Shahbaz Sharif has on Monday sworn in as Pakistan’s Prime Minister for the second time after the general elections which was held earlier this year. President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the 72-year-old Shehbaz in a ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, the presidential residence.

The oath taking ceremony comes after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a deal to form a coalition government.

Shehbaz Sharif had previously served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from April 2022 to August 2023 after which the parliament was dissolved to hold the general elections. The oath-taking ceremony was attended by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N workers. PPP leader and Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah was also present on the occasion.

The swearing in comes after a successful confidence vote where the government won the majority of the parliament seats in the newly-elected parliament amidst sloganeering by the opposition.

Shehbaz Sharif, the consensus candidate of the PML-N and the PPP, received 201 votes in the 336-member Parliament, whereas, his opponent Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf secured 92 votes.

The February 8 polls which were marred with disturbances all over the country and allegations of vote rigging failed to have a single party having the majority votes. Shahbaz Sharif’s party was the single largest party, winning 75 seats out of the 265 seats.

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