Lahore: Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab province chief minister, was on Tuesday elected as interim president of the PML-N while his elder brother and ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif was made the ruling party's 'Quaid' for life time.
The PML-N elected its new head days after the Supreme Court disqualified 68-year-old Nawaz as the chief of his party and struck down all decisions taken by him as the party head.
Shahbaz, 66, has been elected as the party's president for 45 days by its central working committee (CWC) in a meeting held in Sharif's Model Town Lahore residence on Tuesday.
In the meeting, Nawaz proposed the name of Shahbaz for the party's interim president which was unanimously approved by the CWC.
The meeting also approved making Nawaz PML-N "Quaid" (top leader) for life time and also paid tributes to his service for the party, country and democracy.
"PML-N elects Nawaz as its Quaid for life. Raja Zafarul Haq, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's proposal elicited a resounding approval from the CWC," Nawaz's daughter Maryam tweeted.
PML-N's information secretary Senator Mushahidullah Khan told PTI there was no candidate for the slot of interim president of PML-N other than Shahbaz Sharif.
"Nawaz proposed Shahbaz's name for the party's interim president and all more than 100 CWC members approved his name unanimously. Shahbaz will continue as the party's full-time president after the general council elects him in a meeting in Islamabad next month," he said. Under the party's rules, the PML-N's CWC is supposed to elect an acting party head within a week of its chief's removal. Then the party's general council is required to elect a president within 45 days. Nawaz was removed from the post of PML-N president by the apex court on February 22.