Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif Set to Take Oath as Prime Minister for Second Term

 Pakistan's former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a press conference in Lahore on February 13, 2024. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP)
Pakistan's former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a press conference in Lahore on February 13, 2024. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP)
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Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif Set to Take Oath as Prime Minister for Second Term

 Pakistan's former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a press conference in Lahore on February 13, 2024. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP)
Pakistan's former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Shehbaz Sharif speaks during a press conference in Lahore on February 13, 2024. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP)

Pakistani politician Shehbaz Sharif was set on Sunday to become prime minister for the second time in a vote by the country's newly formed parliament, three weeks after uncertain national elections led to the formation of a coalition government.
Pakistan went to the polls on Feb. 8 in a vote marred by a mobile internet shutdown on election day; arrests and violence in its build-up; and unusually delayed results, leading to accusations that the vote was rigged, Reuters said.
Sharif will return to the role he held until August when parliament was dissolved ahead of the elections and a caretaker government took charge.
The vote in the country's parliament, which first met on Thursday, will take place amidst tight security as candidates backed by former jailed premier Imran Khan have protested against the election result and called for his release.
Sharif, 72, is the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who spearheaded their Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party's election campaign.
Candidates backed by Khan gained the most seats but the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed to form a coalition government, which enabled Shehbaz Sharif to be elected as prime minister as his brother stepped aside.
In his previous term, Sharif's government was able to negotiate a critical International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal but the process was mired in challenges and measures required by the agreement - which expires in April - have contributed to rising prices and added pressure on poor and middle class households.
The new government will have to immediately start talks with the IMF for the next agreement to shore up the country's economy whilst also dealing with the growing discontent over deepening poverty.



Plane Crash Near Ohio Airport Kills 3

A view of an exterior of the US Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration in Aurora, Illinois, September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Young
A view of an exterior of the US Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration in Aurora, Illinois, September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Young
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Plane Crash Near Ohio Airport Kills 3

A view of an exterior of the US Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration in Aurora, Illinois, September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Young
A view of an exterior of the US Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration in Aurora, Illinois, September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Young

A plane trying to make an emergency landing at an airport in northeastern Ohio crashed, killing all three people aboard, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday that the twin-engine Beechcraft 60 went down near the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Ohio at about 6:45 p.m. Friday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol post in Trumbull County, which was notified shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, said the crash just north of the airport killed the pilot and two passengers. The families of the victims have been notified and names are to be released later, an official said.
Anthony Trevena, executive director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, told WKBN-TV that the crash came after an airplane not associated with the air reserve station at the airport came in for an unscheduled emergency landing. A mechanical failure is suspected, the station reported.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, the FAA said in a statement.