China on Monday urged Pakistan’s polarised political parties to work together to uphold "political solidarity and social stability" as they struggled to form a coalition government following a fractured mandate in the elections.
The February 8 general elections in cash-strapped Pakistan have been controversial with several serious allegations of widespread rigging to alter the results. Over 10 days after the voting, there was still no clarity on which party would form the government at the Centre.
Though independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won the maximum number of seats in Parliament, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have announced that they will form a coalition government after the elections resulted in a hung Parliament.
Addressing a media briefing here, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, We noted that general elections in Pakistan were held in a generally steady and smooth manner, and we offer our congratulations. As a close and friendly neighbour, China fully respects the choices of Pakistani people and sincerely hopes that relevant parties of Pakistan will work together to uphold political solidarity and social stability after the elections, she said.
Asked whether China, Pakistan’s all-weather ally, is concerned about the political instability in Pakistan as the parties there struggled to form the government, Mao reiterated, We believe the relevant parties in Pakistan can stick to solidarity and work together to solve relevant issues. The political instability in Pakistan remained a cause of concern for China, which is investing heavily in the strategic USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) overriding India’s objections as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Beijing is also bankrolling Pakistan, which is in the throes of an economic crisis, to maintain the balance of payments with periodic loans to maintain the requisite forex reserves. Mao said China and Pakistan are all-weather-strategic-cooperative partners and Beijing hopes to work with Islamabad to build on the traditional friendship, deepen practical cooperation in various areas and accelerate the building of an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.
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