Pakistan: Former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi resigns as PML-N senior vice president

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 1 (ANI): Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday resigned from the post of senior vice president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), reported ARY News citing sources.

Abbasi who is among the top leaders of PML-N and was entrusted with the office of prime minister after Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the court in the Panama Papers scandal. He sent his resignation today as the senior vice president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to the party’s president. When approached, Abbasi denied giving any statement to the media regarding his resignation, reported Geo News.

Sources privy to the matter said that Abbasi decided to step down after Maryam Nawaz was elevated as the party’s chief organizer and senior vice president by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also PML-N president, reported ARY News.
The appointment makes Maryam the third most powerful figure in the party after her father, Nawaz Sharif, and her uncle Shehbaz Sharif, who is the sitting prime minister.

Another party leader, who spoke to The News International on the condition of anonymity, bemoaned the decision saying: “Only the Sharif family or those close to them have the first right to hold every key party or government position”.
“Shahid Khaqan had also serious differences with the party’s policies since a long time,” sources said.

Notably, Abbasi had opted not to accept a ministry or other office in the Shehbaz Sharif cabinet after Imran Khan’s government was de-seated with a vote of no confidence by the PDM, reported ARY News. According to sources, he was also disappointed over the PML-N’s behaviour with former finance minister Miftah Ismail.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who also holds the PML-N President’s office, has received Abbasi’s resignation from the party’s office but has not yet accepted it, according to PML-N sources, reported ARY News.