Shehbaz Sharif said his elder brother Nawaz Sharif would be the prime minister if the party gets a majority in the Pakistan parliamentary polls.

Pakistan Elections 2024: Former Pakistan premier Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday asserted that his elder  brother Nawaz Sharif would become next prime minister of the country if his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), gets a majority in the upcoming general elections.

Talking to Geo News, the PML-N chief said that his elder brother Nawaz would be the prime minister if the party gets a majority in the parliamentary polls, however, in the event of a split mandate, that decision would rest on the talks between the PML-N and its coalition partners.

“Nawaz Sharif will be the prime minister if we get a simple majority. But in case of a split mandate, the decision will be made after talks with coalition partners,” Shehbaz told Geo News, according to news agency PTI.

‘Nawaz Sharif is my leader, PM’

Asked if he would prefer to become the prime minister instead of putting the burden of the top job on his brother who may not be able to discharge responsibilities properly due to advanced age and health issues, Shehbaz stressed that Nawaz Sharif “is my leader and my prime minister”.

“My response to this question is the same that I gave to dictators on different occasions: that Nawaz Sharif is my leader and prime minister,” he said.

Shehbaz already revealed in different interviews that the powerful establishment on different occasions offered him to become the prime minister instead of his brother but he always rejected the offer.

The apparent reason for the offer could be that Shehbaz always maintained good ties with the establishment.

Shehbaz served as head of the coalition government of more than dozen parties installed after Imran Khan was voted out in April 2022. He kept the coalition intact and ruled with ease for 16 months until the term of the parliament was over in August.

PML-N to emerge as single largest party: Report

Meanwhile, a media report on Wednesday predicted that the PML-N is tipped to emerge as the single largest party, while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will be a distant second in the national polls. Jailed former PM Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is likely to take the third spot followed by other parties, an pre-poll assessment accessed by The News noted.

As per The News, the official assessment report was compiled on the basis of information collected from police sources, revenue department, labour unions and interviews with professionals in different fields.

The assessment has been carried out at the police station and union council levels, the lowest administrative units in Pakistan.

The report predicts that the PML-N will likely win between 115 to 132 National Assembly seats. Adding together, the reserved seats of women and minorities would mean the party stands a chance to form its government single-handedly with a simple majority if the official assessment turns out right.

As for the provincial assembly seats, the assessment puts them around 190, out of 297 meaning thereby absolute majority in the Punjab Assembly.

According to an official, the party may sweep in the Punjab except in a few districts and likely form the government by a two-thirds majority in the biggest province.

(With PTI inputs)