ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif on Monday took oath as Pakistan’s 24th prime minister.

President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi administrated the oath to the newly-elected premier. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Monday.

PML-N Quaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, the chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan, the parliamentarians, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir, and ambassadors and diplomats from different countries attended the ceremony.

After the oath-taking ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was presented with a guard of honour. Amid rigging allegations and in the face of massive economic challenges, the newly-elected premier vowed to steer the country out of crisis and set the goal for his government to make Pakistan a member of G20 countries by 2030.

Shehbaz was elected as prime minister on Sunday, retaining the title after his 16-month-long stint in the top coveted position from April 2022 to August 2023.

This is the second time that Shehbaz will serve the nation as the premier after receiving 201 votes against his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) opponent Omar Ayub Khan who got 92 votes in a ruckus-marred session of the Parliament’s lower house.

Shehbaz Sharif’s victory was expected as he enjoyed the support of seven other parties apart from the PML-N. The prime minister-elect is backed by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), and National Party (NP).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024