The younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sehbaz, 70, has led the opposition in parliament to try to overthrow former cricket star Khan and is widely expected to replace him after a vote Monday. The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has handed over his candidacy papers to Marriyum Aurangzeb, a party spokeswoman said on Sunday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Khan, the first Pakistani prime minister to be ousted by a vote of no confidence, had been stuck for nearly a week after a united opposition tried to oust him for the first time. Dissolving parliament delayed the vote, which he said was part of a foreign-backed conspiracy against him, but the Supreme Court ordered parliament to convene and vote. Khan’s government collapsed in the early hours of Sunday after a 13-hour meeting that included repeated delays and lengthy speeches by lawmakers from his party in Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Insaf. The vote took place after the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, met with Khan, two sources said, declining to be named, as criticism mounted for delaying the parliamentary process. The army has ruled the country of 220 million for almost half of its nearly 75-year history. Opposition parties were able to secure 174 votes in the 342-member House of Representatives for the motion of censure, giving them the majority needed to make Monday’s vote on a new prime minister possible. Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan chanted slogans as they protested after the loss of a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 10, 2022. REUTERS / Akhtar Soomro read more Kahn did not comment publicly on his expulsion, but even before the vote, he called for protests. “I will fight,” he said in a speech to the nation on Friday. “I say to all my supporters across Pakistan, on Sunday, after the Isha (evening) prayer, you should all leave your homes and demonstrate peacefully against this incoming government that is trying to come to power.” ‘NEW DAWN’ Shehbaz Sharif said Khan’s departure was an opportunity for a fresh start. “A new dawn has begun … This alliance will rebuild Pakistan,” he told parliament on Sunday. Sharif has been Punjab chief minister for years and has a reputation for being an effective administrator. read more His first duties will be to repair relations with the mighty military as well as with the United States as an ally, and he is tending to a stagnant economy. The military favored Khan and his conservative agenda when he won the 2018 election, but that support waned after a controversy over the appointment of the prominent military intelligence chief and the financial woes that led to higher interest rates for decades. this week. read more Khan had competed with the United States throughout his tenure, hailing the Taliban’s occupation of Afghanistan last year and more recently accusing the United States of being behind the coup attempt. Washington has denied the allegations. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Asif Shahzad, Syed Reza Hassan and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam in Islamabad, Written by Alasdair Pal and Charlotte Greenfield, Edited by Robert Birsel, Angus MacSwan and Barbara Lewis Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
