Shehbaz says Nawaz Sharif to be Pak PM for 4th time

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his brother PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif would become premier for the fourth time after returning home.

The PML-N Central General Council re-elected Shehbaz as party president for another four years in intra-party elections at a meeting here, reports The News.

After his re-election, Shehbaz said he would hand over PML-N presidentship to Nawaz Sharif once he returned home.

Shehbaz said Nawaz Sharif was the builder of modern Pakistan who eliminated energy shortages and laid down a network of roads, built infrastructure and developed agriculture, industry and other vital sectors of the economy during his tenure.

Addressing the meeting, the premier said that he was waiting for his elder brother -- who has been in self-imposed exile in London since November 2019 owing to health reasons-- to return to Pakistan and then hold the party meeting so he could hand over the PML-N's presidentship back to him, Geo News reported.

"The election commission's sword was hanging which is why this meeting was held," the Prime Minister added.

Shehbaz was given the PML-N's presidency after his predecessor Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court and barred from holding any party office.

He also said that the PML-N needed young leadership, and commended Maryam Nawaz for her hard work.

"You will see that the map of politics will change when Nawaz Sharif returns to Pakistan," Shehbaz said.

Coming to his governance, he once again reminded the workers that his government took charge at a time when they did not get roses but thorns, Geo News reported.

"Inflation has broken the back of the people, oil prices were touching the sky. The coalition government decided together that we would face the tough times," he said, adding that in the upcoming budget, the government increased the salaries of employees and pensions.