Nawaz Sharif was re-elected “unopposed” as the President of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party on Tuesday, six years after the three-time former prime minister was forced to quit the post following a Supreme Court ruling in the Panama Papers case.
The 74-year-old veteran politician, who returned to Pakistan in October last year after a four-year self-imposed exile in the UK, was elected without a contest in the party’s general council meeting held here.
PML-N election commissioner Rana Sanaullah told the general council that only Nawaz was nominated for the slot of the party president.
Sanaullah sought the approval from the members of the general council who stood on their seats to endorse his nomination. They chanted slogans in his favour.
The final hurdle in his reelection as president was removed this January when the Supreme Court quashed lifetime disqualification for lawmakers under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.
Nawaz has been keeping a low profile after his party failed to secure a majority in the general elections held on February 8. However, he has recently been seen chairing Punjab government meetings and issuing directions to bureaucrats and ministers. Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of Nawaz, is the Chief Minister of Punjab province.
Prime Minister Shehbaz had earlier this month resigned as the PML-N president citing the “unjust” disqualification of the party supremo and his elder brother Nawaz Sharif from the PM Office.
Shehbaz, 72, said that it was time for the latter to “resume his rightful place as the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party.”
The February 8 general elections had delivered a fractured mandate and the PML-N did not get a clear majority.It joined hands with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Zardari Bhutto and other smaller parties to form the government at the federal level when Nawaz relinquished the post of prime minister in favour of Shehbaz.