ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's National Assembly on Wednesday formally selected Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, capping a celebratory and historic transfer of a power in a country besieged by decades of turmoil and facing immediate, dire economic challenges.
Sharif, 63, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Party, was elected with an overwhelming majority, capturing 224 of the 294 ballots cast by assembly members. The vote, held in the country's grand Parliament House, represented a rare moment of unity in Pakistan, as even members of several rival parties said they wanted to give Sharif space to form a strong government.
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Sharif heralded the vote as a defining moment in the country's 65-year history, marking the first peaceful transition of power from one democratically elected government to another.
"We have no other option, except for democracy," said Sharif, who served two terms as prime minister in the 1990s but was ousted in a coup, jailed and then exiled to Saudi Arabia until 2007. "We should strengthen the democracy for the better prospects of Pakistan, and we should close all doors to dictatorship."
Sharif vowed to swiftly address chronic energy shortages that leave residents of the nuclear-armed nation without electricity and air conditioning in sweltering 100-degree heat for up to 15 hours each day.
He also issued a warning to the Obama administration not to continue drone strikes on Pakistani soil, reflecting the growing unease within the country about the attacks aimed at militants and Taliban leaders.
"The drone attacks attacks that are being carried out now, stop now," ," said Sharif, reiterating comments he made last week after a suspected strike killed a senior Pakistani Taliban commander near the country's border with Afghanistan.
Sharif's election was met with a wave of optimism across Pakistan, a country facing numerous cruel challenges, including high unemployment, fuel shortages, and a lack of clean drinking water. News anchors were giddy as they covered the voting process, and the English language news channel repeatedly flashed "democracy" across the screen.
"We believe, and hope, we can now truly join the community of nations," said Khalid ur-Reham Ramady, a former Pakistani Supreme Court Justice. "The challenges are very great . . . It will not be an easy job, but at the same time, you have to take that first step . . . We believe the people will start seeing the benefits of democracy."
Despite past concerns about Sharif's extravagant lifestyle and reputation for arrogance when he held the premiership — from 1990 to 1993, and from 1997 until he was ousted in 1999 — analysts and government leaders in both Pakistan and Washington have generally welcomed his return to power.
In a cycle of continual political upheaval since breaking away from India in 1947, Pakistan's government has been marred by assassinations, imprisonment, suspicion, and military-backed coups, including the one former army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf led against Sharif in 1999.
05 Jun, 2013
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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGwhcalqrHvcs_7SmEXGt7LmgIRcw&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/nawaz-sharif-formally-elected-prime-minister-of-pakistan/2013/06/05/2d1a1fee-cdd0-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html
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