ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif, a leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has been sworn in as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan. Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi has administered oath from Shehbaz Sharif. Army Chief General Asim Munir and outgoing caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, Chief Ministers and governors of all provinces also attended the ceremony.
Shehbaz Sharif earlier served as prime minister of a PDM-led government from April 2022 to August 2023 before the national assembly was dissolved to hold general polls in February. On Sunday, former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won a majority in the newly-elected lower house of the parliament amidst sloganeering by the opposition parties.
Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif Takes Oath as PM
Shehbaz, the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP, received 201 votes in the 336-member of the assembly. His contestant Omar Ayub Khan of SIC took 92 votes.
Besides the PPP, Shehbaz Sharif was also backed by MQM-P, PML-Q, Balochistan Awami Party, Istehkam-e-Pakistan, the National Party and Pakistan Muslim League (Z).
Addressing the national assembly, former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked his elder brother Nawaz Sharif for nominating him for the office of prime minister.
He added the country progressed by leaps and bounds under the leadership of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shehbaz Sharif called him architect of Pakistan who ended load shedding and made the nation a nuclear power. Shehbaz Sharif also mentioned Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto for their service to the nation. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto laid down her life for democracy, justice and law, he further said.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also approved the nomination papers of former President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Mahmood Khan Achakzai for the presidential elections. PPP’s leader Farooq H Naek said that no objection was raised on the nomination papers of Asif Ali Zardari.
PTI’s Amir Dogar, flanked by PkMAP chief Achakzai and Ali Muhammad Khan, announced that the electoral body has accepted the nomination papers of the SIC candidate for the office of the President.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif takes oath as the 24th Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/1rraUg0Qzi
— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) March 4, 2024
