Deposed leader eyes brother as future successor
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s ruling party named senior lawmaker Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as successor to the deposed prime minister on Saturday, a day after the Supreme Court removed Nawaz Sharif from office for concealing assets.
Sharif proposed Abbasi as interim prime minister at the meeting of Pakistan Muslim League party in Islamabad. His request was endorsed by lawmakers from his party. Because Sharif ’s party enjoys a comfortable majority in the parliament, his longtime loyalist Abbasi is expected to easily win the required vote when National Assembly meets this week.
In a televised speech Saturday, Sharif said that his younger brother, Shahbaz, who currently is chief minister in Punjab province, would run for the National Assembly seat that fell vacant with his removal.
In an emotional appeal, Sharif sought support for Shahbaz as the future fulltime premier. Sharif said he tried his best to put Pakistan on the path of progress but was unfairly penalized with his disqualification.
“I was not expecting what happened to me yesterday,” he said, adding that he was removed by the Supreme Court on “baseless allegations.”
He said the opposition had campaigned against him in recent years, accusing him and his family of indulging in alleged corruption. “My hands are clean and none of my family members misused government funds,” he said.
Sharif said he felt saddened by his removal as he believed he had worked sincerely for the nation like “a soldier.” He said history would now decide whether the court’s decision was good for Pakistan.
Also Saturday, Abbasi vowed to “continue the mission” of Sharif. He said he was grateful to Sharif for naming him premier, even though it will only be for a brief period.
Saturday’s developments came amid a serious political crisis that gripped Pakistan because of Sharif ’s removal, with lawmakers and legal experts wondering who was running the government.
Earlier, Raja Zafarul Haq, a senior leader from Sharif ’s party, said Pakistan would continue without a prime minister until the National Assembly elects a new one.
He said there was no provision in the constitution about the appointment of an acting prime minister. He said Sharif might have stayed in power until the appointment of a new prime minister if judges had not sacked him effective immediately.