Ousted Pakistani PM Sharif lines up brother to take over

Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced plans on July 29 for his brother Shahbaz to take over as leader of the country and lashed out at the Supreme Court ruling that barred him from office.
   
Shahbaz must contest a by-election for parliament to become eligible to take the reins, so the outgoing Sharif also nominated staunch ruling party ally Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to serve as interim prime minister for at least 45 days. 
   
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party has a strong majority in parliament so should have no problem getting its choices confirmed when the chamber convenes to elect a new premier. Local television said the session would begin on Tuesday.
   
For now, Pakistan has no leader, creating uncertainty at a time the nuclear-armed country is enjoying a rare period of relative stability, with militant attacks slowly declining and the economy growing at its fastest pace in a decade.
   
An eventual transfer of power from Sharif to his brother would, however, still mark a relatively smooth transition for Pakistan, which has been plagued by political chaos and frequent army interventions since it was founded 70 years ago.
   
But opposition party leader and former cricket star Imran Khan derided Sharif's plan to make his brother prime minister as a flaw in Pakistani politics.
   
"Political parties don't have democracy in them. They are family parties ... Actually, it's like a form of monarchy," Khan told Reuters in an interview.
   
Dynastic politics have a long history in Pakistan, though no prime minister has completed a full term since independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Sharif, whose (PML-N) party won a majority in parliament in 2013, said...

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