Shehbaz Sharif Elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan

The Opposition’s joint candidate and PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif has been elected the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday. The development comes after PTI chairman Imran Khan was ousted as the Prime Minister of Pakistan through a no-trust motion in the National Assembly.

Shehbaz Sharif was able to secure 174 votes as opposed to PTI’s candidate Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who received no votes after his party members decided to boycott the election process and submit their resignations from the assemblies

The poll took place under the chairmanship of MNA Ayaz Sadiq, two days after the lower house of Parliament voted in favor of removing Imran Khan as the premier with a no-trust motion against him in the National Assembly. Imran Khan became the first Prime Minister to be ousted after the Opposition was able to get 174 votes in favor of the no-trust motion.

Taking the floor, the newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked the Almighty Allah for his blessings. The newly elected premier also mentioned that it was the first time in the history of the country that a premier was ousted through a no-trust motion.

“Imran Khan was the person who said that when rupee gains Re1 against the US dollar then the prime minister of the country is a corrupt person now he should see that the rupee has recovered around Rs8,” said Shehbaz Sharif as he referred to the recovery made by the Pakistani Rupee against US Dollar since Friday.

He added that Supreme Court’s verdict to hold the no-trust vote should be marked as a historic day in the history of Pakistan. He said that the Opposition was discussing the no-confidence days before Imran Khan’s “concocted threat letter controversy.”

“They say that this letter came to them on March 7, but our decisions were made way before that, so, if [what the previous government claimed] is a lie, then the matter should be disclosed transparently before the public,” he said, adding that the matter will be investigated.

“If there’s an iota of evidence that we were backed by foreign conspirators […] then with you Mr speaker and God as my witness, I will not think for another second and resign from the office of the prime minister,” he added as he thanked his brother and ex-premier Nawaz Sharif for his support.

He also lauded the social media activists, press clubs, media houses, and lawyers for backing the Opposition’s struggle for democracy.

The newly elected Prime Minister said that if Pakistan were to progress, then it needs to be self-sufficient on the financial front. “…we will need to protect and respect the nation as neither was anyone a traitor nor are they traitors now,” he said, adding that if the economy was to move forward, the government will have to use “dialogue” instead of moving towards a deadlock.

Shehbaz Sharif bashed the PTI’s tenure, saying that hard work is required to progress rather than statements. “If statements could move the country forward, then during PTI’s regime, we would have been among the leading nations.” he said.

He said that everyone needs to work together and “wash out” the effects of the previous government or we will fail as the economy is in a bad position right now.

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