Shehbaz Sharif takes PM chair in Pakistan parliament after election | Watch

Shehbaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), was elected as Pakistan’s 23rd Prime Minister on Monday. The 70-year-old secured 174 votes, two more than required, after former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party will boycott the voting and staged a walkout.

Also read: Pakistan Speaker Ayaz Sadiq confuses Shehbaz Sharif with Nawaz Sharif

After he was elected as the Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, who is the brother of three-time Pakistan PM Nawaz, greeted his fellow colleagues and assumed the chair in the parliament. 

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“Today, the almighty has saved Pakistan and the 22 crore people of the country. This is the first time when the vote of no-confidence motion was successfully passed. The people of this country will celebrate this day,” were Sharif’s first words after being elected. 

Sharif further slammed Imran Khan’s ‘foreign conspiracy’ theory, saying if it is proven, he will resign and go home. 

Also read: Shehbaz Sharif thanks almighty for saving Pakistan in first address as PM

“So, if (what the previous government claimed) is a lie, then the matter should be disclosed transparently before the public,” he said.

He announced that the parliament’s security committee would be given a briefing on the “threat letter” to the members of the committee in presence of the armed forces personnel and bureaucrats — the Inter-Services Intelligence chief, foreign secretary, and the ambassador who wrote it.

Also read: Shehbaz Sharif takes Prime Minister’s chair in Pakistan parliament after election | Watch

“If there’s an iota of evidence that we were backed by foreign conspirators … then with you Mr speaker and God as my witness, I will not think for another second and resign from the office of the prime minister,” Sharif said. 

The new Prime Minister further added that he wants good relations with India, but it can’t be achieved without resolution of Kashmir issue.

He also thanked his brother and ex-premier Nawaz Sharif for his support.

The oath-taking ceremony will be held in the President House where President Arif Alvi would administer the oath of office to him later Monday.