Pakistan's National Assembly To Elect New PM Today

Pakistan's newly-elected National Assembly, the lower house of the country's Parliament, will vote for the new Prime Minister of Pakistan on Friday.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif are in contention for the position.The two leaders filed their nomination papers for the post on Wednesday, Geo News reported.

The PTI had emerged as the single largest party in the general elections on July 25 with 116 seats. The party has 158 members in the National Assembly after the Election Commission of Pakistan  issued notifications of the successful candidates on the reserved seats for women and the minority community on August 11.

The Imran Khan-led party reached the current figure after nine independent candidates joined and secured 33 seats reserved for the minorities and women.

For any candidate to become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan, a simple majority of votes from the total strength of the 330-member house is required.

Currently, the PTI has the support of 175 lawmakers, which also includes the backing of smaller and regional political parties of Pakistan. These parties are expected to vote for Mr Khan, paving the way for him to become the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, the report said.

Last week, the PTI party had said that Mr Khan would take oath as the new Pakistan Prime Minister at the President House in Islamabad on August 18.

The PML-N and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have 81 and 54 members respectively.

However, Mr Sharif's bid to become the next Pakistan's Prime Minister hit a roadblock after the Pakistan People's Party withdrew support saying that it would not vote for him in the elections.

It is to be seen whether other parties such as Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Awami National Party (ANP) would vote for the PML-N president. However, the Jamaat-e-Islami, which is a part of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal said that it would not be participating in the voting.

Pakistan People's Party leader Khursheed Shah told media that the party had informed the PML-N of its reservations about Mr Sharif being the prime ministerial candidate. He warned to the PML-N that if the the party did not change its premier's candidate, the Pakistan People's Party would decide a future course of action.

According to sources, Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto and his father and former Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said that the party would neither extend support to Mr Khan nor to Mr Sharif in the election.