Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif obtained a vote of confidence from the National Assembly on Thursday.

The resolution for the vote of confidence was presented by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

“I would like to present this resolution before this honourable house that the National Assemby of Paksitan reposes its full confidence in the leadership of Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister of the Islamic republic of Pakistan,” Bilawal read out.

The PM needed atleast 172 votes to prove that he still enjoys confidence of the house, the Speaker announced that he had received 180 votes after counting.

“The house has given its decision’

Addressing the house after obtaining the vote, PM Shehbaz Sharif mentioned the Supreme Court order that had wondered whether he still enjoyed the confidence of the house.

“The assembly has given its decision,” he said, gesturing with his hand towards the members who had just voted for him.

He said that the Supreme Court could only interpret the constitution and not re-write it. He also added that he does not ‘accept’ the three-member bench hearing the election delay case.

PM Shehbaz also said that both Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had been punished by the court and now there was talk of hom being caught up in a contempt of court case.

“Being sent home would be a small punishment, I am ready to accept it a thousand times,” he said.

PM Shehbaz said that his government is ready to begin negotiations with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf but only on a one-point agenda.

“Elections must happen on the same day throughout the country,” he said.

He also told the speaker that the ‘farcical’ elections of 2018 must be fully investigate since they were the source of Pakistan’s current troubles.

Russian oil

The PM also told the House that everything was set for his country to receive a shipment of discounted Russian oil.

“As we speak, the Russian oil is being loaded to arrive here,” he told the parliament.

Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told Reuters last week that Pakistan had made its first purchase of cut-price Russian crude.

The discounted purchase offers much needed respite to cash-strapped Pakistan, which has been struggling to avert a balance of payments crisis as it awaits an IMF deal.

Foreign exchange reserves at the country’s central bank have fallen to barely cover a month of controlled imports. Energy imports make up the majority of its external payments.

The deal will see Pakistan buy only crude oil, not refined fuels, with Islamabad to target imports to reach 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) if the first transaction goes through smoothly, according to Malik, who said the first cargo was likely to dock at Karachi port in May.

Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL) will initially refine the Russian crude in a trial run, followed by Pak-Arab Refinery Limited (PARCO) and other refineries later.

Russia hasn’t yet commented on the deal, which gives Moscow a new outlet, adding to its growing sales to India and China - also often at a discount - as it redirects oil from Western markets following sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Pakistan, a long-standing Western ally, imported 154,000 bpd of oil in 2022, broadly flat from the previous year, data from analytics firm Kpler showed. Most was supplied by the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates.

If Russian crude supplies were to reach 100,000 bpd, it would potentially mean a big drop for Middle Eastern suppliers to Pakistan.

The transaction currency, whether Chinese yuan or UAE dirham, and discount rate haven’t been disclosed.