Shehbaz Sharif
© AP Photo/ Akira Suemori
The Pakistan Muslim League (N), the country's ruling party has approved Shehbaz Sharif the next Prime Minister after his brother Nawaz Sharif had been dismissed on July 28, Dawn publication reported Saturday citing sources.

At the same time, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was chosen as the interim prime minister for a period of about one and a half month, since Shehbaz Sharif, now the chief minister of Punjab province, should become a member of parliament in order to have the right to head the central government. The Pakistan Muslim League (N) party controls the majority in the parliament, so it is expected that there will be no problems with the formation of the government. Minister for Excise and Taxation Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman is expected to become the new head of the Punjab province.

A preliminary decision on the scheme for the transfer of power was made on Friday at a meeting of the PML (N) leadership, where the party's leader, Nawaz Sharif, said that he would prefer to see his younger brother the successor. On Saturday, additional consultations were held among the party leaders, and the PML (N) parliamentary group is currently holding a meeting, which will finally fix the decision, and it will be officially announced afterwards.