Pakistan Elects Sharif as New PM after Khan’s Ouster

Pakistan Elects Sharif as New PM after Khan’s Ouster

Pakistan's parliament elected opposition¹ lawmaker Shahbaz Sharif as prime minister Monday. He replaces Imran Khan, whom Parliament had voted out of office early Sunday.

Shahbaz Sharif was elected with 174 votes after more than 100 lawmakers from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Pakistan Justice Party, left the National Assembly in protest.

"Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif is declared to be the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," announced the acting² speaker, Asad Sadiq.

Sharif is the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The older Sharif was forced to resign from office after a corruption³ investigation⁴.

Shahbaz Sharif will have just enough votes to pass laws in the 342-seat assembly.

Imran Khan served as Pakistan's prime minister for three years and eight months. On April 3, Khan tried to avoid a vote to withdraw support for his leadership. He dismissed Parliament and called for early elections.

The opposition appealed to the nation's Supreme⁵ Court and it ruled to return the dismissed Parliament to power four days later.

On Sunday night, Khan urged hundreds of thousands of supporters to protest his ouster. He described the new leadership as an "imposed government." Khan's supporters marched in cities across Pakistan.

Khan has demanded that elections be held before August 2023, the date set. He also accuses the opposition of working with the United States to remove him from power. He said he was targeted because of his independent foreign policy favoring China and Russia. The U.S. State Department has denied any involvement in Pakistani politics.

Khan was also criticized for a visit he made on February 24 to Moscow. He held talks there with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russian tanks invaded Ukraine.

The largest among Pakistan's opposition parties — the Pakistan People's Party, led by the son of murdered former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League, headed by Shahbaz Sharif — have been damaged by reports of widespread corruption.

Nawaz Sharif served as Pakistan's prime minster three times. He was ousted⁶ in a military overthrow⁷ in 1999 and removed again by the Supreme Court in 2015. After he was found guilty of financial wrongdoings, Nawaz was banned from holding office and left Pakistan.

Benazir Bhutto served two terms as prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s. Bhutto was killed in a 2007 suicide attack while campaigning. She was the daughter of former president and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who served as president of Pakistan after 2008 elections, has spent more than seven years in prison, after a court ruled him guilty of corruption.

Khan came to power in 2018, promising⁸ to break family rule in Pakistan. His opponents claimed he won the elections with help from the powerful military. The military has ruled Pakistan for half of the country's 75-year history.

Words in This Story

impose - v. to force someone to accept

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。