Shehbaz Sharif was voted in on Sunday, March 3, as Pakistan's prime minister for a second time, presiding over a shaky alliance that has shut out followers of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan.
"Shehbaz Sharif has been declared to have been elected as prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," said newly appointed speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. Newly sworn-in lawmakers in Pakistan's National Assembly elected Sharif by 201 votes, three weeks after national elections marred by widespread allegations of rigging.
Omar Ayub Khan stood against Sharif as the candidate of choice for MPs loyal to Khan, gaining 92 votes. The winner only needs 169 votes to have a majority.
Sharif, in his acceptance speech in parliament Sunday, said: "We were subjected to political victimization in the past but never took any revenge." Without naming Imran Khan, he said the previous ruler jailed many political rivals, including himself and his ally Zardari.
"No one has won a majority. It's a split mandate. And it is the democratic way that if it's a split mandate, then the like-minded parties may form a coalition government," Sharif told parliament after being voted in. The Sharif family's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party allied with their historic rivals the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), as well as several smaller factions, to keep Khan's candidates out. In return, the PPP – a dynastic party ruled by the family of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto – have been promised the office of president for Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari.
Sharif then addressed the opposition saying, "I am offering you reconciliation. Let us sit together to work for the betterment of Pakistan." Ex-prime minister Khan was jailed in the run-up to the February 8 polls and barred from contesting, while his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was targeted by a crackdown of arrests and censorship.
Ayub enjoyed the backing of the PTI, yet the party refused to hold talks with its rivals to form a coalition. PTI candidates were forced to run as independents, but nonetheless secured more seats than any other party. They fell short, however, of the figures needed to form a government, paving the way for Sharif's return.
Sharif, 72, had first served as prime minister in 2022 at the head of a strikingly similar alliance which ousted ex-cricket star Khan. Much like during his first tenure, Sharif will face an overlapping trio of crises plaguing this nation of more than 240 million people.
Pakistan came to the brink of economic default during his first term, before a last-minute $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal saved the day. Inflation remains sky-high and Sharif will be the face of unpopular belt-tightening measures likely demanded by the international lender for a new deal needed in the coming months, when the current one expires.
"Can a nuclear-capable Pakistan sustain its existence with the burden of debts? It will sustain if we collectively decide on a deep surgery and change the system. We have to bring reforms," he told parliament.
Security has also deteriorated, with Islamabad blaming a spike in attacks on the Taliban group's return to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.
Analysts have warned of a legitimacy crisis, with the PTI claiming they were robbed of a majority by rigging on polling day when mobile internet was shut down nationwide, and the results were massively delayed. Pakistan's powerful military establishment has loomed large over the election, throwing its weight behind the PML-N and targeting the charismatic Khan and his followers with a crackdown.
While the PML-N has found itself back at the helm in Islamabad, the fact it has had to broker a broad alliance to rule has badly bruised its reputation. Shehbaz's brother and three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif had been tipped to lead when PML-N expected a better showing from the elections. Yet Shehbaz – considered the more pragmatic mediator, a softer personality, and the military's favourite – stepped into the role after the result was not what they hoped for.