Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif Elected as New Prime Minister

Shehbaz Sharif was elected Pakistani Prime Minister. Apr. 11, 2022.

Published 11 April 2022

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After the weekend removal of Imran Khan because of a no-confidence vote, Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the new Prime Minister.

On Monday, Pakistani lawmakers voted for Shehbaz Sharif as the country's new Prime Minister after Sunday's dismissal of Imran Khan following losing a no-confidence vote, alongside the resing of most of his party members. MPs from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party resigned en masse in a boycott to the election of Sharif.

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The Acting Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said: "Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has been elected as prime minister." During his first address, Pakistan's new Prime Minister proposed raising salaries, pensions, and the minimum wage for laborers. "It's a victory of righteousness, and evil has been defeated," Sharif said.

He commented on the failures in the foreign policy implemented by the ongoing administration and said. He said he will promote the multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and reconstruct broken ties with partners and allies states.

"We want good relations with India, but there cannot be sustainable peace unless the issue of Kashmir is resolved," said Sharif, leader of the centrist Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), calling his Indian counterpart to give a solution to the Kashmir dispute in line with United Nations resolutions.

Chairman Senate, Senator Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, administering oath to Mr. Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, at Aiwan-e-Sadr. pic.twitter.com/ODZvmffRGq
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) April 11, 2022

The elected PM discussed the allegations leveled by Khan about the U.S. conspiring with his enemies to seize his government. He requested an in-camera briefing of the parliamentary committee on national security. The meeting will convene senior civil and military officials, including Pakistan's foreign ambassador in Washington.

"If an iota of evidence is provided against us, I will immediately resign," Sharif said to the parliament in his maiden speech.

He had already secured 174 votes and now seeks to form a new government to remain in place until the next general elections, scheduled for August 2023.