Shahbaz Sharif elected as Pakistan's prime minister

Leader of the opposition Shahbaz Sharif gestures as he speaks to the media at the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 5, 2022. [Photo/Agencies]

The opposition's joint candidate Shahbaz Sharif was elected as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday, said an official here.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who chaired the National Assembly session to conduct the election for the country's new prime minister, said that 174 lawmakers in the 342-member house voted in the favor of Shahbaz as opposed to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party's candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who announced that his party decided to boycott the polling process and the National Assembly members from his party would resign.

Sadiq presided over the session after Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri excused himself from conducting the session, saying the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition alliance against the former Prime Minister Imran Khan was a "foreign plot."

The development came after Khan lost the no-confidence vote in the lower house of parliament early Sunday.

On March 28, the opposition parties presented the no-confidence motion against Khan in the National Assembly.

In his maiden address to the house as the prime minister-elect of Pakistan, Shahbaz said it was the first time in the country's history that a no-confidence motion against a prime minister has been successful.

"It is a big day for the entire nation," he said, adding that the economic indicators have already started showing positive signs, referring to the strengthening of the Pakistani rupee and stock market since the passage of the motion.