Shehbaz Sharif Secures 2nd Term As Pakistan’s Prime Minister With 201 Votes

New Delhi: Shehbaz Sharif, the joint candidate of an alliance led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has been elected 24th prime minister of Pakistan, securing 201 votes, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced on Sunday.

Shehbaz’s opponent Omar Ayub Khan, representing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, could garner 92 votes.

“When my quaid [brother] was elected the prime minister thrice, the development that followed in the country is an example of its own. And it is not wrong to say that Nawaz Sharif is the one who built Pakistan,” Shehbaz said in his victory speech.

Shehbaz also expressed gratitude to his party’s allies, including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), for their trust in him and for appointing him as the Leader of the House. He will take the oath of office on Monday at the Presidential mansion, Aiwan-e-Sadr, according to reports.

Shehbaz had previously served as the prime minister of a coalition government from April 2022 to August 2023 before Parliament was dissolved for the general elections.

The recently concluded general elections have been clouded by accusations of widespread rigging. Imran Khan’s PTI claimed that numerous candidates from PML-N and PPP were declared victors despite other candidates receiving the majority of votes.

A party has to secure victory in 133 out of the 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly to be able to form a government. While Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N emerged victorious at 75 seats and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s PPP, a key partner in the coalition, secured 54 seats, independent candidates aligned with Imran Khan’s PTI claimed 93.

According to Rule 32 of the National Assembly, “Election of the Prime Minister: – (1) After the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker following a general election or whenever the office of the Prime Minister falls vacant for any reason, the Assembly shall, to the exclusion of many other business, proceed to elect without debate one of its Muslim members to be the Prime Minster.”