With 18 votes in his support, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won the confidence vote in the National Assembly on Thursday.
Following the vote on Thursday, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that the prime minister had received 180 votes from the National Assembly’s 342 members, indicating support for his leadership.
The measure, which was approved, received support from 180 lawmakers who took the floor. As a result, Shehbaz Sharif has won the National Assembly’s vote of confidence and enjoys the support of the majority of its members as the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, according to Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Foreign Minister and head of the Pakistan People Party Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who submitted the motion in the lower house, stated that the Pakistan National Assembly “reposes its full confidence in the leadership of” Prime Minister Sharif.
Prime Minister Sharif thanked the lawmakers for their support in a subsequent speech to the House.
The vote of confidence took place in the midst of the nation’s difficult economic and security circumstances.
Election Dispute in Pakistan’s Provinces
In the meanwhile, Imran Khan, the former prime minister, emphasised holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the region where his party previously held power.
Imran Khan’s party dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa legislatures on January 14 and January 18 respectively, in an effort to persuade the Islamabad-based government coalition to declare early national elections.
Parliament and the judiciary have also argued over the holding of elections in the two provinces as a consequence of the cash-strapped government’s unwillingness to provide the financing to cover the costs in the wake of the nation’s economic crisis.
While Imran Khan’s party is adamant about pushing for elections to the provincial legislatures, the administration continues to favour holding elections simultaneously across the country.
The five-year term of the National Assembly expires in August of this year. As per the constitution’s requirement, the elections must hold within 90 days of the lower house’s dissolution.