He secured 221 votes out of 341 seats in an election process that began in a secret ballot as per the Constitution.

The Pakistan Parliament on Tuesday elected ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) nominee Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the interim Prime Minister.

This follows the ouster of Nawaz Sharif after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office till life in the wake of corruption charges against him and his family members.

Mr. Abbasi secured 221 votes out of 341, while the three candidates fielded by the divided opposition collectively got 84 votes. Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People's Party got 47 votes, while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's nominee secured 33 votes and the Jamaat-e-Islami candidate four votes.

The election process began in a secret ballot as per the Constitution.

Mr. Abbasi is expected to hand over power to Shahbaz Sharif once the latter is elected to the National Assembly in six weeks. Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, who is the Chief Minister of Punjab, is the younger brother of Mr. Nawaz Sharif,