Shahid Khaqan Abbasi talks to media upon his arrival at the National Assembly before the election of the new prime minister of the country in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Aug. 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Stringer)
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was sworn in as Pakistani 28th Prime Minister Tuesday evening shortly after the parliament elected him with a clear majority.
President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to Abbasi at an oath-taking ceremony held at President House. The president later congratulated Abbasi on his election.
Islamabad-based diplomats, services chiefs, senior officials and lawmakers attended the ceremony.
Abbasi was elected prime minister four days after the Supreme Court ousted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over corruption charges. He belongs to Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
In Tuesday's voting, Abbasi secured 221 votes in the 342-member National Assembly, the country's lower house of the parliament.
Syed Naveed Qamar of the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party bagged 47 votes while Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party received 33 votes and another candidate from Jamaat-e-Islami got four votes.
Earlier in his speech in the National Assembly after winning the election, the new prime minister appealed to all opposition parties to join hands and uphold the supremacy of the constitution.
In the speech, he also outlined a few important things which were in his mind after he assumed the office.