Screengrab of the press conference
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, late on Sunday, said the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) will decide its future course of action after consultation with all coalition partners on Monday (today).
“The PMLN is a democratic party and has always accepted people’s decisions,” he told journalists after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 15 of 20 seats in the Punjab by-polls, enabling it to elect the next chief minister of the province. “We could have cried like Imran Khan but we will not do it,” he said, referring to the former ruling party’s practice of demanding recounts and re-polls in various elections after losing the vote.
The PMLN won just 4 seats in the Punjab by-polls, with PMLN Vice-President Maryam Nawaz conceding defeat as results poured in. According to local media, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met senior leaders of the PMLN on Sunday in Lahore ahead of a meeting of the coalition partners to evolve consensus on how to proceed.
According to Rafique, the PMLN “saved the country from default by putting its politics at stake.” However, admitted, their efforts had not been welcomed by the public and the party would rethink how to approach future polls.
Criticizing the PTI chairman for leveling false allegations of rigging against the incumbent government and security establishment, the minister said the PTI’s victory had proven these as false. “The Punjab government remained neutral throughout the election process and no rigging was done by state institutions,” he said, adding that allegations of ECP bias had also been rubbished.
Separately, key coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced that its chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, had also summoned a meeting of the party’s core committee to determine how it would proceed going forward. According to local media, the party is expected to discuss its campaign for upcoming local government elections in Sindh province, which the PTI is hoping to win, as well as its future plans as a ruling coalition partner.