ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Reuters) – Opposition politician Shehbaz Sharif submitted his nomination for Pakistan’s next prime minister to the legislature on Sunday, his party said after incumbent Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament after nearly four years in power.
The younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, 70-year-old Shehbaz, has topped an opposition proposal in parliament to remove former cricket star Khan and is expected to replace him after Monday’s vote.
The head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has handed over his nomination documents, Marium Aurangzeb, a party spokesman said on Sunday.
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Khan, Pakistan’s first no-confidence prime minister, has been on hold for almost a week after a united opposition first tried to oust him.
With the dissolution of parliament, he delayed the vote, which he said was part of a foreign-backed plot against him, but the Supreme Court ordered parliament to convene and vote.
Khan’s government fell in the early hours of Sunday after a 13-hour session that included repeated delays and long speeches by lawmakers from his Tehrik-e-Insaf party in Pakistan.
The vote resumed after the mighty army chief, General Kamar Javed Bajua, met with Khan, two sources said, declining to be identified as criticism intensified due to delays in the parliamentary process.
The military has ruled the country with 220 million people for almost half of its nearly 75-year history.
Opposition parties managed to get 174 votes in the 342-member no-confidence chamber, giving them the majority they needed to vote Monday for a new prime minister.
Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan chant slogans as they protest after he lost a no-confidence vote in the lower house of parliament, Islamabad, Pakistan, April 10, 2022. REUTERS / Akhtar Soomro
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Khan did not publicly comment on his ouster, but even before the vote, he called for protests.
“I will fight,” he told the nation on Friday.
“I tell all my supporters in Pakistan that on Sunday, after the Isha (evening) prayer, you all have to leave your homes and protest peacefully against this imported government, which is trying to come to power.
‘NEW DAWN’
Shehbaz Sharif said leaving Khan was a chance for a fresh start.
“A new dawn has begun … This alliance will rebuild Pakistan,” he told parliament on Sunday.
Sharif has been the chief minister of the Punjab province for many years and has a reputation as an effective administrator. Read more
His first tasks will be to mend ties with powerful military as well as United States allies, and there will be a trend toward a dormant economy.
The military favored Khan and his conservative agenda when he won the 2018 election, but that support waned after disagreements over the appointment of an influential military intelligence chief and economic problems that led to the biggest rate hike in decades. week. Read more
Khan has opposed the United States throughout his term, praising the Taliban for taking over Afghanistan last year and recently accusing the United States of trying to oust him. Washington has denied the allegations.
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Report by Asif Shahzad, Sayed Reza Hassan and Gibran Nayar Peshimam in Islamabad, Written by Alasder Pal and Charlotte Greenfield, Edited by Robert Birsel, Angus McSwon and Barbara Lewis
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