Your new PM is my brother, ousted premier tells Pakistan
NAWAZ SHARIF, Pakistan’s ousted prime minister, named his brother Shahbaz as his successor and nominated Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the ex-oil minister, as an interim premier in a defiant speech yesterday.
The announcement charts a way forward for Pakistan after the supreme court removed Mr Sharif on Friday following an investigation into corruption allegations against him and his family, bringing his third term in power to an unceremonious end.
“I support Shahbaz Sharif after me but he will take time to contest elections so for the time being I nominate Shahid Khaqan Abbasi,” Mr Sharif said in a televised speech to his party.
The younger Sharif, who is the chief minister of Punjab, holds only a provincial seat, so must be elected to the national assembly before becoming the prime minister. Yesterday the Election Commission of Pakistan confirmed fresh elections would be held in Nawaz Sharif ’s former constituency.
Mr Abbasi is to be rubber-stamped as interim leader in a parliamentary vote, with Mr Sharif ’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party commanding a majority in the 342-seat house. The opposition could field a candidate for the premiership, but the nominee has little chance of winning.
Nawaz Sharif became the 15th prime minister in Pakistan’s 70-year history to be ousted before completing a full term. The decision sent his opponents into the streets handing out sweets and beating drums in celebration. Imran Khan, the opposition leader who has spearheaded the push against Mr Sharif, hailed the verdict as ushering in a new dawn for Pakistan.
But some observers slammed it as “political” and a “technicality”, with rights campaigner Asma Jahangir telling Geo Television that the powerful military was using the courts to destabilise democracy. The military had an antagonistic relationship with Mr Sharif, who had made overtures to improve relations with nuclear arch-rival India.