Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif will return Pakistan on October 21 to end his four-year exile in the United Kingdom.
This was confirmed by his brother and party president, Shehbaz Sharif.
Shehbaz Sharif, during a press conference in London alongside Nawaz, stated that the decision to return was made in consultation with the party leadership.
“The whole nation is eagerly anticipating Nawaz Sharif’s return. We believe that the country and its economy will regain the progress it saw before Nawaz Sharif’s departure in 2017 when he was disqualified and removed from power,” Shehbaz Sharif declared.
Responding to concerns raised by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) regarding elections, Shehbaz emphasized that it was the constitutional duty of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold timely elections.
He expressed confidence that the ECP would fulfill its responsibility, aligning the elections with the new census.
In July, Shehbaz Sharif had announced that if the PML-N were to come to power in the upcoming elections, Nawaz Sharif would be the party’s candidate for the prime ministerial position.
The PML-N currently faces public discontent due to its past decisions, notably those that led to widespread protests against inflated power bills. Additionally, internal pressures are mounting within the party, with increasing calls for the return of their leader.
Nawaz Sharif left Pakistan in November 2019 on medical grounds following his conviction in a corruption case, but he never returned. His departure occurred approximately 20 days after the Islamabad High Court granted him temporary relief on medical grounds in the Al Azizia case.
In February 2020, the government declared him an absconder, and later that year, an accountability court declared him a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicles reference.
In June 2023, the National Assembly and Senate passed the Elections (Amendment) Act 2023, granting the Election Commission of Pakistan the authority to unilaterally set election dates and limiting lawmakers’ disqualification period to five years with retrospective effect. This legislation was seen as a move to facilitate Nawaz’s return.
Additionally, in June, an accountability court acquitted Nawaz Sharif in a reference related to the alleged illegal allotment of plots in 1986 to the owner of a media house.
