New Delhi: Shehbaz Sharif, the 70-year-old brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the leader of opposition PML-N, has been elected unopposed as the next Prime Minister of Pakistan, succeeding Imran Khan, who was removed by a no-trust vote on Saturday.
Shehbaz Sharif has been the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. Previously, he served as the Chief Minister of Punjab thrice, making him the longest-serving CM of the province.
Imran Khan today announced his resignation two days after he lost the trust vote, moved by the Opposition, in the Pakistan National Assembly. Ahead of his resignation announcement, Khan said he would not attend the assembly session with people ‘who have robbed the country’.
‘The man who has 16 billion and 8 billion rupees of corruption cases, whoever selects and elects the Prime Minister can not be a big insult to the country. We are resigning from the National Assembly,’ Imran Khan was quoted as saying by PTI’s official Twitter account.
Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz and Suleman Shehbaz — have been named in a high-profile money laundering case in November 2020. Suleman is residing in the UK.