Shehbaz Sharif has become the 24th Prime Minister of Pakistan by securing 201 votes on Sunday, 24 days after the ‘controversial general elections’ in the country. The magic number to clinch the office of prime minister was 169 votes. After the vote count, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced that Shehbaz obtained 201 votes while his opponent, PTI's Omar Ayub, got 92 votes. Since no single party could gain a majority in the assembly, Shehbaz has become premier with the support of PML-N’s allies - PPPP, MQM-P, PML-Q, BAP, and others. The new government is faced with mammoth economic challenges. High inflation, unemployment, the ongoing IMF programme and possible engagement for a fresh IMF loan to improve the balance of payments situation, debt restructuring, framing a new resource-sharing formula between the Centre and provinces, National Finance Commission (NFC) and privatisation of loss-making state-owned entities await the new coalition government. Running a coalition government itself would be a challenge for the new prime minister. Soon after the speaker declared Shehbaz as the new prime minister of the country, PTI-SIC lawmakers encircled the newly-elected PM’s chair and started chanting slogans. The assembly was abuzz with slogans of 'Sher' and 'Chor'. Amid the sloganeering, PM Shehbaz began his maiden speech. Surprising as it may seem, Shehbaz delivered the speech while standing beside his elder brother and three-time former PM, Nawaz Sharif, who was elected as MNA but opted out of the race for the prime minister just days after the general elections. Earlier, the National Assembly session to elect the new prime minister commenced amid ruckus as PTI-backed SIC and PML-N lawmakers chanted slogans against each other. The NA speaker commenced the proceedings to elect the 24th prime minister amid noisy protests from the opposition. PTI-backed lawmakers carrying posters of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan chanted slogans of ‘mandate thieves’ against PML-N. Shehbaz had the support of 209 members out of the 336 members of the House, while the SIC candidate Omar Ayub has the support of around 90 lawmakers. Ayub had also sought support from BAP and JUI-F, However, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman later announced that his party would not participate in the elections. The candidate securing 169 votes in the House of 336 will be declared as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan. PML-N, PPPP win NA speaker slots Earlier on March 1, The PML-N and PPPP clinched the two top positions in the NA as PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq and PPPP’s Ghulam Mustafa Shah were elected speaker and deputy speaker, respectively, on NA’s second day of the inaugural session. Sadiq and Shah defeated the SIC’s Amir Dogar and Junaid Akbar with a comfortable margin as Sadiq bagged 199 votes while Shah secured 197 votes during speaker and deputy speaker’s elections. Dogar got 91 while Akbar secured 92 votes during the polls. SIC members kept resorting to calling opponents "chor" (thief) — a reference to corruption allegations that have been chasing Sharifs and others over the years — while the PMLN-led alliance kept responding with Ghari Chor — watch thief — a reference to the Toshakhana case where Imran has been accused to selling a watch gifted by Saudi royals. Following the election of the speaker, outgoing Speaker NA Raja Pervez Ashraf administered the oath to Sadiq. Subsequently, Sadiq presided over the deputy speaker's elections and administered the oath to Shah after he secured an easy victory.
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