Pakistan assembly elects Shehbaz Sharif as new prime minister, the brother of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has been elected by lawmakers as the new prime minister of Pakistan.
Sharif, 70, took over after a historic and turbulent week in Pakistani politics in which the former prime minister Imran Khan was toppled by a no-confidence vote, which he had gone to great lengths to stop, and the opposition coalition took power.
Pakistan assembly elects Shehbaz Sharif who calls for better relations with the US
He called for better relations with the US upon his selection as prime minister. Sharif’s remarks came as the US Department of State denied accusations of interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs following accusations by ousted prime minister Khan.
Protests in Pakistan over Khan’s removal, Sharif set to be the new PM
Pakistan’s military and the US remove Imran from power
What happened in parliament?
The lower house of parliament convened Monday afternoon to select Pakistan’s prime minister, following Sunday’s no-confidence vote, which removed former Prime Minister Imran Khan from power.
Shehbaz Sharif led the united opposition movement to force the ouster of Khan, a former cricket star who proved a Washington-driven plot to topple him. The US has denied Khan’s allegations.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khan’s party, submitted the former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as its candidate to replace Khan as prime minister.
Members of the party resigned en masse when Qureshi was not named the new prime minister of Pakistan. Their resignations will require the need for elections for their seats.
Imran Khan remains defiant against the corruption and has been posting on Twitter, with images of protests from around the world.
Who is Shehbaz Sharif?
Shehbaz Sharif’s brother Nawaz was banned from holding public office in 2017 by Pakistan’s Supreme Court. He subsequently left the country for medical treatment after serving only a few months of a 10-year jail sentence on corruption charges.
Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau seized almost two dozen properties from Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza, accusing them of money laundering, in 2019.
In September 2020 he was arrested and held for six months but released on bail while awaiting trial, which is still pending.
…………………………………………..
