Pakistan Parliament on Monday elected unopposed Shehbaz Sharif as 23rd prime minister of the country, bringing to an end the political uncertainty that had gripped the nation since a no-confidence motion was introduced against his predecessor Imran Khan on March 8.
Shehbaz, 70, was the only candidate left in the race after former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party will boycott the voting and staged a walkout.
"Sharif has secured 174 votes and has been declared as prime minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan," according to the formal result announced by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.
Shehbaz is the younger brother of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The latter is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan and has served a total of more than 9 years. He was the PM from 6 November 1990 to 18 July 1993, 17 February 1997 to 12 October 1999 and 5 June 2013 to 28 July 2017.
Meanwhile, apart from Nawaz and Shehbaz, there is only other sibling duo who have been Prime Ministers.
In Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra was the Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. However, he was overthrown in a military coup on 19 September 2006. He has since lived in self-imposed exile to avoid a graft conviction. Several years ago, Thaksin was granted Montenegrin citizenship and now reportedly splits his time chiefly between London and Dubai.
His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became the Prime Minister in 2011. She was Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest in over 60 years. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision. The court had found her guilty of charges of abuse of power. She later fled to avoid a jail term. Since fleeing Thailand, Yingluck has been seen around the globe, from London to Dubai, Hong Kong and Japan, among other places. According to a 2019 report, she was granted Serbian citizenship.
