Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will take over from ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in an interim capacity. The 58-year-old Abbasi's name was arrived upon during a meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

The meeting was chaired by Sharif, who had to step down from the post of prime minister after the Pakistan Supreme Court disqualified him from office after finding that he lied about his assets.

Speaking after the meeting, Nawaz Sharif that his brother Shahbaz Sharif will eventually succeed him in office. However, Shahbaz cannot become prime minister right away as he is not a member of Pakistan's parliament. And so, Abbasi, until recently the petroleum minister in Nawaz Sharif's cabinet, will hold fort, serving as prime minister for 45 days after which Shahbaz is expected to take over.

According to Pakistani media, Shahbaz is expected to contest for parliament from Nawaz Sharif's now-vacant seat, which is a PML-N stronghold. Once in parliament, Shahbaz can easily become PM thanks to the PML-N's strong majority which will allow the party to elect him into office on its own.

Shahbaz is currently the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province and will have to quit that post to take over as prime minister.

In his first public comments since Friday's Supreme Court ruling, Nawaz Sharif said his "conscience is clear". He also stressed that the court did not prove any corruption or siphoning off public money after months of investigation stemming from the revelation in last year's Panama Papers leaks that his children were linked to offshore companies.

Sharif's dismissal has sparked uncertainty at a time when Pakistan was enjoying a rare period of relative stability, with militant attacks slowly declining and economic growth hitting its highest pace in a decade.

DISQUALIFIED FOR BEING DISHONEST

On Friday, the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding the office of the prime minister after finding him not to be "sadiq" and "ameen" (honest and righteous).

The verdict came in a case connected to the Panama Papers leak. The massive leak of documents had prompted a probe into the former prime minister's family's wealth over allegations that they had links to offshore companies nad owned property in excess of their incomes.

Sharif, who himself wasn't named in the Panama Papers expose, has denied any wrongdoing on his or his family's part. He was disqualified following a special court-mandated probe in the Panama Papers revelations and after the Supreme Court held that he had failed to disclose income from a Dubai-based company.

The five-member Joint Investigation Team that was probing the Sharif's wealth said in its report that it could not account for the family's vast wealth.

Apart from disqualifying Sharif, the Supreme Court ordered the Pakistani National Accountability Bureau to file cases against Sharif and his children within six weeks.

(With inputs from agencies)

ALSO READ:

Story of Nawaz Sharif's ouster: From Panama Papers to Supreme Court, a timeline

No Pakistani PM has completed full term, Nawaz Sharif too failed to break jinx

ALSO WATCH VIDEO: Nawaz Sharif's brother Shehbaz Sharif to be new Pakistan prime minister