NEW PAKISTAN PM DISPLAYS LOYALTY TO DEPOSED ALLY
▶ Shahid Khaqan Abbasi uses his maiden speech to say ‘one day the real prime minister will come back’
Pakistan’s parliament elected a ruling party loyalist as prime minister yesterday, days after the former premier was ousted by the supreme court over a corruption investigation led by a cricketer-turned-politician.
Pakistan’s newly elected prime minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, is a veteran politician and close ally of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who nominated him for the country’s top political post.
Despite the election of the loyalist just minutes before he made his first appearance in office, the new premier used his maiden speech to declare Mr Sharif “the prime minister of the people of Pakistan”.
“Inshallah, one day the real prime minister of this country will come back and sit on this chair,” he said in his speech.
Nominated by Mr Sharif’s ruling parliamentary party, the Pakistan Muslim League, Mr Abbasi secured 221 votes, speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said yesterday.
Supporters of Mr Sharif in the assembly chanted slogans and waved placards bearing his pictures. Notably absent from the assembly was opposition leader Imran Khan, former Pakistan international cricketer, who led the push against the deposed prime minister.
The loyalist is largely seen as a placeholder for the former prime minister’s designated successor, his younger brother Shahbaz, who must first be elected to the 342-member national assembly before taking the top office.
Mr Abbasi, a longtime ally of Mr Sharif, easily won the majority required to become prime minister, putting into motion a process that is expected to ultimately see a Sharif once again as Pakistan’s premier.
“Whether it’s 45 days or 45 hours, I am the prime minister of Pakistan and I am here to work, not keep the seat warm,” Mr Abbasi continued, referring to the time limit on a by-election for Mr Sharif’s old seat, which his sibling is expected to fill.
Nawaz Sharif was the 15th prime minister in Pakistan’s 70-year history – about half of which has been spent under military rule – to be ousted before completing a full term.
The top court sacked him on Friday after an investigation into corruption allegations, bringing his historic third term to an unceremonious end.
The foray of the nucleararmed nation into political uncertainty was brief as the dominating party vowed a smooth transition until the return of a Sharif in office.
However, observers have said it is unclear whether the ruling will allow the ousted former leader to run for office again.
Mr Abbasi was arrested after the 1999 military coup led by Gen Pervez Musharraf, which ended Mr Sharif’s second term as prime minister, and the general was imprisoned for two years before being released.
Prime minister in waiting Shahbaz went into exile in Saudi Arabia along with Nawaz after the coup.
Shahbaz returned to Pakistan in 2007 and was elected chief minister in the family’s power base of Punjab in 2008, becoming the longest serving top official in the province.
A tough administrator, he is known for using revolutionary poetry in speeches, and is considered to be a workaholic.
Shahbaz has been largely unscathed by claims of lavish lifestyles and the luxury London property portfolio of the Sharif dynasty, which have for months played out in the media.
Mr Abbasi is the former federal minister for petrol and natural resources, and a businessman who launched the country’s most successful private airline, Air Blue.
Educated in the US, he worked overseas as an electrical engineer before entering politics and being elected to the national assembly six times.
It was an investigation into claims that first erupted with the Panama Papers leak last year, that eventually prompted the supreme court to oust Nawaz. He and his family have denied the accusations.