ISLAMABAD – Shehbaz Sharif has sworn in as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan. Sharif was administered oath by President Arif Alvi at President House.
Top civil-military officials including Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N workers. PPP’s Murad Ali Shah and Sarfaraz Bugti were also in attendance.
Caretaker PM Anwaar ul Haq Kakar sat on President Arif Alvi’s left side.
It must be noted that Shehbaz was elected the premier after he secured 201 votes in the PM elections yesterday.
Dr Arif Alvi will administer the oath to Shehbaz Sharif at a ceremony, which is scheduled for 3 pm. All arrangements for the event have been finalised while invitations have also been sent to the guests in this regard.
A day earlier, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was elected as 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan by securing 201 votes on Sunday.
PTI and SIC backed candidate Omer Ayub Khan got 92 votes, NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced.
Polling has begun in the newly-elected National Assembly of Pakistan to elect the country’s new Prime Minister.
The candidates in the running are Omar Ayub Khan from the Sunni Ittehad Council and Shehbaz Sharif, the candidate of a multi-party alliance.
Both candidates filed their nomination papers, which were accepted by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq after scrutiny. Shehbaz, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz president, is supported by the Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party. His name was put forward as part of a power-sharing formula between PMLN and PPP after the elections.
In the National Assembly, independents, including those backed by the PTI, hold the largest group with 101 seats, followed by PMLN with 75 seats and PPP with 54 seats. Most PTI candidates elected to the house have chosen to join the SIC to be recognized as a party in the Assembly. The party hopes it can receive reserved seats through this strategy.
The voting for the Prime Minister is not carried out through a secret ballot like it is for the speaker or deputy speaker. Instead, the election takes place through an open division of members in the house. The entire process is laid out in Chapter IV and Second Schedule of Rules and Procedure for the Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007.
