On Monday, Shehbaz Sharif took oath as Pakistan’s prime minister, assuming leadership of the nation for the second time since 2022 amid daunting security and economic concerns.
In a ceremony conducted at the presidential residence, Aiwan-i-Sadr, 72-year-old Shehbaz received the oath from President Arif Alvi.
The three chiefs of services, along with high ranking officials, diplomats, prominent businesspeople, members of civil society, and media representatives, attended the ceremony. Anwaarul Haq Kakar, the acting prime minister, was also in attendance.
The Holy Quran was recited at the start of the brief ceremony, and then the oath was taken.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz, other PML-N members, and chief minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah were present at the ceremony.
A coalition administration led by Shehbaz held the prime ministership from April 2022 to August 2023, prior to the dissolution of Parliament to hold national elections last month.
The oath-taking ceremony comes days after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government.
On Sunday, Shehbaz comfortably won a majority in the newly-elected Parliament amidst sloganeering by the Opposition.
Shehbaz, the consensus candidate of the PML-N and the PPP, received 201 votes in the 336-member Parliament. His challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 92 votes.
With Agency Inputs
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