Lahore: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has nominated Mian Nawaz Sharif for the post of the next prime minister of the country; meanwhile Nawaz Sharif has said that the nation has posed great confidence on him and he will work hard to fulfill the aspirations of the masses.
According to the sources the consultative meeting of the party was held at Raiwind. During the meeting the party leaders nominated Mian Nawaz Sharif for the post of the prime minister of the country. After his landslide victory, Mian Nawaz Sharif will have no problem in getting a confidence vote of 200 new MNAs as prime minister.S harif who would take oath from President Asif Ali Zardari for his third term as the prime minister would just require the support of the independent members, JUI-F, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), PML-F and parties from Balochistan to form a government in Islamabad.
He would not be enjoying a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly unless the MQM agrees to support him. As far as the size of the federal cabinet is concerned, the PML-N sources said that Nawaz Sharif would announce not more than a 20-member cabinet initially.
After the issuance of the notification of the winning candidates by the election commission the Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso would send advice to President Asif Ali Zardari for the convening of National Assembly session.
In the first session of the Assembly Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza would administer oath to the elected members of the 14th National Assembly; meanwhile after the elections of the speaker and deputy speaker the president would invited the majority party leader to form the government. President will administer oath of newly elected prime minister and 18th amendment would be implemented regarding the formation of the government.
As per the 18th amendment in the constitution, the condition is that the federal cabinet should not exceed 11 percent of the total strength of the parliament (National Assembly and Senate). It means that the size of the cabinet should not be above 50 members. However, the size of the Nawaz Sharif cabinet would be much smaller than allowed in the constitution. It has also been learnt that the cabinet members would draw salaries only as members of the National Assembly and Senate.
The first batch of the cabinet besides others would include Senator Ishaq Dar, Senator Raja Zafarul Haq, Senator Parvez Rashid, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ahsan Iqbal and Shahid Khaqaan Abbasi.
According to unofficial results, as many as 125 PML-N candidates have succeeded or are leading on National Assembly seats through direct election.Independent candidates have succeeded or are leading on 31 constituencies and it is expected that majority of them would join the PML-N following issuance of notification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
