Two Pakistan 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 winning the most seats in this month’s vote.

The army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said they had settled days of negotiations on securing a majority to form a coalition government that will also include several smaller parties.

Candidates loyal to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the most seats but were forced to stand as independents following a sweeping crackdown on the party.

There were widespread allegations of vote-rigging and result manipulation in the February 8 election after authorities switched off the nation’s mobile phone network on election day, ostensibly on security grounds, and the count took more than 24 hours.

After weeks of negotiations, Khan’s adversaries announced at a late-night press conference in the capital Islamabad that a power-sharing agreement had been reached.

Under the deal, the PML-N and PPP will put forward former leader Sharif as prime minister and Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as president.