Sharif is in London with his ailing wife Kulsoom, who is suffering from throat cancer and has undergone three surgeries so far.
Abbasi will run the government until Sharif's brother Shehbaz is elected as member of parliament
At least 22 people, including five women and two children, were killed and over 60 others injured on Tuesday when a powerful car bomb went off outside the home of a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader in Punjab province, the latest in a wave of terror attacks in Pakistan that have claimed more than 500 lives since October.
Demanding that Pervez Musharraf be tried for treason, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said the government should play its role in the light of the Supreme Court's verdict on the former President's actions to end the military's interference in Pakistan's political set-up.
Pakistan's opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif gave a slip to the police and went into hiding on Sunday, before he could be served orders for his house arrest, a party spokesman said.
Sharif told a television news channel in an interview on Thursday that Zardari, whom he has blamed for influencing the apex court's verdict, would not be able to complete his term. He did not give details.
The Pakistan government on Thursday said former premier Nawaz Sharif along with his brother Shahbaz would be provided with VVIP-level security in view of "serious threats" to their lives, shortly after the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief accused the "high-ranking" officials of plotting to kill him.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday backtracked on his remarks describing militants in Jammu and Kashmir as "terrorists", saying there is no change in Pakistan's Kashmir policy, a day after his comments triggered an outcry in this country.
Shahbaz was allegedly involved in the corruption of Rs14 billion Ashiana Housing project and Rs 4 billion Punjab Saaf Pani Company scams.
Should India engage Pakistan's generals directly, bypassing Imran? Ambassador G Parthasarathy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan, ponders Delhi's diplomatic dilemma.
With the Pakistan People's Party's efforts to strike a deal with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz not bearing fruit, candidates of the three main parties, including Asif Ali Zardari, on Saturday remained in the fray for the September 6 presidential poll in Pakistan.PPP chief Zardari, PML-N nominee Saeed-uz Zaman Siddiqui and Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid's Mushahid Hussain Sayed will be the three candidates contesting the elections.
The crisis encircling Pakistan's fragile ruling coalition reached a boiling point on Sunday with the Pakistan People's Party refusing to comply with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's demand on reinstating sacked judges within a deadline and the ally also not enthusiastic about supporting Asif Ali Zardari for presidency.
Zubaida Jalal, a former minister in Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's cabinet, was defeated in Monday's parliamentary polls, television channels reported.
Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to narrow its differences with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party over the operation launched against militants in the country's northwest.
Pakistan Peoples Party chief Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday failed to break the deadlock over modalities for impeaching Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and reinstating deposed judges.
Sharif, who forced the PPP to reinstate judges sacked during the 2007 emergency by leading a massive protest on the issue earlier this week, said the government should also look into a Supreme Court judgment that barred him and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from electoral politics.
The bomber blew himself up at the residence of PML-N leader Rasheed Akbar Nawani, a prominent politician of Bhakkar district and a member of the National Assembly, almost destroying his home and shaking the entire area sending his panicked neighbours and shopkeepers scurrying for safety.
Remaining in the denial mode, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday termed as "India's long-time habit" the assertion that his country was behind the Uri attack.
Unfazed by the demands from the estranged ally PML-N and the influential lawyers movement, Pakistan's ruling PPP has decided against re-instating deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry to his previous post and said he will have to work under the incumbent if re-appointed.
A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.
At least 13 people were killed in violent protests in various parts of the country that erupted after Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi on Friday evening.
Despite the blasts, Pranab Mukherjee's Pakistan visit is crucial.
The US has refused to be drawn into the latest uncertainty in Pakistan following Nawaz Sharif's decision to pull out PML-N ministers from the government and said political parties in the country will have to address the issues pertaining to coalition politics.
The stage is set for talks between Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League - N chief Nawaz Sharif on a draft parliamentary resolution for reinstating judges, sacked last year by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, with the arrival of the Pakistan People's Party co-chairman in London on Thursday. Besides the question of judges' restoration, the two leaders will also review national and political developments.
Pakistan premier Yousuf Raza Gillani on Wednesday said that the fate of President Pervez Musharraf would be decided according to the Constitution while the judges deposed by him will be reinstated in the true spirit of an agreement reached between the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in this regard.Gillani, who belongs to the PPP, called on Sharif and his brother Shahbaz at their Raiwind estate in Lahore after addressing a business meet.
The Pakistan People's Party is set to announce its candidate for prime minister later on Saturday even as the opposition withdrew their nominee for the post following a request from PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. Opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Friday decided to withdraw party leader Farooq Sattar as its joint candidate with ally PML-Q for sthe post of prime minister, paving the way for the PPP nominee to be elected unopposed.
With pressure piling up on Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler has decided in principle to quit and will announce his decision in this regard on the country's Independence Day on August 14, a media report has said.
Three new victors -- the Pakistan People's Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Awami National Party have shown their majority many days ago, but President Pervez Musharraf is playing delaying games and using secret agencies to break the majority party PPP from the PML faction of Nawaz Sharif.
Some elements in an intelligence agency were using their links in the PPP and the media to establish that Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan is trying to become a candidate for the position of either the prime minister or the president through the PML-N. But their efforts to create a rift between the two opposition parties, which are planning to form a coalition government, failed.
Quoting a senior PML-Q official, the report said, "He's been sulking...He's retreated into a mental bunker, which is not healthy. He thinks everyone is out to get him and only listens to a small circle. It's a dangerous mindset to be in at this point in time. He could decide to hit back."
India on Tuesday said it was for peace and stability in the region and hoped that democratic institutions and processes had consolidated in Pakistan.
A senior police officer said that the leaders were taken into custody as they may disrupt law and order by organising a reception for the deposed premier.
Pakistan on Friday executed two more prisoners, convicted by anti-terrorism courts.
Shahbaz, the president of PML-N party, dashed to Islamabad on Saturday for a day-long visit, during which he held separate meetings with Brigadier (retired) Niaz Ahmad, a close aide of Musharraf, Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadhi Al Asseri and Wajahat Latif, former chief of the Federal Investigation Agency.
Blaming President Pervez Musharraf for running down the country, former Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif has demanded his resignation and renewed call for the formation of a government of national consensus to ensure free and fair general elections on January 8 as scheduled.
Police said the blast occurred near the venue of an election rally in Mingora, the headquarters of Swat district.
In a sign of growing rancour between Pakistan's ruling coalition partners, Pakistan People's Party chairman Asif Ali Zardari has lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif for not taking steps to release his friend, who is in a Punjab jail for nine years on charges of drug smuggling. The PML-N president has reportedly turned down the request though his party is in power in Punjab.
In a fresh bid to forge opposition unity, Pakistan's two most popular leaders Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto are expected to meet on Monday to consider boycotting the January 8 polls, while electoral authorities were to decide on the validity of the PML-N leader's nomination papers.
Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Sunday filed her nomination for the January 8 general elections while her arch rival and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif, who returned from seven years in exile, will file his papers on Monday.
Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif will not return to the country before the general elections, President Pervez Musharraf has said. The president exuded confidence that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League will return to power, saying the next prime minister will be from the PML. Musharraf was addressing about 170 legislators of the party, including federal ministers, at a dinner at the prime minister's House.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances