Shahbaz takes oath as 24th prime minister of Pakistan
Several dignitaries including the leaders of the mainstream political parties such as PML-N, PPP, MQM-P and IPP, among others, atend the oath-taking ceremony
Newly-elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was sworn in as the 24th prime minister of Pakistan by President Dr Arif Alvi.
Several dignitaries including the leaders of the mainstream political parties such as Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Mutahida Qaumi Movement-pakistan (MQM-P) and Istehkam-e-pakistan Party (IPP), among others, atended the oath-taking ceremony, while former caretaker premier Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar was also in atendance.
Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Joint Chiefs of Staff Commitee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and other services chiefs also atended the ceremony. Ambassadors and diplomats from different countries were present at the ceremony.
All the provincial governors and chief ministers except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur participated in the function.
Following the swearing-in ceremony, Shahbaz received a guard of honour and was welcomed by his staff at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Shahbaz, the PML-N president, retained the post of the 24th chief executive ater his 16-month-long stint serving the office from April 2022 to August 2023.
This is the second time that he will serve the nation as the premier ater receiving 201 votes against his Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (Pti)-backed Sunni Itehad Council (SIC) opponent Omar Ayub Khan who got 92 votes in a ruckus-marred session of the Parliament’s lower house.
Shahbaz’s victory was expected as he enjoyed the support of several other parties apart from the PML-N.
Kakar has vacated the Prime Minister House. Ater relinquishing the office, he has been allotted a house in the Ministers’ Enclave.
Separately, the Queta administration has said that it has reclaimed a piece of land that had been illegally occupied by the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) chief Mahmood Achakzai.
However, his party claims that his residence has been unlawfully raided by the Queta administration to punish him for standing in the presidential election against Asif Ali Zardari.
The PKMAP said that the Queta administration claimed to have recovered a piece of government-owned land “illegally occupied” by Achakzai, who has been fielded as the presidential candidate by the Sunni Itehad Council comprising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) lawmakers.
The PKMAP alleged that the raid was a reaction of “state institutions” ater a speech Achakzai recently delivered in the National Assembly.
Queta Deputy Commissioner Saad Asad said that the raid was conducted to reclaim a piece of land located near Achakzai’s residence.
He alleged that the reclaimed land, having an area of 2.5 kanals and encircled with a boundary wall, was illegally occupied by the PKMAP chief.
“The revenue staff and law enforcement agencies recovered the illegally occupied land and took it into custody,” Asad said, adding that an armed man guarding the land was arrested as he atempted to obstruct the assistant commissioner from performing his duties.
The raid — conducted by the Queta administration in co-ordination with police and revenue department officials — came ater a commitee headed by Queta’s assistant deputy commissioner (revenue) was formed to identify illegally grabbed pieces of land owned by the government of Balochistan.
Many sites have been identified, including government and private properties, which are reportedly occupied unlawfully by different people.
PKMAP Secretary General Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal condemned the raid targeting the party chairman and announced protest demonstrations across Pakistan.
“Everyone knows the purpose of conducting the raid,” he told reporters.
However, he said the party would not back out from its stance because of such raids by “some people and institutions.”
Ziaratwal alleged that the raid was a “reaction of state institutions” ater a critical speech Achakzai recently delivered in the National Assembly.
“We have received information that Achakzai and his children could be arrested through fake recovery of drugs from his residence.”