Shahid Khaqan Abbasi: What You Need to Know About Pakistan’s New Prime Minister<br />A steadfast ally of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Mr. Abbasi, 58, was named interim prime minister<br />last week after the Supreme Court disqualified Mr. Sharif from office and he was forced to resign.<br />It is assumed that Mr. Abbasi is holding the office until Mr. Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif, the chief minister<br />of Punjab Province, wins a seat in Parliament in a coming by-election and can become prime minister.<br />1, 2017<br />ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a politician educated in the United States, was elected prime minister of Pakistan on Tuesday.<br />After being elected to Parliament in 2008, he was named commerce minister, and he was appointed minister of petroleum and natural resources in 2013.<br />Mr. Abbasi at the time was pressured by the military to testify against Mr. Sharif, but he refused and was jailed.<br />After losing his first and only election in 2002, Mr. Abbasi founded Airblue Limited, a budget carrier.
