Nawaz Sharif picks brother Shehbaz to be next Pak PM
ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif on Saturday named his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif as his successor following his disqualification by the Supreme Court, ensuring the power centre of the ruling PML-N party remained within the family. Shehbaz, currently chief minister of the province of Punjab, will have to be elected to the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament to take over as the premier. Senior PML-N leader and leading businessman Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would serve as the interim PM.
Pakistan’s pro-army media on Saturday hailed former Prime Minister’s Nawaz Sharif’s indictment for corruption as a “new chapter for accountability” in the country, describing the Supreme Court verdict as the “aspiration” of the people.
Though there were a few contrarian views, most newspapers and TV channels backed the ruling by the country’s top court, which acted on petitions filed by Sharif’s political opponents alleging that he and his family failed to disclose assets mentioned in the Panama Papers.
The court ordered that criminal charges be filed against Sharif and four relatives.
Sharif, 67, stepped down shortly after Friday’s verdict by the top court.
“PM sent packing,” said the daily Express Tribune while the pro-army BOL TV insisted that not only was the decision correct and overdue, “it would (also) open a new chapter for accountability in Pakistan”.
Host Arshad Sharif of ARY TV said the Supreme Court “acted in accordance with the aspirations of the people”, referring to growing resentment against the Sharifs over corruption charges.
The pro-Nawaz paper, The News, in its lead story lamented that the PM has been dismissed because of hiding his Dubai salary – a reference to Sharif’s failure to declare monthly income, equal to $2,722, from a Dubaibased company his son owned.
The paper also carried a story that the PM had been sent home “despite having zero corruption evidence”.
The Daily Dawn newspaper, which is seen as independent, led with the headline ‘Another prime minister comes to grief’.
In an editorial, the paper said that Nawaz Sharif could have resigned and saved the country from the tumultous political episode and called for “accountability of unelected officials as well”.