ISLAMABAD, Mar 4: Shehbaz Sharif on March 4 took the oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan, taking over the country’s reins for a second time since 2022, amidst staggering economic and security challenges.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the 72-year-old Mr. Shehbaz in a ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, the presidential palace.
The ceremony was attended by the three services chiefs, senior officials, diplomats, leading business people, members of the civil society and media organisations. The caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar was also present.
The brief ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by the oath-taking.
The ceremony was attended by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N workers and Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah was also present on the occasion.
Mr. Shehbaz earlier served as Prime Minister of a coalition government from April 2022 to August 2023 before Parliament was dissolved to hold general elections last month.
The oath-taking ceremony comes days after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government.
On Sunday, Mr. Shehbaz comfortably won a majority in the newly-elected Parliament amidst sloganeering by the Opposition.
Mr. Shehbaz, the consensus candidate of the PML-N and the PPP, received 201 votes in the 336-member Parliament. His challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 92 votes.
Shehbaz Sharif Took the Oath As Pakistan’s Prime Minister
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