Shehbaz sworn in as Pakistan’s PM for 2nd time

Shehbaz Sharif has been sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan for the second time after an election that was riddled with allegations of rigging and irregularities.

Shehbaz won the prime minister’s election today (Sunday) after clinching 201 votes against his PTI-backed opponent from the Sunni Ittehdad Council (SIC) Omar Ayub Khan, who managed to secure 92 votes.

Sharif, of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) party, was the nominated candidate of a new eight-party coalition that was formed after no single party managed to win an outright majority in the election on 8 February, reports popular Pakistani daily Dawn.

Sharif is the younger brother of the three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and has served as prime minister once before, from April 2022 until August 2023, after Khan was removed from power.

In his first speech on the floor of the newly elected house as the PM-elect, Shehbaz said that big challenges lay ahead in Pakistan’s path but they could be overcome “if we come together and decide to change the country’s fate” by taking it to its rightful position.

After many ups and downs and last-minute complications, Pakistan's 6th National Assembly session began an hour after the scheduled time on Thursday. On the same day, it was decided that the vote for the election of the Prime Minister will be organised in the Sunday session.

Shehbaz’s selection as prime minister came after weeks of wrangling and political horse trading following the contentious February election. PTI had defied a severe crackdown to win the most seats in the election but it was not enough to form an outright majority.

In the days after, PML-N – which had been widely expected to win after it was given the tacit backing of Pakistan’s powerful military – began negotiations with the Pakistan’s People’s party (PPP) and other smaller parties to form an alliance that would be enough to form a majority government and keep PTI out of power.

An agreement was eventually reached that Sharif would serve as prime minister while the PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zadari would be president. Other smaller parties that joined the coalition will be given cabinet posts.
Khan and PTI-affiliated candidates have alleged there was rampant rigging in the election and that dozens of seats they won were stolen and given to PML-N and other parties. They have challenged many of the cases with the election commission and in the courts.