Shahid Khaqan Abbasi - a bizman-turned-politician: All you need to know

Pakistani lawmakers on Tuesday elected former petroleum minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the country's 18th Prime Minister, replacing veteran leader Nawaz Sharif over the Panama Papers scandal.

Pic Courtesy: Reuters

Islamabad: Pakistani lawmakers on Tuesday elected former petroleum minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the country's 18th Prime Minister, replacing three-time premier Nawaz Sharif who was last week disqualified for life by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers scandal case.

Abbasi won majority in the House gaining 221 votes out of 342. Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 47 votes, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf got 33, while Jamaat-e-Islami's Sahibzada Tariqullah managed to secure just four votes.

Abbasi, who is believed to be a close confidant of former PM, is expected to hold the office until Nawaz Sharif`s younger brother Shahbaz, a provincial minister, is eligible to be elected to the Nnational Assembly and take over the premiership.

As the 18th prime minister, Abbasi is scheduled to take oath at a special ceremony, which will be organised at President Mamnoon Hussain's official residence later.

Born on December 27, 1958, in the southern port city of Karachi, Abbasi is primarily an electrical engineer and a businessman. He has worked in United States and Saudi Arabia after attaining a master's degree from George Washington University in the US.

Following the death of his father Khaqan Abbasi in 1988, he stepped into the world of politics. 

Since then, he has represented ​Murree - a hill station in northern Punjab - thrice in the National Assembly. The interim prime minister has been elected six times as a member of the National Assembly.

The owner of Airblue, a private Pakistani airline established in 2003, Abbasi was also associated with the Pakistan International Airlines as its chairman from 1997 to 1999 until General Pervez Musharraf seized power. 

The veteran leader, however, was allegedly booked after the coup and imprisoned for two years.

As a member of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N), he had served the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources from 2013 to 2017. He was also designated as the Minister for Commerce and Defence Production in 2008 during the rule of Yousaf Raza Gillani government.