Islamabad: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will not contest the by-elections scheduled in June, his party spokesman Siddiqul Farooq said on Saturday.
Sherif was banned from taking part in the Feb 11 parliamentary elections because of the corruption charges against him during the regime of President Pervez Musharraf.
Earlier, he had hinted he would contest the by-elections. His spokesman on Saturday said Sharif had indicated in a meeting with party leaders on Friday he would not take part in the polls.
Sharif told the party leaders that his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif would contest the by-elections, the spokesman added. Farooq said 50 per cent of the party leaders were not in favour of Sharif's participation in the by-elections.