press trust of india
Islamabad, August 1: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was Tuesday elected Prime Minister by Pakistan’s National Assembly, becoming the interim leader of the country after Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court over the Panama Papers scandal.
Abbasi got elected after getting 221 votes in the House of 342. Naveed Qamar of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) got 47 votes; Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf got 33, while Jamaat-e-Islami’s Sahibzada Tariqullah managed just four votes.
After announcing the results amid sloganeering, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq asked Abbasi to take the seat of the Prime Minister and address the House.
The voting was done with four corners being designated for four candidates where supporters of each candidate recorded their vote.
After the voting and counting process, many of the PML-N National Assembly members entered the House with posters of Sharif. The National Assembly Speaker objected to this and asked them to put away the placards and posters. Abbasi will be sworn-in later at a special ceremony at the President’s House, where President Mamnoon Hussain will administer the oath to him.
The Supreme Court Friday disqualified 67-year-old Prime Minister Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing him to resign.
