Interim Pakistan PM may stay put amid doubts over Sharif's brother

Interim Pakistani leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi took control of prime ministerial duties on Thursday after a guard of honour amid growing uncertainty that the brother of ousted leader Nawaz Sharif will eventually take over the job as planned. Sharif, disqualified by the Supreme Court last week, named Abbasi as temporary prime minister and outlined plans for brother Shahbaz Sharif to take over once he contests and wins a parliamentary by-election in less than two months. But doubts seem to have surfaced about those plans since Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party used its hefty majority in the National Assembly to elect Abbasi as prime minister on Tuesday. Three senior PML-N officials said that Shahbaz's eventual installation as prime minister was no longer a foregone conclusion, while two of Shahbaz's Lahore-based aides added that the chances of him taking over were receding. "Nawaz Sharif is in two minds about Shahbaz's premiership," said one of Shahbaz's aides in Lahore. Asif Khawaja, former defence minister and staunch Nawaz ally, told Geo TV late on Wednesday that the plan to make Shahbaz premier was "almost confirmed", but added Nawaz as the leader of the party "has the prerogative to revise (or) amend his decision - or stick to it". Opposition politicians have slammed Nawaz's plans as dynastic, with opposition party leader Imran Khan decrying Pakistani politics as a "form of monarchy". Still, analysts say the relatively smooth transition to Abbasi after Nawaz was disqualified has eased fears that nuclear-armed Pakistan could be plunged into a prolonged bout of political turmoil.2018 pollPML-N officials say the main reason why Shahbaz may not take over is linked to the 2018 general elections, and the party's fears that its grip on the vital Punjab province will weaken if he steps down as chief minister. The way Pakistan's political system is set up means any party that sweeps Punjab, which houses more than half of Pakistan's 190 million people, will most likely go on to form a government after the general elections in mid-2018.