ISLAMABAD: PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan after 174 lawmakers voted in his favour after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNAs boycotted the election.

Earlier, PTI MNAs had walked out of the halls, with Shah Mahmood Qureshi — who was the party's candidate for the top slot — announcing that they would be resigning en masse from the NA.

PML-N's Ayaz Sadiq presided over the session after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri his conscience did not allow him to conduct the session.

Announcing the results, Sadiq reminisced that he had also chaired a session during which PML-N supremo and Shehbaz's elder brother was elected as the premier.

"And today, I have the honour of chairing the session for Shehbaz Sharif's election," he said.

"Mian Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif has secured 174 votes," he announced. "Mian Mohammad Shehbaz Sharif has been ... elected as the prime minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan."

As soon as Sadiq announced the result and said Shehbaz was the new prime minister of Pakistan, lawmakers began shouting slogans in favour of Shehbaz and Nawaz.

The speaker asked Shehbaz to move to the seat of the prime minister in the house and he shifted to the treasury benches amid cheers, with other members of the former joint opposition following suit.

In his maiden address to the house as the prime minister, Shehbaz he thanked Allah for "saving Pakistan".

He said it was the first time in Pakistan's history that a no-confidence motion against a prime minister had been successful. "And good has prevailed over evil."

Shehbaz today was a "big day" for the entire nation when a "selected" prime minister was sent packing in a legal and constitutional manner.

He added that the US dollar's value declining by Rs8 signified the "happiness of the people".

The newly elected prime minister also thanked the Supreme Court (SC) for burying the doctrine of necessity forever. "In the future, no one will be able to rely on it," he said.

He said the day when the SC ruled against the dismissal of the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri should be remembered as one when supremacy of the Constitution and parliament was established.

Shehbaz said a "drama" had been going on over the past few weeks and the lies being told about a "letter", which was said to contain evidence of a foreign conspiracy to topple the PTI government.

He said the deputy speaker had waved the cable yesterday in the assembly as well and requested that it be shown to him (Shehbaz), who was the leader of the opposition at the time.

"But neither did I see it nor anyone showed it to me," he said. It was a "lie, drama and fraud" he added, as he went on to clarify that there was no conspiracy linked to the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan.

He said the PTI had been alleging that they had received the cable on March 7, a day before the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan was filed. "But I have been meeting Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on this (the vote of no-confidence) since the initial days of March."

On March 3, Shehbaz continued, Nawaz held a meeting of the PML_N's central executive committee and PPP held a separate meeting of its own. "And we decided that we would bring a vote of no-confidence against the most corrupt, incompetent and laid back government in history".

He said a matter was then discussed with the Pakistan Democratic Movement and the motion was eventually filed on March 8.

"They say they received the cable on March 7, but we have been holding meetings way before that," Shehbaz said.

Stressing that the nation should be made aware of the truth, he announced that he intended to hold an in-camera briefing of the parliamentary committee on security, where the military leadership, Inter-Services Intelligence director general, foreign secretary and the ambassador who sent the letter should be present.

"The nation should know whether they have been lied to you," he said, adding that even if an iota of evidence of a foreign conspiracy was found, "I will go home".

"This debate should be laid to rest and I will make arrangements for the in-camera session at the earliest," Shehbaz said.

The development comes two days after an unceremonious end to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's tenure as the country's chief executive through a no-confidence vote.

After taking the chair of the speaker, Sadiq read out the rules and procedure for the election of the prime minister and asked for the bells to rung for five minutes so that all lawmakers could come inside the halls before the voting began.

He said after the bells stopped ringing, the assembly's entrances and exits would be locked and would remain so until the voting concluded.

Thereafter, Sadiq read out the names of the contenders, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PTI's Shah Mahmood Qureshi. In a slip of tongue, he named PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif as one of the contenders initially and quickly corrected himself, clarifying that he meant to say Shehbaz.

"I apologise Shehbaz sahab, Nawaz's name remains in my heart."

Sadiq then asked the lawmakers supporting Shehbaz to proceed to lobbies on his left side for voting. Similarly, he asked those who wanted to vote in favour of Qureshi to proceed to the lobby on his right side to cast their votes.