ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif was elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan unopposed in a National Assembly session boycotted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Acting Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced the result after the voting. Shehbaz Sharif was elected Leader of the House after receiving 174 votes. PTI candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi did not receive any votes after the party boycotted the election.Â
Announcing the results, Sadiq reminisced that he had also chaired a session during which PML-N supremo and Shehbaz’s elder brother was elected as the prime minister.
“Today I have the honour of chairing the session for Shehbaz Sharif’s election,” he said. “Mian Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif has secured 174 votes and has been elected as the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”
PML-N lawmakers erupted in jubilation after the result was announced. PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz witnessed the momentous occasion from the visitor’s gallery. Shehbaz Sharif is expected to be sworn in today by President Arif Alvi at 8.30 PM in a ceremony at the President’s House.
Shehbaz Sharif is the unanimous candidate of the parliamentary parties including PPP-P, PML-N, BAP, MQM, BNP-Mengal, ANP, MMAP and independent candidates in the 341-seat House that secured 174 votes in the no-confidence motion to knock out the PTI government.
Earlier Ayaz Sadiq, who was in the chair after Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri took initial proceedings, read out the names of candidates Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose nomination papers for the top slot were accepted by the National Assembly Secretariat.
Following this, he directed to ring the bells for five minutes enabling the House members not present in the Chamber to be present. As the bells stopped ringing, all the entrances to the Lobby were locked for any entry or exit till the completion of the voting process. The chair asked the lawmakers for a simple division to cast their votes in favour of their candidates.
Just minutes before the vote, legislators from PTI resigned en masse from the lower house of parliament in protest at the expected formation of a government by political opponents. “We are announcing we are all resigning,” Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PTI Vice President said in a speech in the assembly.
