Pakistani party formally nominates Nawaz for PM slot

Nawaz Sharif was on Saturday formally nominated as candidate for the position of Pakistan's prime minister by newly-elected members of the parliament, party sources said. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party won majority seats in the May 11 general elections and is in a strong position to form the government. Lawmakers of the PML-N, who met in Islamabad, formally nominated Nawaz Sharif to lead Pakistan for the third time. Sharif's name was recommended by a senior party leader, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, during the meeting and was subsequently approved by the parliamentary party. Nawaz Sharif has served twice as prime minister and was elected member of the National Assembly after 14 years. The National Assembly or Lower House of the parliament will elect the prime minister on June 5th. The PML-N meeting also discussed nominations for the positions of speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly. The party nominated Ayaz Sadiq for the slot of Speaker of the National Assembly and Murtaza Javed Abbasi for the slot of Deputy Speaker. Sadiq was elected from the National Assembly seat in the eastern Lahore city and defeated the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan. Elections for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held on Monday. The PML-N also finalized all the names for the federal cabinet, PML-N spokesman Mushahidullah Khan said. He, however, did not disclose names of the would-be ministers. Talking to the media in Islamabad, he said non-development budget would be slashed by 30 percent from Prime Minister House to the lower level in every ministry that would be a landmark decision. Mushahidullah said that budget estimates would be made keeping in view of the financial position of the country. The newly-elected members earlier on Saturday took the oath that marks beginning of the government's formation.