——— PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif elected prime minister for second time
——— Shehbaz secures 201 votes, PTI’s Omar Ayub gets 92
——— Thanks Nawaz for nominating him for PM slot
——— Adds his party never indulged in political victimisation
——— Work ahead is ‘difficult’ but not ‘impossible’, says
——— PM-elect in victory speech amid opposition protest
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif became 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 majori-ty 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 stateowned 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.
In his maiden speech as the 24th prime minister, Shehbaz thanked the PML-N’s allies and his brother, three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, for trusting him to lead the country.
PTI-backed lawmakers chanted slogans of ‘chor’ as Shehbaz spoke as the newly elected Leader of the House.
“When my quaid was elected the prime minister thrice, the development that followed in the country is an example of its own. And it is not wrong to say that Nawaz Sharif is the one who built Pakistan,” said the newly-elected premier.
Paying tribute to his allies and the PPP, he said the nation will always remember the sacrifices of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Shebaz, hinting at PTI, said his elder brother has never even thought of harming the country and re-gretted how the PML-N was treated during the tenure of the PTI government. “They put the entire opposition behind bars, they didn’t care about women or children and used language that cannot be said out loud.”
The new prime minister also vowed to steer Pakistan out of its current crisis. “If we come together and decide to change the fate of Pakistan. God willing, we will defeat these challenges and take Pakistan to its rightful position.”
He added that the job was difficult but not insurmountable.
The newly-elected premier said Pakistan is facing an alarming debt crisis, and vowed to make Pakistan “self-sufficient”. “But if we decide to do a deep surgery and bring changes in the system, basic re-forms, and I do not doubt that Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari and others will agree that we can either get rid of a life of debt or we move forward in shame.”
“We will rise and we will make Pakistan self-sufficient,” said Shehbaz.
He maintained that the people of Pakistan were suffering the burden of sky-high electricity and gas prices and said “electricity and tax thefts are a matter of life and death for Pakistan”.
“It is difficult and a long and thorny journey full of hurdles, but countries that surmounted these chal-lenges became one of the most prosperous nations around the world.”
He added that he would bring a technological model to reduce tax theft, which he maintained, would “reduce inflation, increase employment, the country will grow”.
Shehbaz also promised subsidies for farmers and said a package on solar tube-wells will be announced soon. He promised that the “seed mafia” would be eliminated soon and Pakistan would import seeds from the best countries in the world to provide them to farmers.
He added that the federal government would work with all provinces in the agriculture sector.
Shehbaz also said efficient public transport and state-of-the-art hospitals and medical facilities will be provided to the people.
Referring to justice, he said the government would work on introducing a system through which the people will get swift justice and those women and children who are currently incarcerated and whose sentences are less than two years, will be freed.
The PML-N president reiterated that perpetrators of the May 9 riots will not be forgiven, vowing ac-tion against all those who were involved in the riots.
Shehbaz also promised to end terrorism in the country and address its root causes. He said the aim of his government is to take the National Action Plan (NAP) forward.
Referring to the economy, Shehbaz said that the incoming government would bring investment in to the country and creat economic conditions to spur growth, emphasising that “one window” export zones will be established in all provinces.
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 candi-date 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.
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 respond-ing with Ghari Chor — watch thief — a reference to the Toshakhana case where Imran has been ac-cused 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.
Earlier, The National Assembly on Sunday elected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif as the 24th elected prime minister of the country in a session hit by the ruckus created by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members.
“Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has been elected prime minister with 201 votes. [While] Omar Ayub obtained 92 votes,” announced Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.
The speaker then invited Shehbaz, the only politician to be elected as the PM for the second consecu-tive time, to sit in the prime minister’s seat and asked him to address the house.
As soon as the result was announced, the SIC lawmakers started causing a commotion and chanted slogans to disrupt the Shehabz’s speech.
Shehbaz’s victory was expected as he enjoyed the support of seven other parties apart from the PML-N. The PM-elect has the support of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and National Party (NP).
Making his maiden speech as the country’s 24th prime minister, Shehbaz — surrounded by party law-makers — thanked PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif for nominating him for the coveted post, and ex-pressed gratitude to his allies including PPP and the MQM-P and others for supporting him.
Taking the opportunity to highlight the country’s history of political turmoil, the prime minister-elect lamented the “judicial murder” of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and paid homage to his daughter and ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto for paying the ultimate price for democracy.
Without taking any names, Shehbaz took a jibe at the PTI for hounding the opposition when it was in power, going against the country’s national interests while resorting to levelling serious allegations against the armed forces.
“This is the difference between the [two] leaderships. The House is witness that the [PML-N] has never even thought of indulging in politics of vengeance,” said PM-elect Shehbaz.
Elaborating on his government’s plans to steer the country out of the prevailing crises, Shehbaz said that people from all walks of life have to come together to change the country’s destiny and overcome the challenges.
Addressing the economic crunch faced by the country, the PML-N leader highlighted that out of the Rs12,300 billion generated by the country, Rs7,300 billion is given to the provinces under the National Finance Commission award and the government faces a whopping Rs7,000 billion deficit due to ser-vices charges worth up to Rs8,000 billion.
“Where will the money come for development, health and education sectors? From where will the armed forces’ government employees’ salaries be paid?”
“All this is being afforded via loans throughout the years […] This is the biggest challenge faced by the country today,” he noted.
“All of our salaries are being paid via taxes. Does such a situation warrant such hooliganism?” he said while referring to the slogans and chants being raised by the PTI-backed SIC opposition members.
‘Bottomless pit’
On the issue of exorbitant electricity bills, Shehbaz lamented that the circular debt (electricity) stands at Rs23,000 billion as only Rs28,000 worth of recovery is made for Rs38,000 worth of electricity that is provided to the consumers.
“There’s a gap of Rs1,000 billion which amounts to [around] $3.5 billion. Can this nation afford careless governance?”
“I would call it a ‘bottomless pit’,” he said while lamenting electricity theft worth up to Rs500 to 600 billion each year.
Meanwhile, he added, that the circular debt of the gas sector has reached the grave Rs29,000 billion due to the import of expensive LNG coupled with theft and issues with the distribution system.
“The state-owned enterprises are in a loss of Rs600 billion […] The PIA [alone] is in debt of Rs800 bil-lion,” he added.
Terming the agriculture sector as the economy’s backbone, Shehbaz said that his government would provide subsidies to the farmers and would also introduce a solar tube well programme for them.
“Perpetrators of the May 9 [riots] would be brought to justice [whereas] those who weren’t involved in the incidents would not be bothered,” he said while reaffirming the government’s commitment to-wards the implementation of the National Action Plan.
On the government’s plan to stimulate business activities, he said that the government would abolish draconian and obsolete laws and regulations and would work with the provincial governments to es-tablish a comprehensive network of export zones.
“Our goal is to secure G20 membership by 2030.”
“Women are to be given equal pay as men,” he said while addressing the prevailing gender-based dis-crimination in society.
Banks are to be directed to allocate loans for the young generation, he added while announcing that the government would ensure that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is held accountable if it fails to ensure tax refunds within 10 days.
Elaborating on his foreign policy, Shehbaz said that the government would not allow Pakistan to be-come part of some “great game”.
The government would maintain cordial relations with the neighbouring countries based on the princi-ples of equality.
He also said that visa-free entry into Pakistan from citizens of brotherly countries will be introduced.
Extending an olive branch to the opposition, the PM-designate called on the opposition parties to work with the government towards addressing the challenges faced by the country.
Commenting on the issue of missing persons in Balochistan, Shehbaz reassured that the government would engage in talks with the Baloch leadership and address their concerns whatever they may be.
The PM’s election
The session, which is being chaired by NA Speaker Sadiq, began with the oath-taking of PML-N’s Jam Kamal.
However, the House soon began echoing with slogans and chants raised by the SIC members in favour of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and against the alleged rigging that took place in the February 8 elections.
After this, Speaker Sadiq asked the Assembly staff to ring the bell for five minutes so any members that are not present in the house could come to the floor for the prime minister’s election.
Once the bells were rung, Speaker Sadiq ordered the NA staff to lock the doors and announced the method for electing the prime minister.
Then the speaker informed the lawmakers about the candidates who were contesting for the prime minister’s elections.
“Valid nominated candidates are Shehbaz Sharif and Omar Ayub. Honourable members who wish to vote in favour of Shehbaz may proceed to the lobby on the right side designated as ‘Lobby A’,” the speaker said.
The speaker then directed that those who wish to vote for Ayub can proceed to the left-hand side to-wards “Lobby B” to get their votes recorded.
As the voting process commenced, members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) walked out of the House in line with their decision to boycott the elections for the PM, president and other constitu-tional offices.
While Balochistan National Party’s Sardar Akhtar Mengal did not cast his vote and stayed in his seat during the voting process.
Following the conclusion of the polling process, the NA secretary provided the speaker with the record of the votes cast in the elections.
Once the counting was completed the speaker directed the NA staff to ring the bell to summon the lawmakers back in the house for the announcement of the results.
Omar terms PM-elect Shehbaz ‘product’ of Form 47
Addressing the National Assembly after losing the election of the coveted slot of prime minister, PTI-backed SIC lawmaker Omar Ayub Khan dubbed PM-elect Shehbaz Sharif a “product” of Form 47.
PTI termed the February 8 general elections as “rigged” and claimed that they had won the elections as per the results of Form 45s but their mandate was stolen and the results were changed in Form 47s.
Taking the floor in the NA, Ayub accused the ruling alliance of denying a level-playing field to the Imran Khan-founded party.
The PTI leader demanded to release of their party’s leadership and women political prisoners
The National Assembly session has been adjourned till Monday at 11am.
