PML-N’s nominee Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was elected prime minister of Pakistan after bagging 221 votes during a vote carried out to elect a short-term successor to ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Following the announcement by NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in this regard on Tuesday evening, the PML-N lawmakers resorted to sloganeering in favour of Nawaz Sharif.
The NA session was called by President Mamnoon Hussain following a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Panama Papers case in which Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as PM after being deemed unfit to hold office.
Following the SC verdict, the PML-N had agreed upon Abbasi, the former petroleum minister, as its candidate for interim prime minister. He is expected to give way for Shahbaz Sharif, who is likely to compete for the seat lying vacant following the ouster of his elder brother.
Abbasi bagged 221 votes to win the election, while the PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar secured 47 votes, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid received 33 votes, and four MNAs voted for Jamaat-i-Islami’s Sahibzada Tariqullah.
Source: Dawn
