Maryam meets Shehbaz to discuss party issues

Two leaders discuss organisational and other issues related to the party

LAHORE:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday to discuss ongoing issues within the PML-N after Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s resignation.

According to PML-N sources, PM Shehbaz and Maryam decided to placate disgruntled party leaders in an effort to address their reservations.

In the meeting, Abbasi's resignation, by-elections, and possible elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were discussed.

The two leaders also discussed organisational and other issues of the party, including consultations on organising the ongoing worker conventions across the country led by Maryam.

The premier stated that he would partake in the elections with full preparation and would soon issue a message for PML-N workers regarding the upcoming polls.

Earlier, former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirmed that he has resigned as party senior vice president because of Maryam Nawaz.

Read PML-N – a house divided

Party supremo Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam was promoted to the position of party's senior vice president in January - a position she would have shared together with Abbasi upon her return to Pakistan after three months' absence.

However, the senior politician tendered his resignation from the post, although he remains a member of the party.

Speaking to journalists, Abbasi said that he has resigned as senior VP of the party because "Maryam has become a senior leader," adding that "she needs space".

"If I would have been there then differences could have emerged," he explained.

As the party's chief organiser, Maryam has been tasked with the "restructuring" and "reorganisation" of the party at "all levels", but with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) having given a deadline to the PML-N to conduct intra-party elections till March 14, tensions are brewing within the party.