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Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as Pakistan’s new prime minister on Monday after being elected a day earlier in a raucous parliamentary session, AP reported.
The swearing-in ceremony was held in the capital, Islamabad. President Arif administered the oath of office.
He held the same position from April 2022 to August 2023, replacing archrival Imran Khan who was kicked out of the job after a no-confidence vote.
Shehbaz is the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
His appointment is controversial because of parliamentary elections last month that his opponents claimed were rigged in his favour.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, the PTI, insists it did better in the poll but that electoral theft and other irregularities deprived it of a parliamentary majority.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League party, the PML-N, didn’t win enough seats to form a government but went into coalition with others to get a majority, clearing his path to a second premiership.
He secured 201 votes in parliament to become prime minister, defeating the PTI-backed candidate Omar Ayub, who got 92 votes.
Shehbaz pledged to perform his duties and functions with honesty and loyalty and always for the country's independence, “integrity, stability, and for the sake of unity.”
He is the 24th prime minister in Pakistan’s 77-year history.
bd-pratidin/GR
