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Powerplays: Who could be next PM?

July 29, 2017
Clockwise: Shahbaz Sharif, Khwaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. — Courtesy photos
Clockwise: Shahbaz Sharif, Khwaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. — Courtesy photos

Although Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been ousted from the top office by the Supreme Court, as the head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party he will be able to nominate his successor.

Sharif’s chosen candidate will be put to a vote in the National Assembly — a rubber stamp affair as the PML-N holds a strong majority in the house. His daughter Maryam Nawaz is commonly touted as his political heir, but she does not currently hold elected office so cannot be a candidate this time around.

Pakistani politics often see dark horses emerge, but the most likely candidates for the country’s next prime minister are as follows:

Shahbaz Sharif

Speculation within the vocal local media suggests that the party is planning to bring in an interim prime minister for a few weeks before electing Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif to the post.

shahbaz is currently chief minister of powerful Punjab province — the Sharif family stronghold. He would have to step down from that role and be elected to the National Assembly before becoming eligible to become prime minister. That will require a party loyalist to resign from his seat in the national parliament, sparking a hasty vote that Shahbaz would contest on the PML-N ticket.

Khwaja Asif

Defense Minister Khwaja Asif is one of the most trusted allies of the outgoing prime minister and considered the mostly likely to succeed him. He is viewed as a strong critic of the powerful military and commentators say that his hardline stance against the army has created problems for Sharif.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq

The speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is another strong candidate for next prime minister who is said to have the ear of the ruling Sharif family.

Sadiq gained Sharif’s trust after he defeated the PML-N leader’s main rival, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, in a hotly contested race for a Lahore seat in the 2013 general election. Sadiq lost the seat two years later following cahrges of vote rigging, only to be re-elected in a by-election, narrowly beating another close aide of Khan.

Sadiq began his political career as a supporter of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf party, but quit to contest the 2002 elections on a PML-N ticket.

Ahsan Iqbal

A US-educated lawmaker, Ahsan Iqbal hails from a political family that has long been associated with Sharifs. He is considered the development brains of the party and a visionary leader and currently heads the federal planning and development ministry.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a PML-N stalwart, was until recently considered the top candidate to succeed Sharif. But relations between the two have recently cooled, with sources suggesting that Sharif is concerned that the vocal Nisar could be positioning himself to wrest control of the party from the embattled premier. — AFP


July 29, 2017
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