Shehbaz Sharif elected as new Prime Minister of Pakistan

Shehbaz Sharif the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz PMLN president was elected unopposed as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan by Parliament on Monday after rival candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan TehreekeInsaf party will boycott the voting and staged a walkoutShehbaz 70 was the only candidate left in the race after Qureshis boycott of the election in the National Assembly In the House of 342 the winning candidate should get support of at least 172 lawmakers Shehbaz the younger brother of former threetime prime minister Nawaz Sharif received 174 votes two more than the simple majority of 172 He is the 23rd prime minister of PakistanHe has served as chief minister of the countrys most populous and politically crucial Punjab province thrice Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party PPP cochair Asif Ali Zardari had proposed Shehbazs name for prime ministers position in a joint oppositions meeting to replace Imran Khan through a noconfidence motionThe process of electing the new leader of the House began on Sunday after prime minister Imran Khan was removed from office through the noconfidence vote becoming the first premier in the countrys history to be sent home after losing the trust of the House Pakistan has struggled with political instability since its formation in 1947 with multiple regime changes and military coups No prime minister has ever completed a full fiveyear termFaux Pas in Pak Parliament Speaker confuses Shehbaz Sharif with Nawaz SharifIn an apparent slip of tongue Pakistans National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Monday pronounced the name of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif instead of Shehbaz Sharif during the crucial session to elect Imran Khans successor and apologised for his mistakeSadiq ahead of conducting the voting in the National Assembly to elect the next prime minister read a document containing the name of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz President Shehbaz SharifThe Speaker however pronounced the name of Nawaz Sharif who is in LondonAfter realising that he had pronounced the wrong name Sadiq accepted the mistake and apologised saying the PMLN supremo was in his heart as well as in his mindIn the National Assembly the lower house of Parliament a couple of PMLN lawmakers and PMLN vice president Maryam Nawaz were seen holding portraits of Nawaz Sharif to show their supportAfter the voting Shehbaz Sharif 70 was elected unopposed as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan by Parliament after rival candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan TehreekeInsaf party will boycott the voting and staged a walkoutShehbaz Sharif received 174 votes two more than the simple majority of 172 He is the 23rd prime minister of PakistanNawaz Sharif is expected to return from London next month after Eid senior PMLN leader Mian Javed Latif said adding that a decision on the threetime prime ministers anticipated return will be discussed with the coalition partners Eid will be celebrated in the first week of MaySeveral corruption cases had been launched by the government of exprime minister Khan against the 72yearold supremo of the PMLN since his ouster from the office by the Supreme Court in July 2017 in the Panama Papers caseNawaz Sharif in November 2019 left for London after the Lahore High Court granted him a fourweek permission allowing him to go abroad for his treatmentHe had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court to return to Pakistan citing his record to face the process of law and justice within four weeks or as soon as he is declared healthy and fit to travel by doctorsNawaz Sharif was also given bail in the AlAzizia Mills corruption case in which he was serving sevenyear imprisonment in Lahores Kot Lakhpat jailThis 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