
        
        Monday's talks will be the fifth such round after former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was named by his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to lead the country again.
        
        "Both the parties haven't yet agreed on final points," Ishaq Dar, a senator of Sharif's party, who is leading it in the talks, said in a statement on Sunday posted on social media platform X.