Shehbaz Sharif, the 70-year-old younger brother of former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, has been elected as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Sharif was elected unopposed as the new Pakistani PM with 174 votes in favour amid a walkout by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MLAs. The ousted Pakistan PM Imran Khan announced his resignation as a member of the National Assembly saying that he will not sit in the assemblies with 'thieves'.
Shehbaz Sharif was the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly since August 2018. He is also the President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). His candidature for Prime Minister was revealed by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during a joint press conference of the opposition parties earlier. His election comes after Imran Khan lost the no-confidence motion tabled against him in the assembly, becoming the first Pakistan PM to do so. He will formally take the oath of office later today.
#WATCH | Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan opposition leader, elected new PM
— ANI (@ANI) April 11, 2022
Source: PTV pic.twitter.com/lYcOeYbwQp
The Imran Khan-led coalition government lost the no-trust vote with 174 votes in favour of the motion in the 342 member assembly. The voting took place after midnight on April 9th despite several attempts to block it. The members of the ruling PTI including Pakistan PM Imran Khan were absent during the voting.
174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution. The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan has been passed in the Pakistan National Assembly. pic.twitter.com/wwZoZcwS9A
— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2022
Read Also: Pakistan Assembly Elects new Pakistan PM
Who is Shehbaz Sharif?- Know in 10 Points
1. Shehbaz Sharif is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who served as Pakistan PM for three terms. Born in Lahore in 1950, Sharif is a graduate of Government College University, Lahore.
2. Shehbaz Sharif had been serving as the Chief Minister of the crucial Punjab province of Pakistan for the previous three terms.
3. He had last staked a claim for the position of the PM in 2018 but PPP's decision to abstain from the PM vote had paved the way for the election of PTI's Imran Khan as the Prime Minister.
4. Shehbaz Sharif was nominated as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
5. He initially joined his family's steel business and then become the president of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries in 1985.
6. His elder brother Nawaz Sharif was inducted into the Punjab Provincial Cabinet as Finance Minister in 1983 under the dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq.
7. He entered the Punjab Provincial Assembly in 1988 and was elected to the National Assembly in 1990. He became the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly in 1993.
8. He become the Chief Minister of Punjab for the first time in 1997 but his term was cut short by Pervez Musharraf's military coup of 1999.
9. He became the Punjab CM again in 2008, returning from political exile after almost a decade.
10. Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the President of PML-N unopposed in February 2018 after his brother, then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from key positions after being named in the 'Panama Papers'.
Corruption Charges
Shehbaz Sharif also faces serious corruption charges similar to his elder brother. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had frozen 23 properties belonging to Shehbaz Sharif and his son, Hamza in December 2019 accusing them of money laundering. The NAB arrested him in the same case in September 2020 and he was released on bail in April 2021 by the Lahore High Court.
Pakistan Supreme Court Verdict
Pakistan's Supreme Court in a historic judgment on April 8th had declared Imran Khan's decision to advise the President to dissolve the National Assembly as unconstitutional and had also set aside the ruling of the Deputy Speaker rejecting the no-trust vote against Imran Khan government. The top court had called for the convening of the session of the National Assembly "not later than 10:30 AM on Saturday" and for the election of the new PM in the same session if in case of Imran Khan's removal.
Read Also: Pakistan Supreme Court declares Imran Khan's decisions as unconstitutional- Check full verdict
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation