ISLAMABAD: Deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday named ex-minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as his successor after the Supreme Court disqualified the premier for concealing assets.

Senior leader from Pakistan's ruling party PML-N Raja Zafarul Haq said Abbasi's name for next prime minister was approved by lawmakers from the ruling party at Saturday's meeting, also attended by Sharif.

Because Sharif's party has a comfortable majority in Parliament, Abbasi is expected to easily win the necessary Parliamentary vote when it convenes next week.

Abbasi, 58, is a staunch Sharif loyalist and had been the petroleum minister in his cabinet until Friday.

It was also decided that Sharif's younger brother, Shahbaz, who currently is chief minister of the powerful Punjab province, will contest election to the National Assembly, in the seat which falls vacant with Sharif's disqualification by the Supreme Court.

Shahbaz Sharif, 65, the chief minister of the vast Punjab province that accounts for more than half of Pakistan's 190 million people, will also need to resign from his regional post.

Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of the deposed prime minister Saturday have rallied in the capital against his disqualification.

The demonstrators marched on a key road in Islamabad and chanted slogans in favor of Sharif before peacefully dispersing.

Sharif's supporters have held similar small rallies in Lahore from where he won the 2013 parliamentary elections.

The rally also came after opposition leader Imran Khan asked his supporters to reach Islamabad on Sunday to celebrate Sharif's removal. Khan had led dozens of protest rallies in recent years to pressure Sharif to resign on allegation of corruption.