We ask South Asia expert Michael Kugelman if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be able to get Pakistan out of the political and economic crisis, repair ties with the US, and start negotiations with rival India over the Kashmir dispute.
Sharif was elected as the country's new prime minister following the weekend ouster of Imran Khan, who resigned his national assembly seat along with most of his party members ahead of the vote.
Huge rallies held in cities across the South Asian country in favour of ex-premier and against "foreign interference", a day after Khan's removal in a parliamentary no-trust vote.
If Shehbaz Sharif does take on the role, he faces immediate challenges such as the country's crumbling economy, which has been hit by high inflation, a tumbling local currency and rapidly declining foreign exchange reserves.
Opposition parties say Imran Khan government had failed to revive an economy battered by Covid-19 or fulfil promises to make Pakistan a corruption-free, prosperous nation respected on the world stage.
In a televised address, Imran Khan said he was 'disappointed' by the top court's verdict reversing the deputy speaker's blocking of no-trust move, which he said is part of a US conspiracy to oust him.
The court ruled that blocking of vote to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan was unconstitutional and ordered restoration of dissolved lower house of the parliament.
Imran Khan lost his parliamentary majority last week and was on the verge of being forced from office by a no-confidence vote tabled by the opposition, but the deputy speaker threw out the motion.
Allegations of US interference in Pakistani politics could damage already weak Islamabad-Washington ties.
Pakistan's president has dissolved the national assembly on the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who gets a reprieve after a no-confidence motion against his government is rejected in Parliament.
In an interview, Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed that resignation, no-confidence vote and elections were the three options he had been given by the "establishment" and that "his life is also in danger".
As the military takes a back seat, an embattled Imran Khan says he’ll fight till the end.
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