BROTHER OF NAWAZ SHARIF TO LEAD PAK RULING PARTY

Pakistan’s ruling PML-N party on Tuesday appointed Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif as its acting president after the current president, Nawaz Sharif, stepped down in the wake of a Supreme Court order barring him from holding the position.

Nawaz, a three-time premier, was elevated to post of “Quaid (leader) for life” of the PML-N. He has said the top court had no business making the decision to oust him from the party position.

The announcement about the appointment of Nawaz’s younger brother to the top post was made by the PML-N’s central working committee (CWC) during a meeting held in Lahore. Nawaz presided over the meeting that was also attended by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Speaking at the meeting, Nawaz said that despite there being no dictatorship in Pakistan, verdicts from the judiciary harked back to the era of dictatorships. He added elected prime ministers had never been allowed to complete their tenure in the country’s history.

“How long will this keep happening and how long can the country function like this?” asked Nawaz, who was ousted from the post of prime minister by the Supreme Court last year for dishonesty in declaring his assets. “It has been more than six months, yet not even an iota of corruption evidence have been furnished against me in the court. Despite that, I was sent home packing by the judiciary.”

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