Shehbaz Sharif Reclaims Prime Minister Role in Pakistan for Second Term

Senior PML-N leader Shehbaz Sharif is poised to assume the role of Pakistan's Prime Minister, leading a coalition government following last month's elections, which resulted in a divided mandate. Shehbaz, 72, the consensus candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), submitted his nomination on Saturday. His opponent, Omar Ayub Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has also filed his candidacy papers, setting the stage for Sunday's election, anticipated to be a one-sided contest.

Nawaz Sharif, who returned to Pakistan from London in October last year to become Pakistan’s prime minister for a record fourth time, decided against contesting as his PML-N party failed to garner enough seats in the February 8 elections to form a government on its own. The elections saw more than 90 independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI winning the maximum number of seats in the 336-member National Assembly.

However, in a post-poll alliance, the Mutahhida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have all backed the PML-N’s candidate, ensuring that Shehbaz Sharif will be smoothly elected as the 33rd prime minister. Ayub, on the other hand, does not have the numbers.

To form a government, a party was to win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats. Some 70 seats are reserved for women and minorities, divided between parties on a proportional basis