PMLN Punjab President Rana Sanaullah announces party’s intent to have Nawaz Sharif retake its presidency
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah on Friday announced that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will retake the ruling party’s driving seat after being cleared of charges in multiple cases from courts and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Speaking with journalists in Lahore after chairing a meeting of the party’s leadership, Sanaullah said Sharif would once more lead the PMLN. “The PMLN will move forward under his leadership,” he said, stressing that the party founder had gotten a “clean chit” from courts.
“We would overcome our shortcomings” under Sharif’s leadership, explained Sanaullah, who have been fairly vocal recently on the party’s internal problems following the Feb. 8 general elections. He stressed that the entire party would support and move forward Sharif’s narrative, whether it was “resistance or reconciliation.”
To a question, Sanaullah said the PMLN had created the post of “quaid” in its constitution to accommodate Sharif after his disqualification from holding public office in 2018, but the operational post in the party remained that of the president.
During today’s meeting, he explained, the gathered leadership had voiced proposals on how to steer the party through the prevalent political situation. “Nawaz Sharif has been requested to retake the party’s leadership,” he reiterated, maintaining that even out of office, the former prime minister was working hard to steer the country out of economic crisis.
Sanaullah also appreciated the PMLN-led Punjab government’s performance, praising C.M. Maryam Nawaz for trying her best to provide relief to the masses. He said the meeting’s participants had all expressed satisfaction at the performances of both P.M. Shehbaz Sharif and the Punjab C.M.
Nawaz Sharif stepped down as Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2017 after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office “for life” over the non-declaration of a receivable salary. A year later, in 2018, the apex court also disqualified Sharif from holding the post of PMLN president, with his younger brother Shehbaz replacing him.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court withdrew the lifetime bans on all politicians with criminal convictions, paving the way for Nawaz to return to Parliament and active politics.