Pakistani lawmakers from the party of ousted Premier Imran Khan collectively resigned from Parliament on Monday ahead of the vote to elect a new prime minister.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Pakistan Justice Party, withdrew the nomination of former foreign minister and seasoned politician Shah Mahmood Qureshi as its candidate and more than 100 lawmakers walked out of the National Assembly.
After the walkout, opposition lawmakers are expected to start voting on the new prime minister, with opposition lawmaker Shahbaz Sharif as the only contender.ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani lawmakers convened Monday to choose a new prime minister, capping a tumultuous week of political drama that saw the ouster of Imran Khan as premier and a constitutional crisis narrowly averted after the country's top court stepped in.
The opposition has selected Shahbaz Sharif as its candidate for prime minister, claiming it has enough votes in his favor. Pakistan's political drama began on April 3 when Khan sidestepped an initial no-confidence vote demanded by the opposition by dissolving Parliament and calling early elections. The opposition, which accuses Khan of economic mismanagement, appealed to the Supreme Court. After four days of deliberations, the court ordered Parliament re-instated and the no-confidence vote went ahead.
Nawaz Sharif was unseated by the Supreme Court in 2015 after being convicted in connection with financial irregularities revealed in the so-called Panama Papers -- a collection of leaked secret financial documents showing how some of the world's richest hide their money and involving a global law firm based in Panama. He was disqualified by Pakistan's Supreme Court from holding office.
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