Opposition politician, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz submitted his nomination.

Opposition politician Shehbaz Sharif submitted his nomination to be Pakistan’s next prime minister to the legislature on Sunday, his party said, after incumbent Imran Khan lost a no-confidence vote in parliament after nearly four years in power.

The younger brother of three-times prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz, 70, has led a bid by the opposition in parliament to topple former cricket star Khan, and he is widely expected to replace him following a vote on Monday.

But Khan’s party also submitted papers nominating the former foreign minister as a candidate, saying their members of parliament would resign en masse should he lose, potentially creating the need for urgent by-elections for their seats.

Khan, the first Pakistani prime minister to be ousted by a no confidence vote, had clung on for almost a week after a united opposition first tried to remove him.

On Sunday, he repeated allegations that a foreign conspiracy was behind the regime change.

The freedom struggle begins again today, he said via his social account, that still describes him as Prime Minister of Pakistan in his biography section.


The Military A Factor in Pakistan's Regime Change

Two sources who declined to be identified said the vote that ousted Khan went ahead after the powerful army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, met Khan, as criticism mounted over the delay to the parliamentary process. The Supreme Court has also ordered parliament to convene and hold the vote.

The military has ruled the country of 220 million people for almost half its nearly 75-year history.

Earlier, some independent commentators stated that Pakistani military was concerned about Khan's close relations with Beijing that Pakistan would always kept not as an enemy but neither a friend.

Generals viewed Khan and his conservative agenda favourably when he won election in 2018, but that support waned after a falling-out over the appointment of the influential military intelligence chief and economic troubles that led to the largest interest rate rise in decades this week.

But the military was outraged by Khan's antagonism towards the United States throughout his tenure, and welcoming of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last year. Generals were angry even more when Khan accused the United States of being behind the attempt to oust him, last month.