Nawaz Sharif elected unopposed as PML-N president
The Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 was approved on Monday.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Former prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has on Tuesday been elected unopposed as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president in the intra-party elections.
The poll was held at Convention Center in Islamabad, and Nawaz Sharif is appointed to lead the party for next four years. A ruckus was also created by PML-N workers which broke the glasses of building’s gate.
After the election, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disposed of the PML-N president case and restored the party’s electoral symbol of lion.
The case was heard by a four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan. PML-N counsel Faisal Irfan appeared before the commission and informed about the intra-party election that was held today.
It is worth mentioning here that ECP had directed PML-N to conduct poll to elect its new president when Nawaz Sharif left the post after being disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in high-profile Panama case.
Earlier on Monday, government adopted Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 after its approval in the Senate, National Assembly and by the state executive, paving way for disqualified public office holders to lead political fronts.
A session of the National Assembly approved the bill yesterday before it was signed by President Mamnoon Hussain in the night to make it a law. The law was enacted by the night of October 2nd.
Furthermore, interim president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chaired the central executive council (CEC) meeting of the party in Islamabad on Monday during which the CEC gave approval to amend the party constitution.
The meeting was attended by CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Prime Minister Azad Kashmir, Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan, federal ministers including Ahsan Iqbal, Saad Rafiq and others.
The amendment in the PML-N’s constitution was moved by interim general secretary Ahsan Iqbal which paved the way for sacked premier Nawaz Sharif to become party’s president again.
Before the amendment, any person who was not eligible to become a member of the National Assembly could not have become the party head or hold a party post. But after the amendment in clause 3 of article 120 of the PML-N constitution, an ineligible person can hold a party position.
