Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif elected Prime Minister of Pakistan for second time while securing 201 votes
ISLAMABAD, March 03 (SABAH): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has been elected Prime Minister of Pakistan for second time while securing 201 votes. The rival candidate Sunni Ittehad Council backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Umar Ayub Khan secured 92 votes.
The National Assembly session was held under the chairmanship of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq during which the election of the 24th prime minister of the country was conducted. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced the results of the election of the prime minister and requested Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to take chair of the prime minister of Pakistan.
The leaders of the coalition parties congratulated Shehbaz Sharif on his election as prime minister. Shehbaz Sharif later went to the desks of the allied parties to express his gratitude to them.
Chief of Balochistan National Party (Mengal) Sardar Muhammad Akhtar Jan Mengal who was present in the house abstained from voting.
While addressing the National Assembly session after being elected as Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif thanked Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Abdul Aleem Khan, Mir Khalid Hussain Magsi and members of all allied parties for electing him prime minister of the country for second time.
Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan made progress during the three tenures of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif as prime minister of the country. The country progressed by leaps and bounds under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, he added.
He also mentioned Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto for their service to the country.
The session, which was chaired by NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, began with the oath-taking of PML-N’s Mir Jam Kamal Khan Alyani.
However, the House soon began echoing with slogans and chants raised by the SIC members in favour of incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and alliance backing Shehbaz Sharif.
After this, Speaker Sadiq asked the Assembly staff to ring the bell for five minutes so any members that are not present in the house could come to the floor for the prime minister’s election.
Once the bells were rung, Speaker Sadiq ordered the NA staff to lock the doors and announced the method for electing the prime minister.
Then the speaker informed the lawmakers about the candidates who were contesting for the prime minister’s elections.
“Valid nominated candidates are Shehbaz Sharif and Omar Ayub. Honourable members who wish to vote in favour of Shehbaz may proceed to the lobby on the right side designated as ‘Lobby A’,” the speaker said.
The speaker then directed that those who wish to vote for Ayub can proceed to the left-hand side towards “Lobby B” to get their votes recorded.
As the voting process commenced, members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) walked out of the House in line with their decision to boycott the elections for the PM, president and other constitutional offices.
Following the conclusion of the polling process, the NA secretary provided the speaker with the record of the votes cast in the elections.
Once the counting was completed the speaker directed the NA staff to ring the bell to summon the lawmakers back in the house for the announcement of the results.