Remove Sharif as party chief : ECP to PML-N

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued a notice to the PML-N calling for removing Nawaz Sharif as party leader and appointing a new one.

The ECP in the notice stated that under the Political Parties Order 2002, a disqualified lawmaker cannot hold any office in a political party, the Dawn reported.

The notification also referred to the Supreme Court order on the Panama Papers case, in which Nawaz Sharif was formally asked to step down as prime minister.

The ECP also observed that Article 15 of the PML-N's own party constitution says that if the seat of party president is vacant, it is to be filled within one week's time

The ECP asked the PML-N to elect a new party leader and then inform the body.

The notice assumes much significance as it comes a day before Nawaz Sharif is set to hod a two-days road show from Islamabad to his hometown of Lahore to garner much-needed political mileage in the face of the challenges its government is facing.

His rival, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has urged the PML-N to distance itself from the ousted premier, warning that it would "ruin itself" if it did not do so.

Khan described Sharif's plan to travel to Lahore with a cavalcade on GT Road a "deliberate attempt to undermine the Supreme Court" by calling into question its verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court on 28 July for not disclosing the salary he did not receive from his son's company.