Opposition to decide on PM candidate on Monday

ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader Khurshid Shah on Sunday called a session of opposition parties to nominate their prime ministerial candidate.

The session will be held in Shah's chamber at 10am on Monday.

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif will become his brother's successor in Parliament and the party's candidate for prime minister.

"If you support anyone after me, I ask you to support Shehbaz Sharif," said Nawaz during the PML-N parliamentary party meeting held at the Punjab House on Saturday. 

Sharif also announced that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be the interim candidate until Shehbaz is elected to a National Assembly seat. 

Schedule for the election of the new prime minister was issued y the National Assembly Secretariat today (Sunday).

According to the schedule, nomination papers for the slot of prime minister can be obtained by 3pm today. The nomination papers have to be submitted back to the assembly secretariat by 2pm on Monday.

National Assembly Speaker, Ayaz Sadiq, will then scrutinise the papers at 3pm the same day, following which the assembly will meet to elect the leader of the House on Tuesday, August 1.

On Saturday, President Mamnoon Hussain called the National Assembly session on August 1 to select a new prime minister, following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Panama Papers case for Nawaz Sharif to step down from the post.

Sharif was disqualified under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution over his failure to disclose un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from a UAE-based company. It implied he was not ‘honest’ and ‘truthful’, as per the country’s Constitution.