ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has decided to bring in an acting president of the party for an interim period, and most likely, senior Vice-President of the party Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir would be given the responsibility once again.

The formal announcement in this connection would be made at the Central Working Committee (CWC) huddle of the party scheduled for February 27 in Lahore where party Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq would make the announcement, Adviser to Prime Minister Irfan Siddiqui told the media here on Saturday.

Sources in the party said that the decision for the election of the new party president would be made by the general body of the party after Senate elections, and by the time, party leaders would come up with a consensus candidate for the top slot.

The sources said that reports of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif emerging as a consensus candidate for the slot proved wrong and at the meeting at Punjab House Islamabad a few days back, where the issue came up for discussion, a sizeable people came up with the suggestion to make Kulsoom Nawaz as the new party chief.

The CWC of the party would be chaired by party Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq while Acting Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal would present proposals for appointing the acting president of the party.

Soon after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, he had also stepped down as party president and the party’s CWC had appointed Sardar Nasir as the party’s acting president.

Under the Political Parties Act, if a party president’s seat falls vacant, it is required to be filled within 45 days but the time period for holding the office by the acting president could be extended, as it was done until the bar on holding the party office (by Sharif) was removed through legislation in the Parliament in the shape of Political Parties Act 2017. 

Sources in the party said that the deferment to fill the top slot indicated that things were not as that flat as it seemed and there was no consensus on the candidature of Shahbaz Sharif for the position even within the Sharif family, though a few days back the former premier himself announced that in case of any adverse decision from the apex court, the junior Sharif would hold the reins of the party.

The sources further said that those opposing Shahbaz Sharif to step in the shoes of his elder brother argue that — keeping in view the conciliatory position taken by the junior Sharif against the superior judiciary and the establishment — his appointment as the party chief would have adverse effects on the party’s narrative of taking the top judiciary head-on and its trumpet about victimization of the PML-N leadership at the hands of the apex judiciary.

The sources said that these elements, led by Maryam Nawaz, were floating the idea to bring Kulsoom Nawaz as the party chief while Nawaz Sharif would himself control the party affairs from behind the scenes, which would not be possible in case Shahbaz is made the party head because of his strong political background and position in the party.

The sources said that the recent NAB sweep against top bureaucrats in Punjab was also seen as an attempt to implicate Shahbaz Sharif in corruption cases, and if this apprehension of the party leaders proves true in the near future, then the PML-N would plunge into another leadership crisis, which the party could not afford ahead of the next general election.

The sources said that as Kulsoom Nawaz was undergoing her final checkups and would likely return to Pakistan in the next couple of weeks, her chances of becoming the party president could not be ruled out, especially she was not facing any sort of charges or cases against her.

These sources said that ‘dissenting voices’ against Shahbaz Sharif’s candidature for the top slot were becoming louder but still he is a very strong contender for the position and has the ‘proven abilities’ to turn the table on his opponents in the party.