Khaqan Abbasi elected as Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister

The Pakistan Parliament on Tuesday elected ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the interim Prime Minister.

This follows the ouster of Nawaz Sharif  after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office till life in the wake of corruption charges against him and his family members.

Mr. Abbasi secured 221 votes out of 341, while the three candidates fielded by the divided opposition collectively got 84 votes. Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People's Party got 47 votes, while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's nominee secured 33 votes and the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate four votes.

The election process began in a secret ballot as per the Constitution.

Mr. Abbasi is expected to hand over power to Shahabaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister's brother, once he is elected to the National Assembly in six weeks.

Source: Agencies