Shehbaz Sharif voted in as Pakistan’s PM for second time
ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif was voted in as Pakistan’s prime minister for a second time yesterday, presiding over a shaky alliance that has shut out followers of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan.
Newly sworn-in lawmakers in Pakistan’s National Assembly elected Sharif by 201 votes, three weeks after national elections marred by widespread allegations of rigging.
“Shehbaz Sharif has been declared to have been elected as prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” said newly appointed speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
Omar Ayub Khan stood against Sharif as the candidate of choice for MPs loyal to Khan, gaining 92 votes.
Shehbaz is the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, considered the stronger personality and more charismatic of the pair.
Shehbaz first served as prime minister in 2022, heading a similar broad alliance of parties that combined to boot Khan from power.
A seasoned administrator with a reputation stemming from his nuts-and-bolts work in provincial politics, Shehbaz is known for having a penchant for poetry.
The Sharif family’s militarybacked Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) party won the most seats in the election, but fell short of an expected majority in a poll that was marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging and vote tampering.
Khan’s lawmakers won the most seats, despite a sweeping crackdown against his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party that forced its candidates to run as independents and blocked them from holding rallies.
But Khan’s faction fell short of the majority needed to rule and are set to sit in full-throated opposition, leaving Sharif to steer a shaky coalition including PML-N’s historic rivals Pakistan Peoples Party.
While keeping the coalition intact and fending off Khan’s unquashed defiance, the new prime minister must also grapple with a grinding economic downturn and a worsening security situation. — AFP