Summary Sharif’s return to power comes 13 years after he was deposed in a military coup in 1999.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is set to become Pakistan`s prime minister for the third time as the National Assembly session resumed today (Wednesday) to elect its leader of the house.
The 63-year-old was scheduled to be sworn in after he is formally chosen in a vote by lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Also, Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the PPP and PTI s Javed Hashmi will be competing Mian Nawaz Sharif in the election. However, Sharif is likely to get majority`s support.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N emerged with a majority of the 342 seats in the National Assembly following last month’s elections.
The new government is facing immediate pressure. Pakistanis are anxious for solutions to an array of daunting problems plaguing the country of 180 million people, including chronic power shortages, an economy in the doldrums, and frequent terrorist attacks.
Sharif’s return to power comes 13 years after he was deposed in a military coup and spent years in exile.
The May 11 elections marked the first time in Pakistani history that a civilian government completed a full five-year term and handed power to another administration through elections.
The military has ruled for approximately half the period since Pakistan’s 1947 independence, staging coups three times.
Sharif is entering office with the Pakistani economy in its worse shape for years, dogged by high unemployment, a declining rupee, diminishing foreign reserves, and widespread corruption.
An economic revival is seen as key to ensuring stability in the country, which is beset by a multitude of other problems.
The new government is expected to have to negotiate a multi-billion-dollar bailout with the International Monetary Fund to stave off collapse.
High on Sharif s agenda will also be efforts to find a solution to the energy crisis that leaves some consumers without electricity for up to 20 hours per day.
The shortages aggravate ordinary people are seen as dragging down other moves to develop the economy. Sharif has vowed to build new power plants.
The government is also challenged by regular terrorist attacks from Taliban militants who want to topple the government, as well as attacks linked to sectarian and separatist movements.
Islamabad is also under pressure from the United States to use its influence to help Washington secure a settlement to the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan.
Sharif is a wealthy steel magnate from Punjab Province. He has been a leading player in the Pakistani political establishment for years, alongside the Pakistan Peoples Party of current President Asif Ali Zardari and the slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Sharif was in power when Pakistan tested its first nuclear weapon in 1998. He was toppled in a 1999 military coup by former army chief General Pervez Musharraf, and spent years in exile in Saudi Arabia before returning to Pakistan in 2007 and launching his political comeback.
