With Imran Khan’s future as the country’s Prime Minister hanging on tenterhooks, debates and discussions across the political spectrum in Pakistan have gained pace to decide on the replacement of the cricketer-turned-politician. Imran Khan is set to face a no-trust vote in Parliament soon after the no-confidence motion was tabled in the National Assembly.
Now, as per Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Shehbaz Sharif, who is the leader of the opposition in the Parliament and former PM Nawaz Sharif’s brother, is going to replace Imran Khan as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan. Bhutto, as reported by news agency ANI, said that Shehbaz will soon become the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan as Imran Khan has lost the majority in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, ditching the Imran Khan-led ruling coalition, its key partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), earlier this week, joined hands with the Opposition to support the no-confidence motion tabled against Khan’s government in the parliament. The final voting on the no-confidence motion against Khan is expected to be held on April 3, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said Tuesday.
According to the PPP chairman, Sharif has challenged the Pakistan Prime Minister to resign from office. However, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday rejected reports of Prime Minister Imran Khan resigning. As the current political turmoil in Pakistan is once again likely to bring another round of instability to the nuclear-armed country, here’s a look at the expected ‘Wazir-e-Azam’ who could replace PM Imran Khan.
Who is Shehbaz Sharif?
Shehbaz Sharif is the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan and the brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He is the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and has served as the chief minister of Punjab thrice. becoming the longest-serving CM of the province.
Sharif was elected to the Punjab provincial assembly in 1988, and to the National Assembly in 1990. In 1993, he was named the leader of the Opposition. Six years later, Sharif along with his family went into self-exile in Saudi Arabia after a military coup deposed the government in 1999.
He returned to Pakistan in 2007 and was appointed the CM of Punjab for a second term after his party won in the province in the 2008 general elections. He continued to hold the position until his party was defeated in the 2018 general elections. In 2018, Sharif was nominated as the leader of the Opposition. On March 28, Shahbaz tabled the no-confidence resolution against Khan.
