Pakistan Opposition Chooses Sheikh Rashid as PM Candidate

Imran Khan said his party would not allow the country to fall into the grips of corruption again.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan said on Saturday that his party had chosen Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid to be the oppositions joint candidate for the Prime Ministers slot that fall vacant on Friday.

"The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will further dent its cause by appointing (current Punjab CM) Shehbaz Sharif as the Prime Minister," he added.

"How did Shehbaz Sharif's name come up in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case? We will file a reference against him," Khan said while presiding over a meeting at his Bani Gala residence of the PTI's parliamentary parties to chalk out a strategy following the Prime Minister's resignation.

Doesn’t the PML-N have any better candidate than Shehbaz Sharif?

The PTI chief said this time his party would be prepared. "We have learnt a lot from the rigging in the 2013 elections."

Khan said his party would not allow the country to fall into the grips of corruption again.

He added that the Supreme Court’s verdict disqualifying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his subsequent resignation were a a victory achieved through hard work and patience. 

During the meeting, the political scenario following the Prime Minister's resignation and the efforts of the PML-N that could possibly negate the effects of the top court's verdict were discussed.

In a landmark verdict, the apex court's five-judge larger bench on Friday unanimously disqualified Nawaz Sharif due to his failure to disclose his "un-withdrawn receivables, constituting assets" in his nomination papers filed ahead of the 2013 general elections.

Interestingly, disqualification of the premier was not made on the basis of the corruption charges levelled by the PTI after the emergence of Panama Papers.

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