Shehbaz Sharif takes oath as 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

–PTI resigns, the boycotts election process

ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday at a ceremony held at President’s House.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administered the oath to Shehbaz Sharif after President Arif Alvi fell ill.

The three services chiefs, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, JUI-F
chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and
other leaders of political parties were in attendance at the ceremony.

The President’s official Twitter account said he complained of
discomfort and has been examined by a doctor.

“President Dr. Arif Alvi has complained of discomfort. The physician has examined him thoroughly and has advised him rest for a few days,” the post read.

Earlier today, the National Assembly elected Shehbaz Sharif as the new Prime Minister while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) boycotted the election process and announced tendering their resignations collectively.

Shehbaz Sharif is the 23rd elected PM. After the PTI’s boycott of the NA session, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) chaired the House and completed the PM election process. Shehbaz Sharif received 174 votes while his opponent Shah Mehmood Qureshi did not get a single vote.

The members of the joint opposition cast votes in favour of their unanimous candidate Shehbaz Sharif who was elected PM with a majority of votes, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

During the session, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced tendering resignations and boycotted the National Assembly session convened to elect a new Leader of the House and all of its MNAs left the house in protest.

The announcement was made by Shah Mehmood Qureshi, PTI’s candidate for the premiership during his address to the NA session and said they would not be a part of such kind of illicit act of the joint opposition.

PTI NA Deputy Speaker who was chairing the National Assembly session was the first to quit the sitting of the house and said that his conscience did not permit him that he would continue presiding over this session.

Earlier, while giving his remarks at the start of the session, Deputy Speaker Suri said he had given ruling on the opposition’s no-trust
motion as a patriotic citizen.

He waved the ‘letter’, which the PTI claimed had ‘threatening’ contents and had been sent by a superpower, before the House and asserted his ruling was not unconstitutional.

He, however, said he accepted the verdict the Supreme Court had given on his ruling.

He went on to ask as to what was the crime of Imran Khan? “If his crime was that he pursued an independent foreign policy as a prime minister. Was that his crime?” he questioned.

Suri, on the occasion, announced that he was forwarding the letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

The National Assembly is set to elect a new leader of the House today with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif as the hot favorite.

The former ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has pitched Shah Mehmood Qureshi as its candidate for the prime ministership.

The PML-N president—candidate of the joint opposition for the seat of  Prime Minister—himself submitted his nomination papers to the National Assembly (NA) secretariat on Sunday. He reportedly submitted 13 nomination papers to the office of the NA secretary.

Opposition leaders include Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto, Khawaja Asif, Rana Tanveer, Amir Haider Hoti, Shahzain Bugti, Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar, Ayaz Sadiq, Saad Rafique and others were among those who proposed and seconded the PML-N president’s nomination papers.

The opposition leaders also held a meeting in Shehbaz Sharif’s chamber to discuss the strategy for the election of the new leader of the house.

On the other hand, nomination papers of Shah Mehmood Qureshi as party candidate for the PM slot were filed by the PTI. His nomination papers were proposed by Amir Dogar and seconded by Maleeka Bokhari.

The NA secretariat confirmed receiving the nomination papers of Shehbaz Sharif.

Later, in a tweet, Shehbaz Sharif thanked all the political leaders and workers for extending him support. TF REPORT