Shehbaz Sharif’s office-taking comes amid allegations of rigging of polls and facing staggering economic and security challenges.
Shehbaz Sharif: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and younger brother of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif is set to become the PM of Pakistan on Sunday. With this, he will be the 33rd prime minister of the country once again leading a coalition government. Shehbaz Sharif’s office-taking comes amid allegations of rigging of polls and facing staggering economic and security challenges.
The coalition government comprises PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Shehbaz Sharif is the joint candidate. He has already submitted his nomination. Omar Ayub Khan, the main challenger of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) too has filed his papers.
The National Assembly Secretariat said that the voting in the National Assembly to elect the new prime minister will be held on Sunday and the successful candidate will be administered the oath of office on Monday at the Presidential mansion, Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Shehbaz Sharif has served as the chief minister of the Punjab province and is said to be an able administrator due to the swift execution of mega-development projects. However, he failed to exhibit the qualities when elevated to serve as prime minister for a 16-month stint in 2022.
Sharif will be taking up the top post as Pakistan faces several big challenges like a fragile economy and the increasing threat of terrorism. Along with this, the coalition government under him would also have to face the street power of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party which had been protesting against the alleged rigging of elections.
The general elections in Pakistan were held on February 8 in which PML-N failed to get a clear majority. However, it emerged as the party with the highest number of seats with 75 out of 265 seats. Moreover, the former PM and his elder brother Nawaz Sharif stepped back in his favour to allow him to lead the coalition as he is believed to have the knack of taking along diverse groups in the polarised country.
The PPP is supporting the government from outside in return for PML-N support for the election of its senior leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari as the president once again.
Shehbaz Sharif’s election as the prime minister is almost certain since the PML-N and PPP’s candidates for the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly were elected on Friday with a comfortable majority.
Shehbaz served as prime minister of a coalition government from April 2022 to August 2023 before Parliament was dissolved to hold general elections.
President Arif Alvi, known for his closeness to Imran Khan, has consented to administer the oath to Shehbaz Sharif, quoted ‘highly placed sources’ as reported by The News International newspaper.
The election of the new president is set to be held on March 9.
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, niece of Shehbaz and daughter of Nawaz became the first woman chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province on February 26.
(With PTI inputs)