INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Opposition politician Shehbaz Sharif submitted his nomination to be Pakistan&s next prime minister to the legislature on Sunday, his party
said, after incumbent Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament after nearly four years in power.The younger brother of three-times
prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz, 70, has led a bid by the opposition in parliament to topple former cricket star Khan, and he is widely
expected to replace him following a vote on Monday.But Khan&s party also submitted papers nominating the former foreign minister as a
candidate, saying their members of parliament would resign en masse should he lose, potentially creating the need for urgent by-elections
for their seats.Khan, the first Pakistani prime minister to be ousted by a no confidence vote, had clung on for almost a week after a united
opposition first tried to remove him.On Sunday, he repeated allegations that a foreign conspiracy was behind the regime change.The freedom
struggle begins again today,& he said via his Twitter account, which is followed by more than 15 million and still describes him as Prime
Minister of Pakistan in his biography section.Even before the vote Khan had called for protests, which were expected to take place late on
Sunday.I tell all of my supporters across Pakistan, on Sunday, after Isha (evening) prayers, you all have to come out of your homes and
protest peacefully against this imported government that is trying to come to power,& he said in an address to the nation on Friday.His
government fell in the early hours of Sunday after a 13-hour session that included repeated delays and lengthy speeches by lawmakers from
his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.Opposition parties were able to secure 174 votes in the 342-member house for the no-confidence motion,
giving them the majority they needed to enable Monday&s vote to elect a new premier.Khan&s former information minister Fawad Chaudhry told
reporters of the plan for resignations if their nominee does not win.The speaker would be obliged to accept those resignations that would
necessitate by-elections in probably more than 100 seats.That could plunge the country into another crisis as the election commission has
previously said it would not be ready to hold elections until October.ROLE OF MILITARY?Two sources who declined to be identified said the
vote that ousted Khan went ahead after the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, met Khan, as criticism mounted over the delay to
the parliamentary process
The Supreme Court has also ordered parliament to convene and hold the vote.The military has ruled the country of 220 million people for
almost half its nearly 75-year history.It viewed Khan and his conservative agenda favourably when he won election in 2018, but that support
waned after a falling-out over the appointment of the influential military intelligence chief and economic troubles that led to the largest
interest rate rise in decades this week.Khan had antagonised the United States throughout his tenure, welcoming the Islamic Emirate (IE)
takeover of Afghanistan last year and more recently accusing the United States of being behind the attempt to oust him
Washington dismissed the accusation.Shehbaz Sharif said Khan&s departure was a chance for a newbeginning.A new dawn has started … This
alliance will rebuildPakistan,& he told parliament on Sunday.Sharif was for years chief minister of Punjab province and has a reputation as
an effective administrator.His first tasks would be to repair relations with the powerful military as well as ally the United States, and
tend to a stuttering economy.Some analysts say navigating major political and economic hurdles with a united front would be a challenge for
the new coalition, which comprises several diverse political parties.There are going to be divisions and divergences within the key
coalition partners,& said Mosharraf Zaidi, senior fellow at thinktank Tabadlab, adding the first likely hurdle would be the raising of fuel
prices in coming days.They are going to face both internal resistance within the coalition and possibly even criticism by coalition members
and that will be in the first few days, not even weeks,& he added.The post Political change in Pakistan as Shehbaz Sharif seeks to become PM
first appeared on Ariana News.
