PML-N Picks Shehbaz Sharif As PM Candidate Of Pakistan (image-twitter/PresPMLNPunjab)
On Tuesday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Nawaz Sharif’s brother Shehbaz Sharif for the prime ministerial candidate of Pakistan, in a surprising turn of events.
PML-N spokesperson, Marriyum Aurangzeb, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) stating that the party chief Nawaz Sharif has nominated his younger brother Shebaz Sharif as the official candidate for the prime minister of the country. Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz has been nominated for the chief minister of the province of Punjab.
“Nawaz Sharif has thanked the political parties which provided support to the PML-N (in forming the upcoming government) and expressed hope that through such decisions Pakistan will come out of crises,” read the statement.
This comes in amid Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s withdrawal from the prime ministerial race to support former prime minister Nawaz Sharif without being part of the newly elected government.
PML-N has secured 80 seats, followed by PPP with 54 seats. As per a Reuters report, the two parties have enough to form a simple majority in the legislature.
Previously, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had stated that Nawaz Sharif would be the prime minister for the fourth time.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has refused to form coalition with any of the major political parties in Pakistan. Khan and his colleagues have been jailed for many months in connection with convictions on corruption charges. Khan accused the PPP, PML-N and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parties of stealing votes, calling it “daylight robbery” in a recent tweet posted through his family.
Khan’s PTI has secured 92 seats in the elections, however, they would not be able to form a government on their own since they are running as individuals and not a party.
In the general elections conducted on February 8, the three major parties of Pakistan – the PML-N, the PPP and the PTI – had failed to win the necessary seats required to secure a majority in the National Assembly. The political parties would, therefore, be unable to form government by themselves.
