Nawaz Sharif nominated for Pakistan's PM slot

Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party on Sunday nominated Nawaz Sharif for the office of Prime Minister, two weeks after the party won majority parliamentary seats in the general elections, the party said. The PML-N has secured the simple majority in the election and it has no problem to get Sharif elected as the Prime Minister. According to the PML-N, the party has formally nominated Nawaz Sharif for the office of Prime Minister. However, the final approval of the nomination will be made during a party meeting before the start of the session of National Assembly. Nawaz Sharif has served Pakistan twice and he would be the first Pakistani to lead the country for third time. The PML-N top leadership has unanimously approved the name of Nawaz Sharif for the key position and his nomination will now have to be approved by a parliamentary committee. PML-N has already bagged 126 general seats out of 268 elected seats, and with the joining of these independents, the strength of PML-N has reached 144 in the 342-member National Assembly, or Lower House of the parliament. Its strength will swell further after the inclusion of women and minorities reserved seats under proportionate system. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former cricket captain Imran Khan, has announced to field a senior leader, Javed Hashmi to challenge Sharif. PTI won dozens of seats and was placed third as the outgoing ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was the second in terms of parliamentary seats after the PML-N. The PPP has not yet decided to field candidate for the slot of the Prime Minister. Some of the PPP leaders had earlier hinted they are likely to support Nawaz Sharif but no final decision has yet been taken. No date has yet been fixed for the first session of the National Assembly which will elect the Prime Minister. The Interim Information Minister, Arif Nizami, said that the assembly session will be summoned by June 2.