LAHORE: Two days after TV channels flashed the news that former premier Nawaz Sharif had named Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as the party’s nominee
for the office of prime minister in 2018 general elections, the elder
Sharif is said to be reluctant to publicly nominate his younger brother
for the coveted office as he wants to keep his cards close to his chest
till the last minute, it emerged on Saturday.
While
Shahbaz Sharif’s camp in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has been
running a vigorous campaign to see their leader nominated by Nawaz
Sharif for the PM slot, Nawaz’s loyalists argue that the issue is
premature to discuss as the party would go into the 2018 general
elections under his leadership.
There is no official
confirmation yet from the ruling party on whether the ousted PM has
nominated his younger brother for the slot or not.
Both
the central information secretary of the PML-N and a spokesman for the
Punjab government said the party had not made any official announcement
about its future PM candidate.
PML-N leaders say decision will be taken by the party’s CEC
“We have heard that Mian sahib had said that Shahbaz sahib
would be the party’s nominee for PM office in the next election while
talking to some journalists, but this has not been discussed in any
party meeting,” PML-N information secretary Mushahidullah Khan told Dawn
on Saturday.
Mr Khan, who is also the federal climate
change minister, went on to say that the decision to this effect would
be taken at the party’s “central executive committee (CEC) meeting when
it comes on the agenda. However, the party chief’s opinion will prevail
in this and other matters”.
Punjab government
spokesperson Malik Muhammad Ahmad echoed similar views, saying that
although there had been no official confirmation of the nomination, when
the appropriate stage came the party’s CEC would endorse Nawaz
Sharif’s proposal.
When asked why the party was hesitant
to officially announce Shahbaz Sharif’s nomination, Mr Ahmad said: “I
think it will be done at an appropriate time.”
Shahbaz’s
name had popped up as a candidate for the PM slot soon after the Panama
Papers debacle as well, but, as Mr Ahmad pointed, Shahbaz Sharif had
retained his position as CM in order to see the ongoing development
projects through to the end.
Some PML-N insiders have
shared that Shahbaz Sharif’s camp wanted a clear message from Nawaz to
the party that Shahbaz will be the PML-N’s nominee for PM office.
“But
Nawaz is reluctant to publicly nominate his brother for the party’s PM
candidate as he wants to keep his cards close to his chest till the last
minute,” a PML-N leader from the Nawaz camp said.
“It is
premature to even discuss who the PML-N will nominate for the PM slot
for the 2018 elections at this stage. Nawaz Sharif will decide on this
matter when the time comes after taking party leaders on board. The
PML-N will go into the 2018 election under the leadership of Nawaz
Sharif,” he said.
He added that CM Sharif was keen on
cementing his position for a behind-the-scenes battle aimed at taking
the reins of the party after 2018 elections.
Earlier,
Minister Riaz Pirzada and some MPAs from Punjab had pitched a proposal
to replace Nawaz Sharif with his younger brother as the party head going
into next year’s election.
The Shahbaz camp, too, had expressed disappointment over his (Shahbaz’s) failure to become premier after Nawaz Sharif’s ouster.
“Shahbaz
Sharif was made to miss a golden opportunity to succeed his elder
brother as there has been no guarantee that he will get the same chance
in 2018 in case PML-N wins the election as more players from the elder
Sharif’s family may be there in the race for the top slot,” a PML-N
leader told Dawn.
Nawaz’s daughter Maryam, who won the
NA-120 by-poll for her mother, is likely to contest from this
constituency next year if she is cleared in the corruption cases she
faces in the accountability courts.
