Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won the National Assembly’s vote of confidence with 18 votes in his favour on Thursday.
Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf announced after the vote on Thursday that the prime minister garnered 180 votes expressing confidence in his leadership in the 342-member National Assembly.
“One hundred and eighty members (180) rose in favour of the resolution, which was passed. Consequently, Shehbaz Sharif has obtained the vote of confidence from the National Assembly and commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the National Assembly as the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf announced.
The Pakistan National Assembly “reposes its full confidence in the leadership of” Prime Minister Sharif, according to Foreign Minister and Pakistan People Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who introduced the resolution in the lower house.
In a later speech to the House, Prime Minister Sharif thanked the legislators for their support.
The vote of confidence came amid the country’s complex security and dire economic situation.
Meanwhile, Former Prime Minster Imran Khan stressed conducting elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province where his party ruled till recently.
On January 14 and 18, Imran Khan’s party dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies to persuade the Islamabad-based ruling coalition to call for early national elections.
As a result of the cash-strapped government’s refusal to approve the funding to cover the expenses in the face of the country’s economic crisis, Parliament and the Judiciary have also clashed over the staging of elections in the two provinces.
While Imran Khan’s party is determined to press for polls in the provincial legislatures, the government maintains its stance on simultaneous elections nationwide.
The National Assembly’s five-year mandate will end in August of this year. According to the constitution, the elections shall be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the lower house.
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