Lawmakers voted Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the former petroleum minister, prime minister on Tuesday following last week\u2019s resignation of Nawaz Sharif.
\nAbbasi, a close ally of Sharif, is expected to hold the post for 45 days until the ex-premier\u2019s brother Shehbaz Sharif is voted to the National Assembly and replaces him.
\nThe lower house, which is dominated by lawmakers from Sharif\u2019s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), selected Abbasi by 221 votes of 305 votes cast.
\nThe Pakistan People\u2019s Party candidate was runner-up with 47 votes, Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced. Abbasi is expected to be sworn in later Tuesday.
\nIn televised scenes, Sharif supporters and PML-N lawmakers chanted slogans in support of the former prime minister, who stood down after the Supreme Court disqualified him on Friday for dishonesty.
\nIt ruled that corruption cases should be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal.
\nHundreds of emotional supporters ignored requests from the speaker to maintain order as they shouted and waved placards plastered with Sharif\u2019s face.
\n\u201cI am thankful to the people\u2019s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who named me for this post,\u201d Abbasi said in an address to parliament.
\n\u201cThe people of Pakistan have not accepted the Supreme Court\u2019s judgement but the government still implemented that.\u201d
\nAbbasi, who has been a member of the National Assembly since 1988, will be replaced by Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently the chief minister of Punjab province. He has already been named as the man who will lead the country until June next year.
\nAbbasi and the younger Sharif also face the possibility of disqualification in pending cases against them.
\nAn inquiry into a 220 billion Pakistani rupee ($2.09 billion) liquefied natural gas contract could ensnare Abbasi. The anti-corruption case focuses on the awarding of a contract to import the gas from Qatar. Abbasi has said he is not worried about the inquiry.
\nShehbaz Sharif is a co-accused in a corruption case against the Sharif family. Although the case was quashed by the Lahore High Court years ago, anti-corruption investigators have been told to appeal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lawmakers voted Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the former petroleum minister, prime minister on Tuesday following last week\u2019s resignation of Nawaz Sharif.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c59-islamic-world"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n