Pakistan's Parliament Re-elects Shehbaz Sharif as Prime Minister

On Sunday, lawmakers in Pakistan's National Assembly re-elected Shehbaz Sharif as the new Prime Minister of the country. According to the Associated Press, this action was met with protests from allies of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who shouted in parliament, claiming that last month's elections were marred by fraud. Imran Khan is currently serving time due to several cases and is barred from seeking or holding office. Shehbaz Sharif replaced Khan after the parliament voted to oust him in April 2022. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, stated that Sharif won with 201 votes, defeating Umar Ayub from the Sunni Ittehad Council, who received 92 votes. The winner of this vote only needed 169 votes to achieve a majority. After several days of negotiations, Shehbaz Sharif's party (Pakistan Muslim League) and his supporters formed a coalition following elections overshadowed by militant violence, nationwide mobile communication shutdowns, Khan's disqualification from voting, and an unusual delay in announcing results. Pakistani officials stated that cutting communications was essential to prevent attacks on candidates and security forces. In his speech on Sunday, Sharif said, 'We have been political victims in the past, but we have never taken revenge.' Without naming Imran Khan, he noted that the former Prime Minister imprisoned many political rivals, including himself and his ally Asif Ali Zardari. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz agreement with five parties led to Shehbaz Sharif becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan. An explosion near the offices of parliamentary election candidates killed 26 people. Islamabad called for an immediate investigation into the armed attack on nine Pakistani nationals in Iran. The gamble of Iran's attack on Pakistan; Kamran Bokhari stated that the aim was to send a message to Washington.