 On 27 February 2018, Sharif was appointed as the interim President of the PML-N. On 13 March, he was elected as the President of the PML-N unopposed.On 7 June 2018, Sharif was succeeded by Hasan Askari Rizvi as caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab.He was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-132 (Lahore-X) in 2018 Pakistani general election.