NEW DELHI: Pakistan’s Parliament has backed 72-year-old Shehbaz Sharif as their 24th Prime Minister. This will be Shehbaz’s second term as Prime Minister, amidst protests from supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Sharif first served as prime minister in 2022 at the head of a strikingly similar alliance which ousted Imran Khan, a former cricket star.
Shehbaz Sharif secured 201 votes out of 336 in a vote of confidence on Sunday. The Sharif family’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party allied with their historic rivals the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), as well as several smaller factions, to keep Khan’s candidates out. The opposition led by Ayub Khan managed 92 votes.
Speaking in Parliament after the vote, Shehbaz Sharif mentioned Kashmir, without naming India, while talking about the atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza for which he urged the international community to take note.
He also spoke about countering terrorism and extending free visas to brotherly countries and Pakistan becoming a G20 member by 2030.
Stating that Pakistan would build a strong economy for the future, Sharif added that China had been Pakistan’s support over the past few years. “We would like to extend CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor). Saudi Arabia has been our friend and this pre-dates the formation of Pakistan. Qatar, Turkey, UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait are friends,” he said.
