Pakistan Parliament to elect new PM today; Shehbaz Sharif front-runner after Imran Khan's ouster

Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had led a bid by the opposition in parliament to topple Imran Khan.

New Delhi: After Imran Khan's ouster, the National Assembly session to elect the new prime minister of Pakistan will convene today (April 11, 2022). Nomination papers of Pakistan joint opposition candidate Shehbaz Sharif and PTI's Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been approved for the top seat's election which is slated to take place in the afternoon. 

Shehbaz Sharif, who led a bid by the opposition in parliament to topple Imran Khan, is widely expected to replace him.

Khan on Sunday had become the first Pakistani prime minister to be ousted by a no-confidence vote. The cricketer-turned-politician had clung on for almost a week after a united opposition first tried to remove him, but his government fell in the early hours of Sunday after a 13-hour session. Opposition parties were able to secure 174 votes in the 342-member house for the no-confidence motion, giving them the majority they needed to enable Monday's vote to elect a new premier.

Khan, however, has alleged that a foreign conspiracy was behind the regime change.

Shehbaz Sharif, the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, met former president Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday to discuss the current political situation in the country.