UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS AND REMARKS FROM NEW PREMIER, NO CHANGE IN HEADER, LEDE, AND DECK
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan's parliament on Sunday elected Shehbaz Sharif as the country's 24th prime minister for a second term, three weeks after the Feb. 8 national vote.
Shehbaz, the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and president of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), grabbed 201 votes in the lower house of the National Assembly, 32 higher than the number required for a simple majority.
He defeated his rival, Omer Ayub Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan, who secured 92 votes.
The center-left Pakistan People's Party and several regional parties also voted for Shehbaz.
The Jamiat Ulema Islam, a mainstream religiopolitical party headed by former opposition leader Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman and a lawmaker from southwestern Balochistan province, did not take part in voting.
A candidate requires 169 votes in a 336-member house to clinch the coveted post by a simple majority.
The junior Sharif is expected to take the oath of office on Monday.
The PML(N) lawmakers thumped desks and chanted "Sher, Sher" (lion, lion), the party's election symbol, as Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced the results.
Meanwhile, the PTI lawmakers, some carrying portraits of Imran Khan, gathered in front of the speaker's desk and chanted slogans against the newly elected premier and the ruling coalition throughout his inaugural speech.
Pakistan went to elections on Feb. 8, which were marred by violence and rigging allegations.
Though the PTI-backed independents secured more seats in the general elections, it could not stitch an alliance, allowing the PML(N)-led coalition to form the government for a five-year term.
- A thorny journey
In his inaugural speech, Shehbaz said that fixing the country's ailing economy will be his government's top priority.
He vowed to live up to the economic and political challenges ahead, saying: "It's no doubt difficult but not impossible."
"It's a long, thorny journey, but it's not impossible (to achieve)."
During his previous 16-month stint from April 2022 to Aug. 2023, Sharif managed to secure a last-minute IMF deal to pull the South Asian country from the verge of a technical default.
He has already hinted that the new government will immediately start talks with the IMF for the next agreement to prop the country's economy.
"We have to introduce revolutionary reforms in the ongoing system. We have to get rid of this loans-based economy," Shehbaz said.
"The country cannot be run like this."
He said his government would focus on poverty alleviation, reducing inflation, reforming the tax structure and energy sector, exploiting the country's potential in agriculture, information technology, and artificial intelligence sectors, introducing business and investment-friendly policies, and increasing exports.
"You will see the positive results of our policies in a year," he maintained.
Commenting on a resurgence of terrorism across the country, he said his government will tackle the issue with "full might."