Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was elected unopposed as the new Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president on Tuesday at the party’s elections in Lahore.

“Saqib Nisar’s decision to remove me from the party’s presidency has been rubbished today,” Nawaz said in his speech.

He recounted that he had been disqualified because he has not withdrawn a salary from his son.

Nawaz also commended Shehbaz for fulfilling the role he had been entrusted with while he was sidelined. He added that many had tried to divide him and his brother, but Shehbaz had remained firm.

He also praised his daughter, Maryam, for keeping the party active at a difficult time despite being subjected to a prison sentence. He also recounted the names of party leaders who had gone to jail for the party but had not stopped being loyal.

Nawaz said that if he had not been removed from power in his first stint in 1990, there would have been no such thing as unemployment or poverty in the country.

He also recounted how Imran Khan had conspired with the establishment to oust him from power at the time, as a result of the ‘London plan’.

The former PM told his supporters to help him organize the party as a ‘duty to Pakistan’.

The election

“This PML-N general council’s meeting for the election process declares Nawaz Sharif as the elected president of the PML-N. Those in favour of this resolution shall stand and show their approval,” PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said as supporters and leaders stood up from their seats and chanted slogans in favour of Sharif.

He was expected to return to the party’s president role after senior party leaders urged former him to take up the reins of the party.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal expressed hope that Sharif’s election on May 28 would also make the PML-N an “atomic power”.

“Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in 2017 (by the Supreme Court) through a conspiracy. Now it’s time that he assumes the office of the party president and lead the party to new heights of popularity,” said the resolution passed on April 27.

At least 11 nomination papers had been issued for the election of PML-N president slot as per the schedule of the Election Commission of Pakistan, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah told reporters on Monday.

Incumbent PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif stepped down from his position earlier this month.

At the PML-N’s Central Working Committee meeting in Lahore on May 18, Shehbaz said that “no one could better lead” the party than his elder brother. He asked Sharif to praise those PML-N leaders who remained loyal to the party through thick and thin.

He said that the party’s central council meeting would be held at a local hotel while election process for the slot of PML-N president would be completed by 4:00pm as per the party’s constitution and rules.

When asked, Sanaullah said that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi could submit nomination papers but his eligibility would be checked during scrutiny.

He said if there would be more than one candidate for the slot of the party president then the election would be done through a show of hand or voting method.

PML-N supremo Sharif had worked very hard to make the PML-N a popular party among people besides making it a party of a common worker, he claimed.