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Pakistani Leader Moves Quickly to Form Government Pakistani Leader Moves Quickly to Form Government
(about 11 hours later)
LONDON — Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif moved confidently to form a new government in Pakistan on Monday, announcing the next finance minister even as votes from Saturday’s election were still being tallied and protests continued over alleged vote-rigging in some cities. LONDON — Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif moved confidently to form a new government in Pakistan on Monday, signaling his choice to be the next finance minister even as votes from Saturday’s election were still being tallied and protests continued over alleged vote-rigging in some cities.
Mr. Sharif’s confidence stemmed from his resounding electoral victory, which confounded analysts’ predictions of a stronger showing for his rival, the former cricket star Imran Khan. Although the count will not be finalized for several days, projections now give Mr. Sharif a near-majority of seats in Parliament. Mr. Sharif’s spokesman, Siddiqul Farooq, said that given the party’s priority on the economy, the likely choice for finance minister would be Ishaq Dar, who served in the post twice in the 1990s — a critical job in a country suffering from sharp economic decline that is likely to necessitate a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Mr. Sharif’s spokesman said he would appoint Ishaq Dar, who previously served as finance minister twice in the 1990s, to the finance portfolio — a critical job in a country suffering from sharp economic decline that is likely to necessitate a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. “No official announcement has been made yet but Mr. Dar is the most experienced man for the finance job. He is an expert in finance and audits and accounts,” Mr. Farooq said, adding that Mr. Sharif was also finalizing other cabinet choices during his meetings in Lahore throughout the day.
The spokesman, Siddiqul Farooq, told Agence France-Presse that Mr. Dar had “all the facts and figures at his fingertips” and would present a new budget in June. The news prompted a rally on Pakistan’s main stock exchange in Karachi that pushed its index to a record high. During the election campaign, Mr. Sharif, a former steel baron, campaigned heavily on his ability to turn around the ailing economy and end electricity shortages that can last for 18 hours in some parts of the country. A fiscal conservative, he is seen as favoring free market economics and deregulation. News of his apparent victory has prompted a large rally on Pakistan’s main stock exchange, in Karachi.
During the election campaign, Mr. Sharif, a former steel baron, campaigned heavily on his ability to turn around the ailing economy and end electricity shortages that can last for 18 hours in some parts of the country. A fiscal conservative, he is seen as favoring free market economics and deregulation. Successive projections since the voting on Saturday have put Mr. Sharif’s party, known by the abbreviation PML-N, ever closer to an outright majority in the 272-seat cabinet. Mr. Farooq said the party was sure to win at least 125, just 12 short of a majority, and that most of the 23 independent candidates that seemed sure to win seats had already begun talking about joining in coalition with Mr. Sharif.
Mr. Khan, whose campaign generated wide excitement but failed to defeat Mr. Sharif, concentrated his efforts on forming a government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, in northwestern Pakistan. Still, the vote tally was still very much in progress on Monday, with election officials saying that final results would not come before midweek at earliest. Still, Arif Nizami, the caretaker information minister, said at a news conference in Islamabad that the new government would easily take shape before the June 2 constitutional deadline.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan, the anti-corruption crusader whose campaign generated wide excitement but failed to make the predicted inroads against Mr. Sharif, concentrated his efforts on forming a government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, in northwestern Pakistan.
Javed Hashmi, a senior official with Mr. Khan’s party, said it was in negotiations with the religious Jamaat-e-Islami Party to form a coalition administration in the province, which has borne the brunt of Taliban violence and adjoins the tribal belt where the C.I.A. has concentrated its campaign of drone strikes.Javed Hashmi, a senior official with Mr. Khan’s party, said it was in negotiations with the religious Jamaat-e-Islami Party to form a coalition administration in the province, which has borne the brunt of Taliban violence and adjoins the tribal belt where the C.I.A. has concentrated its campaign of drone strikes.
Projections give Mr. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party 35 out of the 99 seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Legislature, making it the single largest party. Jamaat-e-Islami is thought to have about seven seats.Projections give Mr. Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party 35 out of the 99 seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Legislature, making it the single largest party. Jamaat-e-Islami is thought to have about seven seats.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Lahore, where he suffered a serious fall in the final days of the election campaign and badly injured his back, Mr. Khan broadly welcomed the election. “We are now moving towards democracy,” he said. Speaking from his hospital bed in Lahore, where he suffered a serious fall in the final days of the election campaign and badly injured his back, Mr. Khan broadly welcomed the election. “We are now moving toward democracy,” he said.
But Mr. Khan’s party has also made accusations of vote-rigging, particularly in the port city of Karachi. Several parties, including Mr. Khan’s, have accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which has dominated the city’s politics for decades, sometimes through thuggish behavior, of employing intimidation and delaying tactics at polling stations on Saturday. But his supporters have been driven several protest efforts since the voting, claiming extensive fraud in Karachi and Lahore. New demonstrations were held in both cities on Monday.
On Monday, hundreds of supporters from the Muttahida Deeni Mahaz, an alliance of religious parties, joined a protest rally against rigging in Karachi. Mr. Khan’s party said it would hold a major demonstration on Shahrah-e-Faisal, the city’s main traffic artery.
Mr. Khan’s supporters also protested in Lahore. Hamid Khan, who lost to Mr. Sharif’s candidate in a wealthy neighborhood, threatened to take his appeal to the Supreme Court. “We will not allow rigging,” he told supporters at a demonstration.
The furor over vote-rigging highlighted a phenomenon in Pakistani politics: the emergence of social media as a tool of both electoral mobilization and protest. While the last poll, in 2008, was influenced by a raft of new private television channels, this weekend’s election gave new weight to Twitter and Facebook.The furor over vote-rigging highlighted a phenomenon in Pakistani politics: the emergence of social media as a tool of both electoral mobilization and protest. While the last poll, in 2008, was influenced by a raft of new private television channels, this weekend’s election gave new weight to Twitter and Facebook.
Candidates appealing to the youth vote, like Mr. Khan, rallied supporters through the Internet, and since the vote, have used it to engage in tight, real-time scrutiny of the ballot process.Candidates appealing to the youth vote, like Mr. Khan, rallied supporters through the Internet, and since the vote, have used it to engage in tight, real-time scrutiny of the ballot process.
Mr. Khan’s supporters have posted video taken on cellphones of alleged rigging. In one, Khawaja Saad Rafique, the candidate who defeated Hamid Khan in Lahore, is seen having a heated argument inside a polling station for women.Mr. Khan’s supporters have posted video taken on cellphones of alleged rigging. In one, Khawaja Saad Rafique, the candidate who defeated Hamid Khan in Lahore, is seen having a heated argument inside a polling station for women.
Still, the impact of social media is mostly confined to the country’s wealthy minority and had little effect in places like Baluchistan, the western province where the threat of violence caused a very low turnout.Still, the impact of social media is mostly confined to the country’s wealthy minority and had little effect in places like Baluchistan, the western province where the threat of violence caused a very low turnout.
Mr. Sharif, meanwhile, was meeting with his top party leaders in Lahore. Beyond politics, the other question facing him is how he will manage relations with the country’s powerful military, with whom he has a complicated history. Two other major parties in the election, the formerly governing Pakistan Peoples Party and the Awami National Party, announced on Monday that they had accepting projections showing that they had lost extensive ground to Mr. Sharif’s PML-N party.
Mr. Sharif’s political career was midwifed by a military dictator, Gen. Mohammad Zia-ul Haq, in the mid-1980s. But in 1999 Mr. Sharif was ousted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in a military coup that eventually forced him into exile in Saudi Arabia. Asfandyar Wali Khan, the leader of Awami National Party, which was routed in its traditional stronghold of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province, said in a news release t that despite reservations over a terrifying campaign of violence against his party in the run up to the elections, he accepted the results.
Since returning to Pakistan in 2007, Mr. Sharif has had a frosty relationship with the military, sometimes in the face of opposition from his own party members, who are by inclination pro-military. Yusuf Raza Gilani, the former prime minister and senior vice president of Pakistan Peoples Party, also announced his resignation from party position Monday evening. Mr. Gilani was barred from contesting for the parliament by the Supreme Court last year. Three of his sons and one brother lost the Saturday election in Multan, which was earlier considered their stronghold.
The army largely kept out of the weekend election, but senior generals are thought to be uncomfortable with Mr. Sharif, whom they see as an untrustworthy figure, and would have preferred Mr. Khan, whose statements on foreign policy often hewed closely to those of the military. Almost all leading Pakistan Peoples Party politicians lost their seats in Punjab.
Still, Mr. Sharif, who enjoys private support from the government of Saudi Arabia, has been quietly mending his fences with the military in recent weeks. “I accept responsibility,” Mr. Gilani said. “I accept public’s decision,” he said, stressing that the crippling power shortages and a critical media led to his party’s downfall.
When General Musharraf was placed under house arrest in April, Mr. Sharif relented from his previous calls to have the former army chief tried for treason, saying only that the law should take its course.

Ismail Khan contributed reporting from Peshawar, and Waqar Gillani from Lahore.

Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan.