Pak's PML-N, PPP reach a power-sharing agreement

Pakistan's two dynastic parties have reached a power-sharing agreement that will return Shehbaz Sharif to the premiership, leaving out politicians loyal to jailed former leader Imran Khan despite them winning the most seats in this month's vote.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party will join a coalition with the Sharif clan's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Bhutto Zardari said at a joint news conference in the capital Islamabad close to midnight local time on Tuesday. Shehbaz Sharif will be prime minister while Bhutto Zardari's father, Asif Ali Zardari, will be nominated as president.

"Both the parties have the numbers to form a government," Bhutto Zardari, 35, the son of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, said, with his father and Sharif next to him.

"We are hopeful that Shehbaz Sharif will soon become the prime minister of the country and the whole of Pakistan should pray that the government should be successful."

The development will probably end days of uncertainty after the inconclusive Feb. 8 election, in which Khan's candidates, running as independents, defied the odds by winning the most seats but fell short of clinching an outright majority. Rounds of negotiations followed, culminating in the announcement Tuesday night.