LAHORE: After a poor showing in the Feb 8 polls, the PML-N, which has about 75 seats in the National Assembly, has pitched the idea of a `participatory coalition government`, saying not a single political party had secured the mandate to form a government in the Centre.

Former law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar termed this sce-nario `Hobson`s choice` and said not a single political party had secured a majority in the National Assembly, insisting that elections were `fair`.

The PML-N leader was t alking to the media after a meeting of the party`s top brass at Jati Umra in which consultations were held regarding the future course of action. The ex-minister said the PML-N had started consultations with its former allies to form a government in the Centre.

`There`s only the possibility of forming the [federal] government with the backing of the PML-N. It will be a participatory coalition government,` he said, adding that it was in `the largest interest of the country that all should join hands` to form the federal government.

Other parliamentary partieswould also be consulted before taking a final decision on the federal set-up, he added.

Govt in Punjab Mr Tarar said that the PML-N had authorised Nawaz Sharif to take a final decision in this regard and hoped that the PML-N would form a strong setup in the province.

He claimed that the numerical strength of the PML-N in the Punjab Assembly had reached 155 seats as the party had won 137 seats in the Feb 8 vote, while it had left open some constituencies for other parties, whose elected members `would definitely side` with the PML-N.

He claimed at least two dozen independents emerged victorious in the provincial vote and many of them were joining the PML-N.The former minister regretted that attempts were being made to cast doubts on the election results, while the `whole nation saw how [fair] the elections` had been held on Feb 8.

Without naming the PTI, he said only one party, which `succeededinKhyberPakhtunkhwa`, had raised objections to the election results. `We too have reservations about the KP results but we have accepted their mandate.

In Punjab, our top leaders like Rana Sanaullah [in Faisalabad] and Saad Rafique [in Lahore] could not succeed,` he said, citing these examples as `evidence` of fair polls.

Responding to a question about challenging the results of some constituencies before the higher courts, he said the party has formed a legal team to contest these cases.