Turkish President sends congratulations to newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister

Turkish President sends congratulations to newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister

AA / Ankara / Dilara Hamito

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif during a telephone interview on Monday.

According to the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, Erdogan called Sharif after his swearing-in.

Sharif was sworn in on Monday after ex-prime minister Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence motion, which he unsuccessfully tried to thwart. Imran Khan has said that he has been the victim of a US conspiracy to impeach him.

Erdogan wished that the results of these elections would be beneficial to the friendly and fraternal people of Pakistan. He said he was closely following developments in Pakistan, a country with which Turkey shares deep historical ties, friendship and brotherhood.

He also said that Pakistan has not abandoned democracy and the rule of law despite all the challenges and difficulties. He said Turkey is ready to extend any kind of support to Pakistan as it has always done.

Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and candidate of the Common Opposition Alliance, secured 174 votes in Pakistan’s lower house of parliament, which has 342 members.

A minimum of 172 votes were required to obtain a simple majority in Parliament.

Sharif’s opponent, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a candidate of the ousted prime minister’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, boycotted the election following his party’s decision to withdraw from parliament.

Deposed Prime Minister Khan and over 120 PTI MPs have announced that they are resigning from Parliament and will ‘face the imported government on the streets’.

However, these resignations will not take effect until the President of the National Assembly has accepted them in accordance with the country’s constitution.

*Translated from English by Morad Belhaji

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