Senator Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan Nasar was appointed interim chairman of the PML-N in a meeting of the party's central working committee in Islamabad on Thursday, credible sources within the party told DawnNews.

According to a source, Senator Nasar's name had been approved a day earlier by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif after the proposal did not meet much resistance from party leaders.

The source further said that the name for PML-N’s permanent party chief will be decided upon on September 7.

Chaudhary Nisar, however, expressed reservations over the fact that Sardar Nasar's name as Nawaz Sharif’s interim successor was leaked to the media even before the central working committee’s meeting, the source said.

“Why was this meeting called if the decision was already finalised in Lahore,” Nisar was quoted as saying.

The central committee also unanimously approved a resolution to name Nawaz Sharif the party’s quaid (leader) while paying tributes to his services to the PML-N, the source said.

On August 8, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had issued a notice to the PML-N for the appointment of a new party leader citing Nawaz Sharif's de-seating and disqualification by the Supreme Court in the Panamagate case.

The ECP in the notice had said that under the Political Parties Order of 2002, a disqualified lawmaker cannot hold any office in a political party.

The notification had also referred to the SC order on the Panamagate case, in which Nawaz Sharif was formally asked to step down as prime minister.

The ECP had additionally observed that Article 15 of the PML-N's own party constitution says that if the seat of party president is vacant, it has to be filled within one week's time

The election body had asked the PML-N to elect a new party leader and then inform the ECP.