Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif takes oath as Prime Minister for a second time

Shehbaz Sharif on Monday took the oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan taking over the countrys reins for a second time since 2022 amidst staggering economic and security challenges President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the 72yearold Shehbaz in a ceremony held at the AiwaniSadr the presidential palaceThe ceremony was attended by the three services chiefs senior officials diplomats leading business people members of the civil society and media organisations The caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar was also present The brief ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran followed by the oathtakingThe ceremony was attended by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and other PMLN workers and Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah was also present on the occasion Shehbaz earlier served as prime minister of a coalition government from April 2022 to August 2023 before Parliament was dissolved to hold general elections last monthAlvi had in 2022 tacitly refused to give oath to Shehbaz by saying that he was not feeling well when he was elected as premier for the first time after ousting Imran Khan through a vote of no confidence Then Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administered the oath to him It was speculated that Alvi may once again skip the official duty but he agreedThe oathtaking ceremony comes days after the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a powersharing deal to form a coalition governmentOn Sunday Shehbaz comfortably won a majority in the newlyelected Parliament amidst sloganeering by the Opposition Shehbaz the consensus candidate of the PMLN and the PPP received 201 votes in the 336member Parliament His challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khans Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI secured 92 votesIn the February 8 polls marred by allegations of vote rigging the Sharifsled party failed to garner a clear majority albeit technically it is the largest party with 75 out of the 265 contested seats Shehbaz known to be an astute politician and a good administrator was tasked by his elder brother and former threetime prime minister to negotiate with other likeminded parties on the formation of a coalition governmentBesides the PPP Shehbaz was backed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement MQMP Pakistan Muslim League Q Balochistan Awami Party Pakistan Muslim League Z IstehkamePakistan Party and the National Party The new leader should make difficult decisions to undertake to reform the economy of the cashstrapped country and administrationIn his first speech after being voted in Shehbaz spoke about the struggling economy and said it would require reforms to rid the country of financial difficulties He should also mend ties with its neighbours for peace and stability He also faces challenges from Khans party which has promised to keep protesting the alleged manipulation of the February 8 election resultsThe security situation of the country has also deteriorated in recent months with an increase in terror attacks by Pakistan Taliban and other terror groups Meanwhile caretaker PM Kakar according to reports has vacated the Prime Minister House but he will continue to perform his duties as premier till the issuance of notification of the new chief executive of the country He has been allotted a house in the Ministers EnclaveDuring Shehbazs two successive tenures as chief minister of Punjab 20082013 and 20132018 a network of underpasses overhead bridges and mass transit systems was introduced in the most populous Punjab province and was completed in record timeBorn in September 1951 in a Punjabispeaking Kashmiri family in Lahore Shehbaz did his graduation from the Government College University Lahore His family emigrated from Anantnag in Kashmir for business and settled in the village of Jati Umra in Amritsar district Punjab at the beginning of the 20th century before moving to PakistanThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever