In Parliament, Qureshi announces boycott of voting to elect new Pakistan premier

As Pakistan National Assembly session began to elect new PM, PTI lawmakers staged a walkout

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Prime Minister candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday announced that his party will boycott the voting to elect new premier in Parliament minutes after the National Assembly’s crucial session began to elect Imran Khan’s successor.

Taking the floor, former foreign minister Qureshi said that the nation has two paths - one path is of self-respect while the other one is of slavery.

He appreciated ousted premier Khan for trusting him by nominating him and said the constitutional process has to end today as some will be declared a winner, while the other one will be declared “free”.

At the end of his speech, Mr. Qureshi said his party will boycott the voting to elect the new premier and the PTI lawmakers staged a walkout. Opposition candidate and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif and Mr. Qureshi were in the race to become the new premier.

Mr. Shehbaz, 70, who is now the only candidate left in the race is likely to be the next Prime Minister.

Minutes before the start of the session, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said all PTI lawmakers will resign from the National Assembly and not become part of any government which was being formed under a "foreign agenda” - a reference to an allegation by Mr. Khan that the U.S. was involved in a conspiracy to topple his government.