Raja Parvez Ashraf appointed the 17th Prime Minister of Pakistan

Raja Parvez Ashraf, the senior Pakistan People’s Party leader, was appointed the 17th Prime Minister of Pakistan on 22 June 2012. In a poll held in the Pakistan’s National Assembly to elect new Prime Minister, Raja received 211 votes of the total 342 votes while the Opposition PML (N) candidate, Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, bagged only 89 votes.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari administered oath to the new Prime Ministerat in a special oath taking ceremony held at the Presidency at Islamabad in Pakistan.

Ashraf was elected as the Prime Minister following the Supreme Court’s verdict to debar Yousaf Raza Gilani from his office on 19 June 2012 in a contempt of court case.

Born on 26 December 1950, in Sanghar town in Sindh province, Ashraf completed his higher education from Sindh University in Pakistan in 1970. A successful real estate businessman Ashraf is considered as a key PPP leader in the Rawalpindi region. He was twice elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Gujar Khan constituency of Rawalpindi District. Before being elected as the Prime Minister of the country, he served as the federal minister for water and power, and information and technology in the cabinet headed by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.