By Muhammad Luqman
Ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N), in a parliamentary committee meeting headed by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday, have decided that Nawaz’s younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, should take over as the party’s leader in parliament.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was till Friday the petroleum minister, will take over as interim prime minister till the time Shahbaz is elected as member of national assembly and then elected as the prime minister.
Shahbaz’s ascension to the prime minister’s office is considered to be a foregone conclusion, as the PML-N continues to hold a hefty majority in parliament and can independently vote him into office. He will also likely seek election to the National Assembly from Nawaz Sharif’s constituency, NA-120 which is a PML-N stronghold.
As part of the agreed-on course of action, Shahbaz will also have to leave his seat in the Punjab Assembly and his successor will need to be chosen.
The names were finalised over the course of two meetings on Saturday attended by close aides of the outgoing prime minister. One was an informal meeting including Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ahsan Iqbal, Ayaz Sadiq, Saad Rafique, Rana Tanveer, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Shahbaz Sharif along with other members of the PML-N’s leadership; the other was a full meeting of the PML-N’s parliamentary committee.
The meetings came as the PML-N deliberated its political and legal options after Nawaz’s disqualification and mulled over who would take over the party’s reins in parliament.
