Nomination papers of PM’s candidates accepted

ISLAMABAD: The nomination papers of Shehbaz Sharif and Omar Ayub for the position of Prime Minister or Leader of the House in the National Assembly, scheduled for Sunday at 11 am, have been accepted.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) submitted nomination papers for Shehbaz and Ayub, respectively.

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SHEHBAZ SHARIF

Given the numbers, Shehbaz, 72, is widely expected to be elected prime minister.

He earned his reputation as an efficient administrator during his three stints as the chief minister of Punjab, the country’s most populous province whose leadership is often considered a stepping stone to federal power.

Shehbaz came out of his elder brother Nawaz’s shadow in 2018 after the three-time PM was convicted of corruption days before the 2018 polls won by Khan’s PTI. Shehbaz took the PMLN’s leadership in parliament and became the leader of the opposition.

OMAR AYUB KHAN

Omar Ayub Khan belongs to a political family and has served as a federal minister under different governments.

Omar’s grandfather Ayub Khan was Pakistan’s first military dictator who ruled the country with an iron first for over a decade from 1958 to 1969. His father Gohar Ayub Khan, who also served in the army, joined the PMLN upon retirement and became the speaker of the National Assembly in 1990.

Omar himself was a member of the PMLN before joining the PTI in 2018.