Pakistan’s former premier Sharif and allies agree to form a coalition

The party of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and its allies announced late Tuesday that they will jointly form a coalition government, ending the uncertainty since last week when no party won a simple majority in parliamentary elections. The latest development came hours after the parties — all of them rivals of the country's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan — met in Islamabad. The meeting was attended by the Pakistan People's Party of former President Asif Ali Zardari and by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League, including his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan when he was ousted through a no-confidence vote in parliament in 2022.