By Muhammad Luqman
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan by securing 221 out of 342 members of the lower house of parliament. On his election, the house echoed with the slogans in favour of the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who had to resign after July 28 verdict of Supreme Court.
Abbasi , the 27th Prime Minister of Pakistan will act as interim Prime Minister till the election of Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a period of 45 days.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, 59, is an electrical engineer by profession. He previously served as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources in the third Sharif ministry from 2013 to 2017, and briefly held the cabinet portfolio of Minister for Commerce in the Gillani ministry in 2008.
He made his debut in his politics c after the death of his father in 1988, and since then he has been an elected Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan six times from Rawalpindi District. He is the owner of Airblue; and previously served as Chairman of Pakistan International Airlines from 1997 to 1999 during Sharif’s second term..
Abbasi is married and has three sons. He is one of the wealthiest parliamentarians in Pakistan, with a net worth of ₨1.3 billion (US$12 million) to ₨2.3 billion (US$22 million). His assets include shares in Airblue, a house in Islamabad, a restaurant business, and land properties in Murree.
Abbasi’s father, Khaqan Abbasi, was an air commodore in the Pakistan Air Force. He entered politics and became Federal Minister for Production in the cabinet of military ruler Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, until his death in 1988 at Ojhri Camp – a military accident that resulted in more than 100 casualties. Abbasi’s brother, Zahid Abbasi, was also injured in that incident[3][9] after which he went into coma and died in 2005, having remained bedridden for 17 years.
