Islamabad, April 11 (UNI): Pakistan’s joint Opposition candidate Shehbaz Sharif was on Monday elected as the 23rd Prime Minister of the country, following the ouster of PTI’s Imran Khan. Sharif, the PML (N) leader, secured the PM slot with 174 votes of Parliamentarians in the National Assembly against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s candidate Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Voting was held under the chairmanship of MNA Ayaz Sadiq, two days after the Lower House of the Assembly voted in favour of removing Imran Khan from the office.
Taking to the Floor, the newly-elected PM expressed his gratitude and said “Almighty Allah has protected the country”, which was also because of the hectic efforts of the leaders of the joint Opposition members. It was for the first time in Pakistan’s history that a PM was ousted through the no-confidence motion, Shehbaz said.
Terming it as a “historic day”, he mentioned that the happiness of people can be seen through the economic indicators. Shehbaz mentioned that the rupee regained its value, trading at (Pakistani) Rs 190 per dollar and closed at Rs 182 per dollar on Monday, Geo News reported.
“Imran Khan was the person, who said that when (Pakistani) rupee gains Re 1 against the US dollar, then the Prime Minister of the country is a corrupt person, now he should see that the rupee has recovered around Rs 8,” he said. He also acknowledged “unanimous” verdict of the Supreme Court and said that April 11 should be marked as a “historic day” in the history of Pakistan.
Taking to the floor, former Foreign Minister Qureshi said the constitutional process has to end today as some will be declared a winner, while the other one will be declared free. “The nation has two paths- one is of self-respect, while the other is of slavery,” he added.
