Brother of the ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to be the new leader of the country.
Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced Saturday that he was picking his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif as the long-term leader of the nuclear-armed country.
But Shahbaz Sharif’s path to be the next prime minister will not happen immediately.
Instead, Shahbaz Sharif will have to win a by-election within the next 50 days to take over as the country’s chief executive. In the interim, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a U. S. educated minister of Sharif’s Cabinet, will cover the post of prime minister.
Abbasi, 58, a veteran lawmaker and close ally of Nawaz Sharif, was serving as minister for petroleum until Friday’s court order. He received his master’s degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University. He had briefly owned an airline and served as chairman of Pakistan’s national airline, PIA.
Abbasi is expected to be sworn in as interim prime minister following a parliamentary vote next week as his party holds a majority in the house.
Nawaz Sharif stepped down Friday after a decision by Pakistan’s highest court to remove him from office over corruption charges.
The verdict came after a lengthy investigation into Nawaz Sharif’s family wealth. The probe began last year after a Panama Papers leak disclosed that three of Nawaz Sharif’s children own expensive flats in London through offshore companies. Nawaz Sharif and his family have denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the London property was purchased with legal money made through legitimate family business.
Nawaz Sharif was serving as prime minister for a third time. He had been a close ally of the United States, particularly in combating terrorism and the Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan.
His younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, 65, is currently working as chief minister of Pakistan’s largest Punjab Province — where more than half of Pakistan’s 190 million people reside. Shahbaz Sharif is known for his development projects and administrative skills.
The next general election will be held in June 2018.
