Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will announce the name of its new party president on Tuesday, saying “Shahbaz Sharif is the most competent and appropriate person for the slot”, Radio Pakistan reported.

Talking to the media persons in Islamabad, she said the Central Executive Committee and Central Working Committee of PML-N will meet on Tuesday to deliberate on electing the next party president following the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif.

Last week, the Supreme Court had ruled that an individual disqualified under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot serve as head of a political party.

The apex court's verdict was in response to 17 petitions challenging the controversial Elections Act 2017, which had been bulldozed through parliament last year to pave the way for Nawaz Sharif's return to the PML-N's helm as party president.

Read more: The technicality that led to Nawaz Sharif's disqualification

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that targeting a single party was undermining the parliamentary process. She said the PML-N stands united and not a single member has parted ways with it.

The federal information minister said, “Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is the most competent and appropriate person for the slot [of party president] given his political acumen and performance in Punjab province.”

Responding to a question, the minister said PML-N will secure a majority in the upcoming Senate elections. She further said that PTI Chairman Imran Khan had resorted to levelling baseless allegations against Punjab’s bureaucracy.

Regretting arrest of Ahad Cheema, she said the Punjab government had the record of every penny spent on the public welfare.

Last week, the PML-N's top brass had decided to get MNA Kulsoom Nawaz elected as the next party chief, a source privy to the development had told DawnNews.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif at Punjab House for consultations on the new leader of the party a day after he was removed as PML-N head following a Supreme Court judgement that also nullified all official party decisions taken by Sharif since his disqualification in July last year.

Nawaz Sharif had earlier been deemed unfit to hold public office in the landmark Panama Papers judgement, in which a five-member bench of the Supreme Court had unanimously ruled that the former prime minister had not been 'honest' and 'truthful' in discharging his obligations as a lawmaker — both necessary conditions to hold public office in Pakistan under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.