ISLAMABAD: Senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Raja Zafarul Haq on Tuesday said that a decision had been made to elect Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the party president.
During an interview with BBC Urdu, the party’s leader of house in the Senate said that a formal announcement regarding this would be made in a day or two.
“The younger Sharif has been selected to replace Nawaz based on the wishes of a majority of party members,” Haq was quoted as saying.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued a notice to the PML-N for the appointment of a new party leader.
The ECP in the notice said that under the Political Parties Order 2002, a disqualified lawmaker could not hold any office in a political party.
The notification also referred to the Supreme Court order in the Panama Papers case, in which Nawaz Sharif was formally asked to step down as prime minister.
The ECP also observed that Article 15 of the PML-N’s own party constitution says that if the seat of party president is vacant, it is to be filled within a week’s time
The election body asked the PML-N to elect a new party leader and then inform the ECP.
Published in Daily Times, August 9th 2017.
