Shafaq News/ Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of an alliance headed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), became the 24th prime minister of Pakistan after winning a vote in the National Assembly or the lower house of parliament on Sunday, the speaker of the house said.

The speaker of the National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, said that Sharif, who is also the president of PML-N, secured 201 votes out of the 293 votes cast in the Sunday vote.

Sharif's only rival Omar Ayub Khan, who was supported by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, got 92 votes, the speaker said.

The speaker declared that Sharif was the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Sharif needed 169 votes to win the election in the 336-member National Assembly. He received votes from PML-N, Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and other allies.

On Friday, the members of the National Assembly chose Sadiq as the speaker of the house and Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah as his deputy after the new house was formed following the general election in the country on Feb. 8, 2024.