Islamabad: Weeks after the results of Pakistan parliamentary elections were declared, Shehbaz Sharif is set to become the Prime Minister once again after the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) headed by three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday formally chose his younger brother to head a coalition government.
The high-level meeting of the PML-N party was held in Islamabad under the leadership of party supremo 74-year-old Nawaz Sharif.
Shehbaz led a coalition government for 16 months till August 2023 before the caretaker government took over following the announcement of general elections, according to a report in PTI.
“Nawaz officially nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif and party loyalist Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the posts of prime minister and speaker of the National Assembly. The parliamentary party endorsed Shehbaz’s name and also reposed its full confidence in the leadership of Nawaz,” PML-N central deputy secretary Attaullah Tarar said in a statement.
However, the selection of Shehbaz Sharif for the next PM post by Nawaz Sharif has surprised many within and outside the party as Nawaz was himself eyeing the post for a record fourth time.
The elder Nawaz said his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif is the best choice for the prime ministers's position, especially in Pakistan's current circumstances.
He lauded Shehbaz’s performance as the PM during the tenure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement after the ouster of the cricketer-turned-politician and former prime minister Imran Khan.
“The way he stopped the country from defaulting is unprecedented,” Nawaz Sharif reportedly said. He expressed the hope that Pakistan would emerge out of the current crises in the next one or two years.
“Pakistan is very injured at this time and we will have to fill its wounds,” Nawaz added.
“We will have to take the country out of these difficulties and I believe that we will have to make difficult decisions in the next two years... but if your intention is pure then God will surely help you," Nawaz Sharif further said, according to the report.
Meanwhile, outgoing National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has called a session of the National Assembly on Thursday after President Dr Arif Alvi, known for his proximity to jailed Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, refused to do so.
Khan’s PTI-backed independents have emerged as the largest number of winners followed by PML-N and PPP. However, Imran Khan has alleged that the February 8 elections were the most controversial and rigged polls in the country's history.
He has accused the PML-N-Pakistan Peoples Party post-poll alliance, which also has four other parties, as "mandate thieves" set to form the government in the Centre.
As per the Constitution, a party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly to form a government. Independent candidates – a majority backed by 71-year-old Khan's PTI party – won 93 National Assembly seats. The PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.
As part of the PML-N-PPP alliance deal, it was decided that Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz would be the chief minister of Punjab province. Maryam, the political heir of Nawaz, took oath on Monday and became the first woman chief minister of any province in the country.
The other part of the deal was that PPP’s senior leader former Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari would be getting the President’s post.