Islamabad, Pakistan: The Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed his global vision by not accepting administrative positions while supporting PMLN to form a new government.
There are plentiful examples from the political history of the modern world; mostly from Europe where political parties provided needful support in government formation without direct participation. These are:-
Sweden – Swedish Social Democratic Party-1990
The Swedish Social Democratic Party has occasionally supported minority Governments, formed by other parties without directly participating in the Government. For example, in the early 1990s, the Social Democrats supported a minority Government led by the Moderate Party, providing parliamentary support for legislation without being part of the Government itself.
Sweden as a prime example of what has been called ‘contract parliamentarism’, where minority Governments often had support party arrangements in the form of an explicit written contract with one or more opposition parties, publicly committing the partners to a policy agreement.
Green Party-New Zealand-2020
The Green Party in New Zealand decided to provide confidence and supply to the Labour Party Government led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2020. Despite the option to join the Government, the Green Party remained outside the cabinet, supporting on key issues such as climate change and social justice.
Spain- Ciudadanos-2021
In Spain, the center-right Ciudadanos Party supported the formation of the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) Government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in 2021. Despite ideological differences, Ciudadanos chose not to join the Government however, it provided support to ensure stability and governance.
In a similar incident, Spain held a snap election in July 2023 that saw the conservative Popular Party (PP) finishing first but lacking enough votes to form a Government. Later on, PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo lost a critical parliamentary vote to become the Prime Minister. Sanchez’s Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) which came second in the general elections needed the support of Sumar’s 33 lower-house lawmakers and other parties, including those who advocate for Catalan and Basque independence, to renew his term. In exchange for its support, the Catalan party JxCat demanded amnesty for its politicians and activists facing legal action over their role in Catalonia’s failed 2017 independence bid and consented to support the Government from outside.
Northern Ireland – Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). 2022
The DUP has historically supported the formation of Governments in the Northern Ireland Assembly, endorsing larger unionist parties like the Ulster Unionist Party or Sinn Féin to lead the Government. However, the DUP has mostly opted not to take ministerial positions, preferring to remain in opposition or play a supporting role from outside the Government, thus influencing policy, while preserving its political identity.
In July 2022, the DUP voted to support Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a confidence vote, making it the only party besides the Conservative Party to do so. Since the May 2022 election, the DUP has blocked the formation of a new Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive.
It may be mentioned that while addressing a Press Conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, the Chairman of PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the PPP did not receive a mandate from the public so he is not in the race to become the prime minister. Bilawal said that his party doesn’t want ministries but also doesn’t want chaos and instability in the Country. Bilawal said that his party doesn’t want ministries but also doesn’t want chaos and instability in the Country.
PPP circles are of the view that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto follows examples from European democracies for not sharing power while providing support to form a government.
