PTI to challenge Maryam's appointment as PML-N vice president

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday said that it will challenge the decision of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) to appoint Maryam Nawaz as one of the 16 vice presidents of the party.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that PTI was preparing to challenge PML-N's decision to grant a party post to a convicted person, Express Tribune reported.

He said that the ruling party was exploring various options and will decide the best way to take the matter forward.

"We have the option to take this up in the Parliament, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), or the country's courts," Qureshi said.

"She (Maryam) has been convicted by the country's courts and is not eligible to hold a party position. She has been granted temporary relief by the court. Her conviction has not been reversed," he added.

Maryam, along with her husband Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar and her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was sentenced by an accountability court on corruption charges in Avenfield reference case in June last year.

While Maryam was sentenced to seven years, her father was awarded a 10-year jail term. Safdar was given a one-year prison sentence.

In September last year, the Islamabad High Court suspended the sentence of the trio.

According to sources, Qureshi has started consulting with party leaders and lawyers on the matter. He is also said to have been thinking of approaching ECP on Maryam's appointment.

On May 3, the PML-N underwent a major reshuffle initiated by president Shehbaz Sharif. His son, Hamza Shehbaz, along with Maryam, was named as one of the 16 vice presidents of the party.

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was named as PML-N's senior vice president and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal was appointed as the party's general secretary.

While Marriyum Aurangzeb was retained as the party's spokesperson, former finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is facing corruption charges and is living in London, has been named as the president of the party's International Affairs Committee.