ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly session for the election of the new Prime Minister of Pakistan has begun. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif is the joint opposition candidate for the top post.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi was also in the fray for the prime ministerial post with his nomination papers approved on Sunday.
However, ahead of the session, PTI members of the National Assembly resigned en masse led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, effectively putting an end to the contention of Qureshi.
In a historic first for Pakistan, Imran Khan was ousted as the prime minister of Pakistan from office through a no-confidence motion after the NA debated on the matter for more than 12 hours and the political situation in the country took a critical turn Saturday night.
The session was chaired by Ayaz Sadiq -- a member of the panel of chairs -- after speaker Asad Qasier resigned from his post, reported Geo News.
"174 members have recorded their votes in favour of the resolution, consequently the resolution for the vote on no-confidence against Mr Imran Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, has been passed by a majority," Ayaz Sadiq announced after the process of voting was completed.
Once the voting was concluded and the result was announced, Opposition leaders delivered their victory speeches.
Notably, no prime minister has completed full five-year tenure in Pakistan's 75-year history. Pakistan, a parliamentary democracy for most of its history, has had a total of 29 prime ministers since 1947.