Nawaz Sharif to lead election campaign for his party once he returns: Pakistan PM

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan Muslim League(N) leader and his brother Nawaz Sharif is all set to make a comeback next month and will lead the election campaign of his party, ARY News reported on Friday.

In an interview with a Pakistani television channel, Shehbaz Sharif said that after a caretaker government is formed, he would go back to London to discuss the future plans for Nawaz Sharif’s return.

Nawaz Sharif would lead the election campaign of his party and would be the next prime minister for the fourth time if his party won the next election, he said.

This development came after Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi on Wednesday dissolved the National Assembly on Wednesday night after PM Sharif forwarded a summary to him for dissolution of the lower house of the Parliament.

On Thursday, the formal round of conversation between PM Sharif and Leader of the Opposition Raja Riaz concluded, Geo News reported.

Sharif and Riaz will meet once again on Friday to discuss the names of the caretaker PM, ARY News reported.

Notably, PM Sharif and Riaz earlier held two meetings at the Prime Minister’s House.

A process to appoint a caretaker prime minister will be conducted under Article 224-A of the Constitution, which will usher in an interim government to oversee an election.

Notably, three names have been proposed, including two nominations — former diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani and former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jilani — sent by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), reported Geo News.

However, there’s no public announcement by the Pakistan Mulsim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in this regard.

Earlier, several names for the caretaker PM post came out and some of them are finance minister Ishaq Dar, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and former caretaker prime minister Mohammad Mian Soomro.

If the prime minister and opposition leader fail to agree on the name within three days, the matter will go to the parliamentary committee for the appointment of a caretaker PM, according to Geo News.