Sharif’s ally Abbasi elected new Pak PM
THE LOYALIST PMLN members chant ‘lion, lion Nawaz Sharif’ after the vote
Former premier Nawaz Sharif’s nominee Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was elected as prime minister by Pakistan’s Parliament on Tuesday, days after the PML-N leader was ousted by the Supreme Court.
The special session of the National Assembly was called by President Mamnoon Hussain after the court disqualified Sharif in a landmark ruling in the Panama Papers case for not being honest while declaring his assets.
Abbasi, from the ruling PML-N party, got 221 votes in the 342-member National Assembly or lower house of Parliament, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced. He was later sworn in by the president.
Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People’s Party bagging 47 votes, former minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad 33 votes and Sahibzada Tariqullah four votes.
A leading businessman and founder of the Airblue private airline, Abbasi will serve as a placeholder prime minister till Sharif’s brother, Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, is elected to the National Assembly and can become the premier.
After announcing the results amid sloganeering, the Speaker asked Abbasi to take the seat of the prime minister and address the House.
Abbasi, 58, used his maiden speech to declare Sharif “the prime minister of the people of Pakistan”. He said, “InshaAllah (God willing), one day the real prime minister of this country will come back and sit on this chair.” Referring to the 45-day time limit on a by-election for Sharif’s parliamentary seat, he added, “I may be here for 45 hours or 45 days. I am the prime minister and I am not here to keep the seat warm, I will do the work of 45 months in 45 days, if I remain here.”
The former petroleum minister dismissed the corruption allegations against Sharif as baseless. He also said he would ensure rule of law but stopped short of criticising the judiciary, saying legal experts were surprised by the decision to disqualify Sharif and that no one was willing to accept it. The PML-N will file a petition in the Supreme Court , seeking a review of its verdict.