PML-N to hold party meeting on May 28

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Tuesday announced that it has rescheduled its general council meeting to May 28 to commemorate the anniversary of Pakistan becoming a nuclear state also known as "Youm-e-Takbeer".

According to Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the decision to defer the party meeting to mark the 26th anniversary of the 1998 nuclear tests, previously slated on May 11, has been made after consultation with party leaders.

The general council meeting is likely to result in major changes in the party leadership with supremo Nawaz Sharif and senior leader Khawaja Saad Rafique are likely to be given key posts.

Last week, Geo News citing sources, reported that former railway minister Rafique is likely to be made PML-N's secretary general in place of Ahsan Iqbal who currently holds the said post.

Iqbal, who is currently leading the Ministry of Planning and Development, had requested the party leadership to relieve him of his secretary general duties when the party was in power under the banner of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) from April 2022 to August 2023, the sources added.

"I told the party leadership years ago that I want to leave the post," the minister said while speaking it to Geo News.

Furthermore, it is also likely that Nawaz Sharif will also retake the PML-N's reins as party president.

Nawaz's reinstatement as party president was announced by PML-N Punjab chapter President Rana Sanaullah.

"Nawaz will lead the party again. The PML-N will move forward under his leadership," Sanaullah said, speaking with journalists in Lahore.

Before that PML-N's Senator Irfan Siddiqui, while speaking on Geo News' programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, had revealed that there was a section within the party that believed that needed a full-time president and therefore, he added, there lies a possibility that Nawaz would once again secure the party's top post.

Highlighting that Shehbaz does not have enough time to run the party as he is occupied with fulfilling his responsibilities as PM for the country's economic recovery, Siddiqui said that the decision with regards to the party's presidency would be made in a few months.