The National Assembly on Friday elected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chief Imran Khan Niazi as 22nd Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is worth to mention here that the PTI had emerged as the biggest parliamentary party in the wake of the July 25 polls bagging 116 of seats out of 272 directly elected National Assembly seats. With nine additional independent candidates who joined the PTI and 33 reserved seats allotted to it by the election commission of Pakistan the party gained the total strength of 158 seats. More over the PTI had forged alliance with PML_Q, MQM and BNP-M to achieve the magical number required to form the government in the center.
IK, the PTI’s prime minister candidate received 176 votes against his rival candidate Shahbaz Sharif who bagged 96 votes in the polling that took place in the national assembly under the supervision of newly elected speaker of the House Mr. Asad Qaiser. PPP who had earlier announced its support to opposition parties unanimously nominated candidate Shahbaz Sharif has backtracked from its commitments and decided to “abstain” from today’s vote, which has made the contest a one-sided affair. Nonetheless, it was a historic day that the parliament has achieved another milestone by electing leader of the house and the newly elected premier Imran Khan (IK) is expected to take oath on Saturday. The IK’s ascendance to power as the country’s prime minister marks a major shift in the Pakistan political landscape that over the years was largely dominated by a group of highly influenced elites. Khan, who earned his name and fame as a world class cricketer, is now set to take over the reins of country for a period of next five years. Until now Khan has led a successful life but the real test of his being a man of challenges will be as how he and his team manages to steer the country, which still remains mired by multiple challenges. Khan’s win had created a sort of euphoria all across the country, however, it is yet to be seen whether his government will be able to bring the change the nation has been longing for. Fixing financial woes of the country, eradicating corruption, providing jobs to unemployed youth and overhauling of the system, providing good governance are some of the daunting challenges the new government will have to face in the near future. With all opposition parties echoing their complaints of rigging in general elections, the government is likely to face tough opposition but one hopes that rather than repeating the history the opposition parties will demonstrate magnanimity and play a constructive role in the parliament and will abstain from politics of abuse and confrontation that besides bringing a bad name to politics also adversely affects the process of national development. As the country that has already witnessed prolonged periods of political instability can no longer afford any kind of confrontation at this crucial stage.
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