Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif elected unopposed as PML-N president: Report

Islamabad:

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was elected unopposed as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), as reported by ARY News.

Sharif, who previously lost the PML-N presidency due to a Supreme Court ruling in the Panama Papers case six years ago, has now regained the position unopposed.

The party’s five-member election committee, chaired by Rana Sanaullah and including Iqbal Jhagra, Ishrat Ashraf, Jamal Shah Kakar and Khealdas Kohistani, oversaw the election process.

Notably, no candidate filed nomination papers against Nawaz Sharif, paving the way for his uncontested election, according to ARY News.

During the session, the general council will also take up resolutions relating to Kashmir, Palestine and other pertinent issues.

Initially scheduled for May 11, the party’s general council meeting for the presidential elections was later rescheduled to coincide with Youm-e-Takbeer on May 28. This date marks 26 years since Pakistan’s historic nuclear tests on May 28, 1998.

It is worth noting that Nawaz Sharif was previously disqualified from holding any public office following his conviction in 2018.

Sharif faced convictions in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references by the Court of Auditors, resulting in a 10-year prison sentence and an eight million pound fine in the Avenfield case, and a seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia reference , accompanied by a fine of INR 1.5 billion and US$ 25 million. Furthermore, he was disqualified from holding public office for 10 years.

However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted him on Avenfield and Al-Azizia references on November 29 and December 12 of the previous year, respectively. Following his acquittals, Sharif contested and emerged victorious in the 2024 General Elections in NA-130 Lahore, ARY News reported.

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