Islamabad (July 31, 2017): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) prime ministerial nominee Shahid Khaqan Abbasi submitted his nomination papers.
The PML-N nominee accompanied by senior PML-N leaders including Abdul Qadir Baloch, Saira Afzal Tarar, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Sardar Muhammad Yousuf and others went to NA Secretariat and submitted his nomination papers to contest to Secretary NA.
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Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-N) chief Ejazul Haq and Ghulam Bibi Bharwana are proposer and seconder of the Abbasi, respectively.
Later, talking to media Abbasi said that Sheikh Rashid should fulfill his desire of filing reference against him.
He said that he and Rashid were resident of same city and he knows him well. “We have been in a political party together and i know him well,” he added.
When asked about the incoming federal cabinet, he said the cabinet will be chosen in consultation with the party.
Abbasi, the petroleum minister in the recently dissolved cabinet, was accompanied by several senior PML-N leaders while submitting his nomination papers.
The opposition parties on Monday failed to rally behind Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Sheikh Rasheed as their joint candidate against Abbasi.
As a result, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan submitted papers for their own nominees for prime minister.
Candidates intending to become the next prime minister had to submit their nomination papers to the National Assembly Secretariat by 2pm today, following which the assembly speaker began scrutinising the documents.
During the scrutiny, which takes place in the presence of the nominees, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq dismissed Rasheed’s objections to Abbasi’s nomination.
Later, the nomination papers of all the candidates for prime minister were approved by the speaker.
A session of the National Assembly has been called on Tuesday, August 1, at 3pm to elect the prime minister following the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court on Friday.
The parliamentary party meeting of the ruling PML-N decided on Saturday to make Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif — the brother of the ousted premier — to be the party’s candidate for the slot. However, at the meeting, Nawaz announced that former petroleum minister, Abbasi, will be the premier until Shehbaz is elected to a National Assembly seat and subsequently made the prime minister.
“If you support anyone after me, I ask you to support Shehbaz Sharif,” said Nawaz during the meeting, held at the Punjab House a day after Nawaz’s ouster by the apex court.
“It will take Shehbaz Sharif 50-55 days to take over as prime minister. He will have to contest [national] elections. For the interim period, I am recommending Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for the position of prime minister.”
Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court on Friday.
Sharif was disqualified under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution over his failure to disclose un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from a UAE-based company. It implied he was not ‘honest’ and ‘truthful’, as per the country’s Constitution.
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