Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s wife will run from his vacated constituency, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) said on Friday.
Kulsoom Nawaz submitted her nomination papers to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday. The Parliament seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified Mr Nawaz in the Panama case in July.
Although Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was the first choice for NA-120 as PML-N candidate and was also being considered for the premiership, the nomination was withdrawn by Mr Nawaz and Mr Shahbaz was told to continue as the CM in his province.
Mrs Kulsoom is, however, not expected to replace Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the Prime Minister who was elected this month after Mr Nawaz’s ouster.
Meanwhile, Mr Nawaz on Friday termed his disqualification from premiership as a “joke” and asked people to stand by him to make sure that their vote is respected.
Addressing a huge gathering in Gujarat on the third day of his journey from Islamabad to Lahore via the Grand Trunk (GT) Road to display his political might, Mr Nawaz said even the judges who disqualified him failed to point out a single example of corruption against him.
“I cannot accept this joke. Can you accept this joke that you elect someone, then he is disgraced and ousted,” he said.
“May I ask why I was ousted? Did I commit any kind of corruption? I am innocent and did not commit any financial wrong. That has been said by the judges who disqualified me. Then why I have been ousted,” the 67-year-old veteran politician asked.
