Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has undergone a successful surgery of her throat cancer at a London hospital, a media report said on Friday.

She underwent the surgery for early-stage lymphoma in London on Thursday and is expected to stay at the hospital for at least a day before doctors discharge her, Geo News reported.

“We are grateful to Allah Almighty for successful surgery of Kalsoom bhabi ... May she get well soon!” Sharif’s brother and Punjab province’s Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted.

The former first lady, in her mid-60s, is being tipped as the next prime minister of Pakistan, replacing Shahid Khakan Abbasi.

She is contesting the by-poll scheduled for September 17 for a National Assembly seat from Lahore which fell vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case on July 28.

Mr. Sharif reportedly pitched his wife to stage his come back in the prime minister’s house as ‘first gentleman’

Ms. Kulsoom has missed campaiging for the by-election due to the surgery. But her daughter, Maryam Nawaz, chose to stay in Pakistan to run Kulsoom’s election campaign while her siblings — Hasan, Hussain and Asma — are in London.

During the surgery, Ms. Maryam had tweeted: “Ami [mother] in surgery at the moment. Request you all to pray for her. Thank you.”

Mr. Sharif remains by the side of his wife in London and arrived in London on Wednesday. In his brief comments, Mr. Sharif thanked overseas Pakistanis for their support and promised he will soon address them.