Shehbaz Sharif has secured his position as Pakistan’s prime minister for the second time, three weeks after uncertain national elections led to the formation of a coalition government.
Pakistan’s newly formed National Assembly, as the lower house of parliament is called, elected Sharif on Sunday as prime minister by 201 votes, presiding over a shaky alliance that has shut out followers of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan.
“Shehbaz Sharif has been declared to have been elected as prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” said the newly appointed speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
Omar Ayub Khan emerged as the preferred candidate for Members of Parliament who supported Khan, garnering a total of 92 votes in his bid against Sharif.
In Pakistan’s national assembly, consisting of 336 members, 266 are elected through direct voting while 70 are appointed. Among the appointed members, 60 seats are allocated for women and 10 for representatives of religious minorities.
A political party or alliance needs 169 seats in the national assembly to assume power, while the selection of nominees is determined by the electoral performance of each political party.
Sharif, 72, is the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who spearheaded the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party’s election campaign.
Candidates backed by Khan gained the most seats but the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed to form a coalition government, which enabled Shahbaz Sharif to be elected as prime minister as his brother stepped aside.
Sharif served as prime minister until August last year when the National Assembly was dissolved to pave the way for a caretaker government responsible for overseeing the national elections.
Pakistan held elections on Feb. 8 amidst controversy, with a mobile internet shutdown, arrests, and violence during the lead-up to the polls. The delayed results sparked accusations of vote rigging and electoral fraud.
Throughout the 77-year history of Pakistan, no prime minister has managed to serve a full five-year term, due to the significant political influence wielded by the military.
