Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif wins second term as prime minister
Pakistan’s recently convened parliament has re-elected Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister for a second term, defeating a contender backed by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
This decision comes three weeks after a contentious general election marred by accusations of coercion and electoral fraud.
Sharif’s PML-N party secured second place in the elections, while independent candidates supported by Khan’s PTI garnered the most seats but fell short of a majority.
On Sunday, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced Sharif’s victory with 201 parliamentary votes, surpassing the required threshold of 169. His opponent, Omar Ayub, backed by Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, secured 92 votes.
In his acceptance speech, Sharif emphasized that in the absence of a clear parliamentary majority, it was “the democratic way” for “like-minded parties to form a coalition government.”
Following the recent elections, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), led by Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif’s brother and a former prime minister, struck a coalition agreement with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
In 2022, these historically rival parties united to remove Imran Khan from the prime ministerial office and install Sharif as his successor.
After the dissolution of the assembly last August, Pakistan was governed by a caretaker administration.
Imran Khan was jailed in the run-up to the 6 February election and barred from standing.
He faces more than 150 criminal and civil charges – all of which he denies – as the authorities launched a crackdown on his party.
PTI candidates were forced to run as independents but won more seats than any other party.
