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Shehbaz Sharif’s election to parliament for a second term comes after a month of political turmoil. The new country faces economic difficulties and legitimacy issues.
By Salman Masood and Christina Goldbaum
Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Christina Goldbaum from London.
Pakistan’s newly elected parliament approved Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister on Sunday, inaugurating his second term in office and ending weeks of turmoil while putting in place a government facing demanding economic and political situations that threaten to leave the country in turmoil for years. .
Their variety also puts at a crossroads the role of Pakistan’s hard-line military, which has long been seen as an invisible hand guiding the country’s politics and has in the past manipulated election results. Analysts say public confidence in Sharif is weak.
“The government is seen as doomed to fail,” said Talat Hussain, a political analyst in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.
Sharif won 201 votes in the National Assembly, while his closest rival, Omar Ayub, a supporter of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, won 92.
Before voting began, Sharif arrived at the main corridor accompanied by his older brother, Nawaz, who was also elected to the National Assembly. The two brothers sat together in the front row, a reminder that Major Sharif, himself a three-time prime minister, is still highly influential and is very likely to wield force on stage.
The discussions began with a strong protest in favour of Mr Khan. Several of Khan’s supporters sat in front of the president’s dais chanting slogans; many others held up photographs of Mr. Khan, while they, too, shouted slogans of the cricket star-turned-politician.
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