Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Islamabad from London on Thursday morning.
He will face corruption charges in the Accountability Court.
In July this year Pakistan’s Supreme Court removed Sharif from office after he failed to declare income from his son’s Dubai-based company.
Since his removal from office, Sharif has been trying to maintain his grip on his party. Last month, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) re-elected him as chairman after a constitutional amendment was passed by Parliament where the PML-N enjoys a two-third majority. The vote confirmed his position despite his removal.
Nawaz Sharif had traveled to London where his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, underwent surgery for throat cancer.
Soon after returning from London, Nawaz Sharif moved into the Government Guest House in Islamabad where he held meetings with senior members of his party and discussed the political situation, party affairs, and the charges against him.
According to the PML-N leadership, Nawaz Sharif will face the charges and that he is determined.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told reporters in Islamabad, “Nawaz Sharif is back in Pakistan, not only to face the court cases but to continue the politics.”
Last month an anti-corruption court indicted Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and her husband, Safdar Awan, but all three pleaded not guilty.
Maryam Nawaz was recently perceived as her father’s political heir after she played a proactive role and ran her ailing mother’s election campaign while other members of her family were mostly absent from the scene. This led to speculations of rifts within the Sharif family, which she rejected in her recent statements as “exaggerated.”
Political analyst Khadim Hussian told Arab News, “To unite the party is still a major challenge for Nawaz Sharif.”
Amid court cases, the political future of Nawaz Sharif, who leads one of Pakistan’s most powerful families and the ruling PML-N party, has been hanging in the balance.
There is a possibility that he will be jailed. Nawaz Sharif and his family members allege that the cases are all politically motivated.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon