The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, Shehbaz Sharif, was elected unopposed as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan by Parliament on Monday. The 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan secured 174 votes, said PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq, who was chairing the session after the resignation of Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri ahead of the vote.
Shehbaz, 70, was the only candidate left in the race after Qureshi’s boycott of the election in the National Assembly. Earlier, former Prime Minister Imran Khan had resigned from the membership of the House after holding a meeting with his parliamentary party delegation.
Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chair Asif Ali Zardari had proposed Shehbaz’s name for prime minister’s position in a joint opposition’s meeting to replace Imran Khan through no-confidence motion. He has served as chief minister of the country’s most populous and politically crucial Punjab province thrice.
Imran Khan was removed from office through the no-confidence vote, becoming the first in the Pakistan’s history to lose chair after failing the trust of the House. No prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term.
