Pakistan Crisis Live Updates: Shehbaz Sharif elected new Prime Minister
PML-N leader Shehbaz Shariff was elected as the new Pakistan Prime Minister through a voting in Pakistan National Assembly. Ahead of the election, lawmakers from PTI, led by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, resigned from the Parliament and staged a walkout.
The joint Opposition – a rainbow of socialist, liberal and radically religious parties – named 70-year-old Sharif for the premier’s post while ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was named by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as its candidate. The PTI has decided to withdraw its lawmakers from the National Assembly and launch a movement against the new upcoming government, which is likely to be headed by Sharif, who has served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times.
Meanwhile, a large number of PTI supporters held a protest rally at Lahore’s Liberty Chowk against the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan. Big gatherings were also reported from other parts of the Punjab province, including Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Vehari, Jehlum and Gujrat districts. Islamabad and Karachi also witnessed major protests. PTI’s local leadership was leading the protest. The charged workers and supporters of the party were chanting slogans against the US, which Khan claims to be behind the ouster of his government.
Earlier Former prime minister Imran Khan has decided to tender his resignation as a member of the National Assembly ahead of the election for the new prime minister of Pakistan.
The decision was reportedly made during the PTI’s parliamentary party meeting.
