PML-N general council to ratify Shehbaz Sharif’s nomination as acting president

—According to sources, the party’s general council will elect a permanent party president after the passage of 45 days

—Nawaz Sharif will first test the mettle of his younger brother before electing him as party president, says PML-N leader

ISLAMABAD: The general council of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is all set to meet on Tuesday in Lahore to ratify the decision of party chief Nawaz Sharif to elect Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif as acting president of the party.

Well-placed sources in the ruling party have informed Pakistan Today that the general council of the party would ratify the decision to appoint Shehbaz Sharif as acting president of PML-N.

“The party constitution allows committee members to appoint an acting president of the party who would then overlook the election of the party president within 45 days of his/her election. Hence the council would endorse the party leader’s decision to appoint Shehbaz Sharif as acting president. For all practical purposes, Shehbaz Sharif would be eventually made the party president,” a senior party leader told this scribe on the condition of anonymity.

The source said that after 45 days of the election, the general council of the party has to elect the party president. “Hence, Shehbaz Sharif would be elected party president after 45 days by the general council,” the source added.

Another party leader said on the condition of anonymity that Nawaz Sharif held hectic parleys for consultation with his close party aides on Sunday and Monday.

“Though Nawaz Sharif was advised to appoint Shehbaz Sharif directly as party president on a permanent basis, the former did not agree to the advice and instead said that he would follow the party constitution, according to which any decision in this connection would be taken after 45 days. It was hence decided that Shehbaz Sharif would be appointed as acting party president and Nawaz Sharif would give his younger brother certain tasks to test his mettle,” the party leader said.

“If Shehbaz Sharif proves his worth, he might be appointed the new party president on a permanent basis. Otherwise, the decision may be reviewed after 45 days,” the source said.

The source further said that the council meeting would also pass four resolutions during Tuesday’s meeting. The party’s CWC would pass a resolution to repose full confidence in the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, the source said, while adding that a follow-up resolution would be tabled to denounce the vindictive acts and harassment of bureaucrats and politicians at the hands of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Moreover, the source said that another resolution would be passed against the move to deprive the PML-N candidates of party tickets in the Senate elections. Another resolution would be tabled to castigate the use of money by certain ‘characters’ belonging to the military establishment for horse-trading in the Senate elections being held in Balochistan.

Asked to throw more light on the identity of these ‘characters’, the PML-N leader referred to the claims made by Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai who had allegedly made accusations in this regard.