With Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's future hanging by a thread amid the ongoing political turmoil in the country, there are ongoing debates and discussions as to who will become the next Prime Minister of the country. Who will replace PM Khan.
The Pak PM is facing the biggest political crisis of his term and could be replaced by the leader of the opposition Shahbaz Sharif in the country’s top job.
Reportedly, On March 30, 2022, PM Khan, effectively lost a majority in Parliament and an indication was given by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), that the opposition leader, Shehbaz Sharif, could be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Who is Shehbaz Sharif?
Shehbaz Sharif is a politician and currently the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly. Shehbaz is the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, who has been Pakistan's prime minister for three terms.
He is the current President of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and has been in office since August 2018. He had served as the Chief Minister of Punjab three times, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of a province. He became the chief minister for the first time in 1997.
Reportedly, after a 1999 coup by General Pervez Musharraf, Shehbaz had to leave Pakistan for eight years and stayed in exile in Saudi Arabia.
Shehbaz Sharif and his brother returned to Pakistan in 2007 where he became the chief minister of Punjab again after his party won the 2008 General Elections.
Sharif's third term as Punjab CM began in 2013 and he served a full term until the defeat of PML-N in the 2018 elections. He was nominated the leader of the opposition after the 2018 elections.
As per reports, National Accountability Bureau froze properties belonging to Shehbaz and his two sons in December 2019, accusing them of money laundering.
He was arrested by NAB in September 2020 and incarcerated pending trial. The Lahore High Court released him on bail in a money laundering case in April 2021.
Shehbaz Sharif tabled the no-confidence resolution against Imran Khan on March 28, 2022.
Imran Khan is set to face a no-trust vote in Parliament soon after the no-confidence motion was tabled in the National Assembly.
Khan said on Thursday had said that he will not resign despite losing the majority and insisted that he will play till the last ball and face the vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly on Sunday which will decide where the country will go.
(with sources inputs)
