ISLAMABAD: Who will be the president of the Punjab chapter of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz, Khwaja Saad Rafique or somebody else – after the elevation of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as its central chief?
The Punjab post fell vacant after the promotion of Shahbaz Sharif who has held it for many years. Senior PML-N leaders are tight-lipped about the next president of the Punjab branch, but one of them said privately that Shahbaz Sharif, as the Punjab president, used to do a balancing act between different powerful groups in the party by keeping all of them in good humour. Because of his strategy, everyone was satisfied and did not have too many complaints, he believed.
After the court judgment that divested Nawaz Sharif of the office of the president of the PML-N, the top offices of political parties have assumed extraordinary significance. The PML-N will keep this verdict in mind while selecting its Punjab chief.
For the second time, Nawaz Sharif has become the PML-N Quaid (supreme leader), but he is not the “party head” as defined by the Constitution on which the top court placed its reliance while ousting him as its president. Earlier too, he had assumed this slot when Shahbaz Sharif had been made its president as a law made by Pervez Musharraf had banned the ex-premier to hold this berth.
It is believed that the PML-N leadership has taken the decision about its next Punjab chief, but it has more than a month to fill up this vacancy. The chief of the Punjab chapter will also be elected when Shahbaz Sharif will be chosen as its permanent president.