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September 15 , 2023
Nawaz Sharif to Return Home on October 21 to Lead PML-N Campaign
London/Sukkur: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) announcement of the date of return of its Quaid Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan has raised the political temperature across the country.
In a major development on Tuesday, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the date for his elder brother’s return home ahead of the upcoming elections to lead the party’s political campaign. “Nawaz Sharif will reach Pakistan on October 21,” Shehbaz told Geo News and later he confirmed the same during a media talk outside Hasan Nawaz Sharif’s office.
The statement came following a meeting of the PML-N’s top leadership chaired by Nawaz in London. After the Geo News broke the return date of Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif made the announcement to the media while Nawaz Sharif, Khawaja Asif, Malik Muhammad Ahmed, Chaudhary Tanvir Khan and Barrister Danyal stood next to him.
Shehbaz credited Nawaz with Pakistan becoming a nuclear power, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and ending 20 hours of electricity load-shedding in the country. “Nawaz declined the package offered to him for not making Pakistan a nuclear power, saying that Pakistan’s interests were greater than more than $5 billion,” Shehbaz further said.
Shehbaz Sharif went on to say, “If the momentum of Pakistan’s progress in the industrial and other sectors during the period from 2013 to 2018 hadn’t been interrupted by the flawed elections of 2018, the country would have gone much ahead in development. Now the journey of development will continue from where Nawaz had left it in 2017 when he was removed from power under a false and baseless case. It was not Nawaz who was stripped of power, but the people of Pakistan who were deprived of development and prosperity.”
He said Nawaz was ousted from power through a conspiracy, adding, “The whole of Pakistan will accord a historic welcome to Nawaz Sharif.” He claimed the whole country awaits Nawaz Sharif’s return. “Inshallah, the country and the economy will progress once again under his leadership.”
When asked of the PML-N’s stance if the elections are not conducted on time, Shehbaz said that holding polls is the Election Commission of Pakistan’s constitutional responsibility and he hopes that the electoral watchdog will fulfil its responsibility fairly.
The London meeting was attended by Suleman Shehbaz, Hassan Nawaz, former federal minister Khawaja Asif, Malik Mohammad Ahmed Khan and Nasir Janjua. The party’s strategy on the election, Nawaz’s return and Pakistan Peoples Party’s stance also came under discussion. Both Nawaz Sharif and Khawaja Asif condemned Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and accused him of making decisions under the influence of his mother-in-law, who is a vocal PTI supporter and whose audio leak caused a sensation in Pakistan. When asked about the legacy of CJP Bandial, who retires in four days, Nawaz Sharif said that his legacy will be defined by his “mother-in-law”.
Khawaja Asif said: “Bandial will forever be known as a pro-Imran judge. He destroyed the reputation of the judiciary through his tainted decisions. He joins the league of disreputable figures like Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Saqib Nisar, and Azmat Saeed. Umar Atta Bandial shamelessly and blatantly violated the Constitution of Pakistan and history will never forgive him.”
Ata Bandial was blackmailed, and he succumbed to pressure and made decisions accordingly, he said.
Meanwhile, former federal minister and party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb also confirmed Shehbaz’s statement in a post on microblogging site X. “Important statement of former prime minister and president of PML-N Shehbaz Sharif — the architect of Pakistan and the leader of the people Muhammad Nawaz Sharif will return home on October 21.” She also said the PML-N supremo would be warmly welcomed upon his return.
Last week during his interaction with his party workers and supporters at the Stanhope House, Nawaz for the first time confirmed his homecoming next month. Earlier, PML-N President Shehbaz also said that the ex-premier would face the law of the land when he returns to Pakistan. The decision to return around mid-October was taken after Shehbaz held two meetings with the PML-N supremo in London.
The PML-N leaders have repeatedly mentioned Nawaz’s homecoming ahead of the general elections in the past. In January, former interior minister and senior party leader Rana Sanaullah hinted at Nawaz’s “honorable homecoming” after overcoming legal challenges. “Nawaz Sharif should land in Lahore,” he had suggested and vowed that he would be accorded an unprecedented welcome upon his return from London — where he has been residing since 2019. The three-time premier reached London on November 19, 2019, when he fell ill in prison. It was alleged by the family that the Imran Khan-led government and his “backers” had tried to poison Nawaz. He was treated at the Harley Street Clinic and London Bridge Hospital for four months.
Nawaz had been diagnosed with an immune system disorder and doctors in Pakistan recommended that he should go abroad for treatment as his condition continued to deteriorate despite the best possible care in the country.
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