Lahore: Shehbaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was elected as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan in a vote in the Pakistan National Assembly. PTI MPs, led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, resigned from Parliament and staged a walkout before of the election.
The combined Opposition — a rainbow of socialist, liberal, and profoundly religious groups – nominated Sharif, 70, for the prime ministership, while Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chose ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as its candidate. The PTI has chosen to pull its legislators from the National Assembly and launch a campaign against the new government, which is expected to be led by Sharif, who has served as Punjab’s Chief Minister three times.
Meanwhile, a big crowd of PTI supporters protested the removal of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Lahore’s Liberty Chowk. Other districts in Punjab province, such as Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Vehari, Jehlum, and Gujrat, have also reported large crowds. Protests were also held in Islamabad and Karachi. The demonstration was led by the PTI’s local leadership. Workers and supporters of the party were screaming slogans against the United States, which Khan alleges is behind his government’s overthrow.
Analysts say Shehbaz, unlike Nawaz Sharif, has friendly relations with Pakistan’s military, which usually dominates the country’s foreign and defence policies.
Shehbaz Sharif’s administrative skills were on display when he worked closely with China on Beijing-funded projects as chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
He said in an interview last week that good ties with the US were critical for Pakistan for better or for worse, in contrast to Mr Khan’s antagonistic relationship with Washington.
Following a military takeover in Pakistan in 1999, Shehbaz was imprisoned and exiled to Saudi Arabia. In 2007, he returned to the country. After Nawaz Sharif was found guilty in 2017 on charges of hiding assets related to the Panama Papers revelations, Shehbaz rose to the top of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.
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