Islamabad - Pakistan’s parliament elected opposition lawmaker Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sherif as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, Khan's party resigned en masse from the lower house of parliament in protest at the expected formation of a government by his political opponents.

Sharif, the only contender, is the brother of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Nawaz Sharif was barred by the Supreme Court in 2017 from holding public office and subsequently went abroad for medical treatment after serving just a few months of a 10-year jail sentence for corruption charges.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had submitted papers nominating Qureshi as its candidate for prime minister.

The mass resignations will require fresh by-elections in well over 100 seats.

No elected prime minister has completed a full term in the nuclear-armed nation since it won independence from colonial power Great Britain in 1947, though Khan is the first to be removed by a no-confidence vote.

Khan remained defiant following his defeat in parliament.

Thousands of his supporters in several cities held protests against his ousting that went on until Monday's early hours.
-Reuters/AP