Lahore (Staff Report): Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had to step down as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief after his disqualification from holding public office under the top court’s Panama Papers case verdict, is set to be elected the head of the party again on October 3.
The PML-N has also convened a meeting of its general council on Oct 2 and 3 to formally begin the process of re-electing new chief of the party.
PML-N central information secretary and Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan said on Friday that Mr Sharif was unlikely to leave for London till he was re-elected as the party chief. He added that separate meetings of the PML-N’s central working committee (CWC) and general council — a 1,600-strong electorate — had been summoned to elect the party’s central leadership.
The Representation of Peoples Act 1976 bars anyone who is ineligible to become a member of parliament from holding office in a political party. Ever since the Supreme Court’s verdict, the PML-N has been run by its acting president Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan Nasar, a senator from Balochistan.
The bar is, however, being removed through the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 passed by the National Assembly on Aug 22 and the Senate, with some amendments, a month later on Sept 22.
