ISLAMABAD: Senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi acknowledged on Friday that he stepped down from the post of party’s Vice President go give space to Maryam Nawaz.
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Maryam, who returned to Pakistan after a three-month absence, was elevated to the position of senior vice president in January. Maryam has been tasked with “restructuring” and “reorganizing” the party at “all levels,” but because the PML-N has been allowed till March 14 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold intra-party elections, tensions are escalating within the party.
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Speaking to newsmen, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that he had resigned from his position as senior vice president of the party because “Maryam has become a senior leader,” adding that “she needs space.”
“Differences might have developed if I had been there,” he said.
The differences appear to be especially pronounced about Maryam’s advancement, the position of finance minister, and the government’s economic policy.
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“Abbasi is our senior. He is my elder brother and a long-standing aide of [PML-N supremo] Nawaz Sharif. I will move forward under the leadership of party seniors,” Maryam said in a press conference in Bahawalpur after chairing a party meeting.
Maryam, who is also the party’s chief organiser, said that she would call on Abbasi, and both of them would share their thoughts on the party’s matters.
