Caretaker PM, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, services chiefs, governors, chief ministers, diplomats attend swearing-in ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr n Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz also attended ceremony n PM directs to expedite transition to smart metering in power, gas sectors.

ISLAMABAD  -  President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday took the oath as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to Shehbaz Sharif, one day after he was elected to the country’s top office for the second time. Held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the swearingin ceremony was attended by outgoing Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and his cabinet members, parliamentarians, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, services chiefs, governors, chief ministers and diplomats.

PML-N Quaid Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, President of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, other political leaders including Hamza Shehbaz, Aleem Khan, Raja Zafarul Haq, Ahsan Iqbal and Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and senior officers also attended the ceremony.

Later, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was presented guard of honour on Monday as he arrived at the PM House soon after taking oath of his office at the President House. The national anthem was played and a smartly turned out contingent of the three services presented him salute. He inspected the guard of honour.

The prime minister was later introduced to the staff of the Prime Minister House. Later, during his meeting with outgoing Caretaker Prime Minister  Anwaarul Haq Kakar, Shehbaz Sharif lauded the steps taken by the caretaker government for the continuation of the country’s development under his leader­ship. He also expressed his best wishes for Anwaarul Haq Kakar in his future life. 

Meanwhile, a smartly turned out contingent of the three ser­vices presented a farewell guard of honour to the outgoing Care­taker Prime Minister. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saw him off after the guard of honour and farewell meeting with the staff of Prime Minister Office.

In 2022, President Alvi had initially refused to administer the oath to Shehbaz Sharif. At that time, he was sworn in by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjra­ni. Shahbaz became Prime Min­ister for the first time after Im­ran Khan’s government was ousted through a vote of no con­fidence. Before becoming Presi­dent, Alvi was a senior leader of Imran’s PTI party. 

The oath-taking ceremony comes days after an agreement on power-sharing between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peo­ples Party (PPP). On Sunday, Shahbaz Sharif secured a major­ity in the newly elected parlia­ment amidst opposition uproar. Shahbaz received 201 votes out of 336 members in the parlia­ment, while his rival, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Umar Ayub Khan, received only 92 votes. During the voting amid al­legations of rigging, the PML-N failed to achieve a clear majority in the February 8 elections, se­curing victory on only 75 seats.

FBR CLEARS TAX REFUNDS TOTALING RS65 BILLION

Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if has directed to prepare an ac­tion plan on an emergency ba­sis to bring back the economy on track. He gave these direc­tions while presiding over a meeting to review strategies for country’s economic revival and growth in Islamabad on Monday. 

He said his government will work for improving the coun­try’s economic landscape, pro­moting investment oppor­tunities and facilitating the business community. He said economic revitalisation stands as the foremost priority of his administration, highlighting the urgent need for decisive action to address pressing econom­ic concerns. He stressed the im­portance of providing neces­sary infrastructure and support to entrepreneurs and investors to foster a conducive business environment. The PM also un­derscored the government’s re­solve to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and create an enabling environment for small and me­dium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The prime minister also direct­ed immediate engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to advance discus­sions on the Extended Fund Fa­cility (EFF). This initiative un­derscores the government’s commitment to securing exter­nal support for bolstering the country’s economic resilience.

During the session, Shehbaz Sharif was given a comprehen­sive briefing from the Finance Secretary on the current state of the national economy. Dis­cussions during the briefing re­volved around key economic indicators, challenges, and po­tential solutions to stimulate economic recovery.

On the occasion, the Feder­al Board of Revenue’s clearance of tax refunds totaling 65 billion rupees was also announced, re­flecting the government’s proac­tive measures to ease financial burdens on taxpayers and stim­ulate economic activity.

In line with the government’s agenda to streamline operations and enhance efficiency, Shehbaz Sharif ordered the formation of E-committee to rationalise membership on government boards. Moreover, directives were issued to expedite the tran­sition to smart metering in the power and gas sectors, aimed at reducing line losses and improv­ing service delivery.

The session concluded with a commitment to ongoing di­alogue and collaboration with stakeholders across sectors to chart a path towards sustainable economic growth and prosperi­ty. Beside others, dignitaries, including Senator Masood Ma­lik, Members of the National As­sembly Ata Tarar, Shiza Fatima, Rominah Khurshid, Ahad Chee­ma, Jehanzib Khan, also attend­ed the meeting.