ISLAMABAD, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Voting for Pakistan's new prime minister kicked off here at the National Assembly, the country's lower house of the parliament, on Tuesday afternoon.
Four candidates will compete for the PM office which is left vacant following last Friday's disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the country's Supreme Court over corruption charges.
The four contestants include one from the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and three from the opposition parties, namely Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami(JI).
Local watchers said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a PML-N-backed candidate, is likely to win the election as his party enjoys majority seats in the National Assembly.
There are altogether 342 seats in the National Assembly, out of which 188 are in the hands of the PML-N.
