Amid internal conflict, former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to resume leadership of the PML-N

LAHORE: Seven years after resigning from the position due to his disqualification by the highest court in Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, the country’s three-time prime minister, is scheduled to rejoin the governing PML-N next month to lead the party through internal conflict. A senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz, 74, will be chosen president of the governing party on May 11 at a meeting of the party leadership, PTI was informed.

In 2017, Nawaz was removed from his position as party president and premier by the Supreme Court of Pakistan due to his alleged corruption, including the disclosure of his illicit money hidden overseas in the Panama Papers.
As a result of his disqualification, he resigned from the prime minister’s office and his position within the party.
At a news conference, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah said that a party meeting on Friday decided to re-appoint Nawaz as the party’s president.

Former interior minister Sanaullah said, “A resolution was passed at the party meeting today to make the elder Sharif PML-N president undo the injustice meted out to him (Nawaz) in 2017 by the Supreme Court.”
When Nawaz returns from China, the party will ask him to take the position of party president.
Nawaz is now in China on a five-day private visit.
“A plot was used to oust Nawaz Sharif from his position as party president. Sanaullah said that Nawaz should once again head the party now that he has been cleared of all charges related to corruption. The party would be reorganized, with Nawaz as its leader.
According to The Express Tribune newspaper, Sanaullah’s declaration coincides with internal conflicts within the governing party in Punjab and at the federal level.
The party’s leadership has been openly criticized by a number of notable members, including Sanaullah, Senator Javed Abbasi, former Senator Asif Saeed Kirmani, and Federal Minister Javed Latif, who does not have a portfolio.
Their comments have deviated from the party’s catchphrase of “vote ko izzat do” (respect the vote), ranging from challenging cabinet appointments to voicing dissatisfaction with the alliance with the establishment.
The party’s standing as an advocate of democracy has suffered as a result of these complaints being made public.
After spending four years in self-exile in London, Nawaz returned to Pakistan in October of last year, and it is said that the influential military establishment helped him get off lightly in many high-profile corruption cases.
He was poised to take office as prime minister for a record fourth time, but in the general elections held on February 8, his party was unable to secure a majority in the National Assembly.
Then, Nawaz let Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of the party president and the military establishment’s favorite, take the helm of a six-party coalition administration at the Center.