Soon after Nawaz Sharif nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif for the prime minister slot and his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif for the Punjab chief minister position Tuesday night, PMLN supporters were seen expressing a host of strong emotions ranging from sorrow and shame to outright dejection on social media.

Sharif’s decision to nominate Shehbaz Sharif for the top position was communicated to the nation by party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb in a post on X.

It was not clear immediately what prompted Nawaz Sharif to forgo the possibility of becoming prime minister for the fourth time, but reports indicated that PPP agreed to support the PMLN-led government in the centre only on the condition that Shehbaz Sharif become the prime minister. Others claim Nawaz Sharif was not willing to head a weak ruling coalition, which would be powerless in the face of massive economic challenges.

Many PMLN loyalists were shocked at the development and saw it as an injustice to Nawaz Sharif.

“We are ashamed that we could not do justice to your narrative; We could not repay the injustices and injustices done to you. We are indebted to your country and nation for your love, service and loyalty. The time has come to repay your kindness, but we have wasted it. Perhaps we as a nation have forgotten kindness,” wrote PMLN stalwart Mian Javed Latif on X.

Javed Latif has been an outspoken critic of the establishment when PMLN was in hot waters. He assumed a lower profile after the party made up to the powers that be.

Senator Afnanullah praised Nawaz Sharif for his ‘historic’ decision of refusing the premiership.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif made history that the post of Prime Minister was in his hands and he did not accept it. This has not happened till date in the history of Pakistan,” he said.

Several PMLN supporters said they were disassociating themselves from the party after Nawaz Sharif was not in the race.

PMLN’s official X handles posted at least four posts in less than an hour featuring Nawaz Sharif’s photos and declaring him ‘the only leader’ who served the Pakistani nation.

On the other hand, some TV anchors goaded the party for a reaction over its claims about Nawaz Sharif becoming the prime minister.

Gharida Farooqi, who is often labelled as a PMLN sympathizer by PTI supporters, shared an image of newspaper advertisements published a day before the polling and reading ‘Nawaz Sharif becomes prime minister’.

She asked, “What PMLN plans to do about this…? Was Nawaz Sharif only a poster boy..?”

TV host Kamran Khan claimed PMLN leadership including Maryam Nawaz knew beforehand that Shehbaz Sharif was going to head a coalition government after the election but they created a drama to fool the people into believing that Nawaz Sharif was to become the prime minister.