Islamabad:The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have finally reached an agreement to form a new coalition government after days of intense negotiations, senior party leaders have announced.

In a joint news conference late on Tuesday night, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to assume the role of the Prime Minister once again. At the same time, PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari, 68, is slated to become the country’s President again.

“The PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and [now] we are in a position to form the government,” Bilawal told reporters. He said former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party-backed candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to achieve a simple majority in Parliament to form government in the Centre. Bilawal hoped that the news of the political alliance with the PML-N to form a coalition government would lead to a positive market response as the cash-strapped country faced a hung Parliament after the February 8 elections.

Press Trust of India